Things like the Brexit is why I own gold and silver.

[Yavin4]

I'm not 100% invested in precious metals, but I have some. There are global systemic risks that are far outside of your control that can fuck up your investments in a heartbeat no matter how cautious you are as an investor or saver.

[Scootaloo]

1. You'd be better off learning how to live subsistence and make your own stuff

A collapse harsh enough to tear things down to a precious metal economy is going to be harsh enough that people will quickly stop caring about precious metals.

[Yavin4]

2. We won't ever have a complete harsh collapse

But, we will have a period of pain. Metals get you through that period of pain. For example, if you owned metals in 2007, you would have coasted through the collapse.

[Scootaloo]

5. I think you and I have different perspectives on the future

If you don't mind my asking, are you fifty or older? In that neighborhood?

[Yavin4]

6. How did you guess? I'm 52. n/t

[Scootaloo]

9. I'm 33.

Climate change is a defining part of my outlook on future economics. Simply put, I'm almost certain to live into a period where environmental collapses have a bigger impact on world trade than bad banking practices or poor governmental decisions. Precious commodities are a good insurance against those setbacks, but are less so against a global cascade of ecological chaos.

[Hoppy]

8. I didn't have metals in 2008 and I coasted through the collapse.

[Hoppy]

10. Immediately after WW2 (It was in all the papers), in regions that were war torn,

soap was more valuable as a unit of exchange than was gold.

[Scootaloo]

14. Yup.

Once you take away the ability to trade with more stable, affluent places, the value of precious metals drops considerably. Immediate needs are more pressing than future investments.

A man who can fix bicycles has more going for him in a hard depression than a guy who stockpiled gold. The goldbug will be better-off once the depression lifts, but the bike mechanic is eating tonight.

[haele]

17. Actually, you're better off knowing how to distill and brew.

Alcohol is the universal trading commodity.
It can be fuel, basic medicine/cleaning solution, and it helps take the sting off a sucky situation.
You can also create a solar still to condense a small amount of survival drinking water in drought/desert areas.
My husband promised me a copper still for my birthday. That plus garden herbs and maybe a beehive can set the family up if something really nasty comes along.

Haele

[Scootaloo]

18. Well, that falls under "making your own stuff."

[7wo7rees]

3. Well so long as you have the gold and silver.

Can't wait for someone to ask you for a chicken or goat!

[Hoppy]

12. Also, how much do you lose with the bid/ask (commission) on the exchange of the

hard metal, buying and selling? You have to make back that money before you turn a profit.


Better off with a metal index fund.

[handmade34]

4. ??

can't eat gold and silver... my money is in land

[NightWatcher]

7. Beanie Babies is where it's at. I divested my Garbage Pail Kids long ago

[Armstead]

11. A self serving question

By coincidence, I have been holding onto a very small stash of old sterling silver that I was planning to cash in at some point.

I had been thinking of doing it to get a little cash infuction before this Brexit stuff, but I'm wondering if I should hold on or cash out now.

[Yavin4]

13. Hold onto it for now.

Get it appraised and follow its value.

[Armstead]

15. Its only value is silver. I already know what it was worth on silver market as of about a year ago.

It's not a major amount, but I'd rather not let it lose all its value...

(This fuddliness about how to handle money is one reason I'm, not rich. )

[packman]

16. I would bet you would trade ALL the gold and silver you had

for a piece of beef, a drink of water, a slice of bread when it came to that place. I remember stories my grandparents told about starvation in Europe before they left and the formerly rich begging for food holding out jewelry for anything.

[Vinca]

19. Since gold and silver are valued in dollars (or other currency), I've never quite understood

the investing in it as some sort of safety net if things go to hell. I can see buying gold and silver when their price is low and then holding and selling when it's high, but that's about it. What am I missing?

[Yavin4]

20. Gold and silver are valued in other currencies as well.

When these kinds of crisises hit, the response is always inflate the money supply. That's how we recovered from the 2008 crash. My savings net me almost no interest. If I had bought precious metals in 2007, I would up big now.

[Vinca]

21. That's pretty much what I said. Buy low, sell high.