Where I Do Business
There are lots of places to buy gold and I’ve tried many of them.
Here’s where I do my shopping. See if these resources are helpful to you, too.
Where I Buy Gold for Delivery
Some of you know I’ve worked alongside Mike Maloney at GoldSilver.com for many years, so I can speak first-hand to his character.
Mike is one of the most genuine people I know. He’s honest, respectful, and serious about his passion to educate the world on sound money. It really is his mission.
I’ve shopped at GoldSilver.com for years. They sell only gold and silver—no other precious metals, collectibles, or numismatics. They only sell money.
Their prices are always competitive, and shipping is free in the US for orders over $499.
I also know the customer service team and can tell you there’s a reason why they’ve won awards.
Drawbacks? Someone’s gotta sign for delivery. Verizon did the same thing to me when I ordered a new phone, so to me this is no big deal.
If you’re wondering what to buy, here's a good guide.
By the way, if you want some good home-storage ideas, see if some of these are useful.
My Gold IRA
Should you put gold in a retirement vehicle?
After all, the tax-advantaged nature of an IRA makes income-generating assets ideal, especially when you factor in compounding, and gold generates no income.
But that line of thinking is a mistake. Here’s how you should recalibrate your strategy…
- Diversify beyond paper assets. A retirement account that holds only stocks and bonds is 100% invested in paper assets. In today’s global economic climate, that is the pinnacle of risk. Gold is the easiest way to add a real asset to your retirement account
- Retain tax-advantaged growth. As with any asset, gains can compound tax-deferred inside an IRA (or tax-free in a Roth). That enables you to shift your allocation between gold and silver without triggering a taxable event.
- The wrong-headed argument about yield. Gold doesn't pay interest, but that’s a short-sighted reason to not own it. Gold adds a must-have inflation hedge to a retirement portfolio. Regardless of what the “profit” column shows on your statement, those gains have to be adjusted for inflation. The further you are from withdrawing the funds, the more time inflation has to eat away at the purchasing power of your account value.
I opened a traditional IRA account at HardAssetsAlliance.com many years ago. The program is completely streamlined, and the entire process took about ten minutes. I received my approval five minutes later.
And get this: I paid only 3% above spot for one-ounce gold bars! Premiums fluctuate of course, but HAA bids orders out to a network of dealers, so we’re essentially getting institutional rates.
Last, only bars and coins permissable in an IRA are displayed for purchase. The rules about what form of gold and silver you can own in an IRA are a tad complicated. And it’s not a trivial hazard: buy the wrong form of gold for a retirement vehicle and you risk invalidating the entire IRA, triggering an unwelcome taxable event. No worries with HAA. What you can stick in an IRA is all you will see for purchase on their site.
Drawbacks? As with all reputable IRA accounts, you need a separate custodian account. This was a snap for me, not much different than opening a checking and a business account at a bank.
Professional Storage
I used to think paying for storage was unnecessary. And then my gold was robbed.
I think all investors should have some physical gold nearby and readily accessible. That’s one of its benefits; a backstop of real money to offset a personal or economic emergency.
But I caution you against storing all your gold in your home. Thieves and Mother Nature don’t respect that fancy safe you bought. Tornados can spread your gold across the county, and earthquakes can send it to middle earth.
My Dad knew someone who was tortured in front of his wife until he gave up the combination to their heavy-duty combination safe. His wife survived but he was killed.
Do yourself and your family a favor; keep the bulk of your gold in professional storage, outside your home and outside the banking system. It’s more affordable than you might think—a starter portfolio costs less per month than that fancy Starbucks coffee you bought.
InstaVault: you gotta love that name. It perfectly describes the program: instantly buy bullion for vault storage. And you can sell or take delivery at any time.
One recommendation: bars have lower premiums, so you might favor those over coins for storage.
InstaVault Gold. You can buy in increments as small as 1/100th of an ounce.
InstaVault Silver. Premiums for silver bought via this program are much lower than taking delivery.
Drawback? If you want delivery, you do have to pay a fabrication fee. It’s basically whatever the premium is on the product at the time. How I get around this is to take delivery of metal I want near home, and keep in storage what I bought for storage. It’ll be easier to sell then, too—just log on and click.
HAA also offers professional storage, one also used by many institutional investors.
HAA has an automated accumulation plan too, and the minimum is just $25/month. It can also provide business, trust, and estate accounts, something many dealers don’t offer. HAA is a complete package.
Drawbacks? If you take delivery, you pay your state sales tax at that time. There is no fabrication fee, since you own whole products (even with Metalstream you buy in whatever product you want).
I’ve had no issues with any of these accounts.
Offshore Storage
What do these countries have in common?
- Ireland, France, Hungary, and Poland.
During the Great Financial Crisis, they all confiscated pension assets to pay bills.
In 2013, the Cyprus government prohibited depositors from getting their cash and withdrew funds from bank accounts of high-net-worth investors… China has experienced bank runs numerous times… even banks in Canada and the UK have had bank runs. The list is longer than many people realize.
You might think these things can’t happen to you. Think again—most of them occurred in first-world countries.
What’s your protection against a bank run, confiscation, or other unexpected act of government interference?
Bullion stored outside your home jurisdiction.
I’ve been on the advisory board of Strategic Wealth Preservation (SWP) in Grand Cayman since its founding.
SWP asked me what I would want to see in an overseas depository. I gave them a list of things—and they incorporated them all. I was their first customer and have been on the company’s advisory board ever since.
SWP checks all the boxes for international storage, too many to list here. If offshore storage interests you, you can find more info here.
Be aware that rules governing disputes fall under UK law, and not the laws of your home country. I’ve never experienced any issues with this, though.
Holding some gold outside my political jurisdiction is the priority.
By the way, if you ever want to visit your bullion, they hold a “client appreciation” event every February (pandemic-permitting), so maybe I’ll see you there!
