I Am Working On My Future !

I believe that this thread has been the most enlightening in the basic fundamentals of why one should collect PMs. I started to collect coins for there numismatic properties, but found I didn't have the passion for it like some of the collectors on CCF. So I purchased my first ASE some two years ago, and found myself hooked on collecting PMs for a stash of wealth for my family. Thanks so much Silverlicious for getting the ball rolling, may I say . A big thanks to Hockeyzig, Ed_B, Silverhawk74 and all the other contributors on the CCF PMs blog site. I believe the saying goes something like this "everybody brings some thing to the table". From the new beginner to the seasoned veteran, something can be learned by everybody. Reading everybody's input about precious metals goes along way in educating the dos and don't s of our bullion stacking endeavor. Still reading, still learning!

As are we all, Rastatodd. As with any group, we all have our knowledge and experience to share. Fortunately, it is so varied that we all bring something to the table to share with everyone else. I'm still pretty new at PMs and collecting them... BUT... I have a LOT of experience at investing, so I try to share that viewpoint with others. In turn, I learn a lot from them about the areas where they have the knowledge or the experience that I do not. We all become stronger, smarter, and better via this sharing.



I agree, Hock. I was just trying to show that there are more facets to this PM collecting business than most newcomers know about. Fact is, the next O-S! situation that comes along will probably catch most of us off-guard when it hits. We will be expecting something but probably not exactly what comes. The good news is that by being prepared in general, we can weather the onslaught far better than those who are not prepared at all. This is why a lot of us stack PMs and keep a store of food, water, guns, ammo, etc. At the very least, having a store of consumables will protect us to some extent from inflation. If we buy several cases of canned goods, for instance, we will lock in today's price and will not have to pay tomorrow's higher prices for some time to come. If worse comes to worst, we can then make it through the bad times and get to the better times that follow.



Yes, this IS a BIG concern for many of us. Our kids are in their 30s now and we have 2 grand kids, ages 9 and 11, to worry about... and I do! Family is terribly important to most of us and it should be. When (not if) things go bad, it is often only family whom we can really trust and get the help from that we need. In turn, it is up to us to protect and care for them as best we can. We are not super-human, though, so we have limits to what we can do. The trick is to do the very best that we can with what we have. IMHO, that means storing up basic food, water, clothing, and medical necessities but also collecting some PMs so that we can probably buy what we need and do not have.

Bad times will also breed desperation, particularly among those who have not prepared. They will seek to take what they need from those of us who have prepared. Government types will seek to confiscate (legalese for steal) everything that people have so they can be in charge of distributing it. I understand this but will not tolerate them doing it. My family's survival may well depend upon us keeping the things we have collected for such an eventuality for ourselves. I will defend my family and property with my life, if necessary. I have qualified as an expert marksman with rifle, pistol, and shotgun so anyone trying to rip us off will be in considerable and immediate danger.

That said, I am also prepared to help my neighbors if I can. I will share a portion of our supplies with those nearest us because they are part of our community. By strengthening them, we strengthen ourselves. We can't give away all of our supplies, of course, but we can and will share some of it.

Just a few tips. One, don't believe you can't make money on investing - its possible, but its not going to happen quickly.

Two, know what to buy. For example, Canada puts out these great silver coins every year, known as the Wildlife series. They sell for a high premium on ebay - for the current years one (The grizzly), you'll be paying anywhere between 10 and 20 dollars over spot. However, if you are looking for some kind of silver that will make you a little bit of money, it would be wise to buy these. Why? Well the coins are limited to that year. Meaning, next year, grizzlies won't be produced - a new animal will replace the grizzly. The wolf coin, which was last year, is now selling for anywhere between 60 and 100 on ebay. You can assume this will happen this will happen to the Grizzly. So I suggest you buy some of these wildlife coins, as I think they are a good investment into silver.

Three - utilize ebay, but don't rely on it. ebay is a great place for bullion selling and buying if you can use it wisely. When you want to buy on ebay, do it during the early mornings in the middle of the week, or very late at night any day. Browse silver rounds on ebay at 2 or 3 am in the morning, and you'll be surprised how you can get them cheaper than the ones you saw at 7pm. Why? Simply because people aren't bidding on ebay at 2 in the morning...theyre sleeping.

So ebay can be a great tool to sell and purchase, if you are wise about it.

And finally, remember to have fun. Buy coins that interest you, and expand into the foreign world. I love the Pandas, the krugs, and maples. Don't just buy to make money, buy to enjoy.

I like the idea Rbethell11 on the grizzly's and seems like Hock recently said I should get some....

I have not branched into the Canadien wildlife series yet, but not due to dislike, just so much out there. I figure I will get around to them eventually, but you post makes me think 10 or 20 grizzly's now is not a bad plan at all added into the stash.....

Good advice from everyone, also my 2 cents I buy silver to protect some of my dollars. One thing I think is do not buy over one ounce bars or coins as if the time comes that you need to spend these for food ect it will be very hard to chip a piece of silver from say a 1000 ounce bar but allot easier to pay using a silver dollar or dime.

Just my thoughts when I started buying silver.

I have a small amount of gold I purchased some years ago sure wish I would have bought more gold now.

In my opinion I would never buy gold at these prices now and get silver over gold as more people can afford to buy it is you have to sell it.

Paying extra to buy PM on credit is all wrong. If you don't have the $ to buy for cash, you have other aspects of your finances that you need to work on first.

It's bad enough that you have to take a hit when you eventually sell your silver, let's say $5 an ounce seller's markup. Adding another $2 to use CC, a buck for shipping, and then monthly interest charges because you can't pay the card off, and you're already behind the for 30% or more before you are where you'd be if you put the money in the mattress. Worse, if you're operating that close, something will come up where you have to sell, and you're 30% or more behind.

Unless you can get great deals on craigslist or similar, save your money up until you can buy $1000 at a crack, so you're not getting eaten up in shipping.

I want to touch on something that so far that no one has mentioned. In one of your posts you stated that your 401k was not going anywhere so you cashed it out. Are you aware that when tax time rolls around if you under the age of 59 1/2 ( which I assume you are) you will be penalized 10% on all your withdrawals plus you will also have to pay the taxes on that amount also. ( There are some exceptions to this rule, but mostly they deal with extreme hardship.) Also, in most 401K plans, you employer matches a certain percentage of your contributions, plus you are not paying taxes on your contributions. Your employer match is basically free money.

I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing you, and please don't take it personally, but your investment in PM is going to have to appreciate substantially to make up for what you have already given up.


As far as your 401K going nowhere I agree that in the last couple of years with the economic problems worldwide, most investments have not done well and many people have lost money. You sound like your a young guy who is trying to do right for his family, but you can't look at investing in the short term. There will be bad years that you will have to stomach. I have invested through ups and downs of the bull markets in the 90's, the dot.com. crash,and the latest downturn. Some years I made money and other years I lost a lot, but, in the long term, I came out way ahead.

I cannot tell from your posts if you are investing in PM only, but if so, putting all you eggs in one basket is risky and inadvisable. Any investment advisor will tell you to diversify your investments, being more aggressive at a younger age and becoming more conservative later when you will want to start using the at money. PM should be a part of your portfolio along with stocks, bonds, CD's and even real estate.

If what I just wrote is not new information for you, I apologize because again I don't want to sound like I am lecturing. But I do hope that what I wrote makes some sense to you.