There are a few which people make, will make, or think of making.
(1) Switch gold for silver. It makes no sense, because you’ll sell the gold at the ’bid’ price, and have to ship it. Then, you buy the silver at ’ask’ price, and pay a commission and shipping also. That may make it so expensive, that you will have wasted money. You want silver? Then buy it, but don’t trade one precious metal for another, which is a sure loser. I know that the 16 to 1 ratio will probably resume, but who knows when? It may take years, so don’t get so frantic to change one for the other. Both are precious metals, beautiful, and desirable. Want silver? Great, but don’t sell your gold to get it.
(2) Sell numismatics and get bullion. No. Why? Because you’ll sell your numismatics for a great loss. Just don’t buy any more. Keep what you have. They go up too, only sell for a 40% discount. I deal in ounces, not age or condition, and it’s ounces that count. If you have numismatics, enjoy them. Just don’t get fooled again. Call me, and I’ll e-mail you a column I wrote on the subject, or sift through the hundreds of columns on ’Archives’ at the top of the web site, and find it.
(3) Don’t try to out-guess the market by selling ’high,’ and thinking you’ll buy ’low,’ and make a profit. No one knows what ’high’ is, or ’low’ is, so the attempt could cost you your metals. Buy on a dip if there is one, but remember, no matter what price you buy at, within a year, you will undoubtedly have made a 30% profit. If you want to speculate, get into futures, which I don’t advise, but futures are a lot easier way to play highs and lows.
(4) Sell your gas guzzler and buy a cheap to run car? Absolutely not! Why? Look at this way: You have a big hunker which rides wonderfully, is quiet, and in good condition, only it only gets 15 MPG. At $4.00 per gallon, that amounts to 27 cents a mile. You buy one which gets 23 miles per gallon, and this amounts to 17 cents a mile, or ten cents a mile difference. The average driving is 10,000 miles a year, so you would save a thousand dollars in fuel costs. You would sell your boat for low low price and buy your new economical car, which won’t ride nearly as well, and not be nearly as roomy, and what will you pay as a difference? $15,000? $20,000? In other words, it would take fifteen or twenty years for the new compact to pay for itself, and that’s bad economics, no matter what you may say. This might even be a good time to buy a huge luxury car for a song. Sold by the fools who can’t do the math.
(5) Plan on leaving the USA if it gets ’worse.’ Where would you go? Wherever it may be, do you speak the language? Do you realize just how free and large America is, compared to just about any place on earth, regardless of who wins in November? Panama? Costa Rica? Argentina? Those places may have a bit of allure, but compared to being able to travel anywhere in America, speak the language, see our wonderful scenery, visit with our friends and family, and know what’s going on; no place on earth can compare. Literally! There’s no place like America, even with all its faults. Our faults, compared to Costa Rica or any other place, are very minor!
(6) Expecting the dollar to ’collapse.’ You may have to wait a long time. While the buck has slid tremendously, and is worth maybe a couple of cents, compared to a hundred years ago, other currencies have slid too, and continue to slide. The buck is on a slide, true, and is going down quicker than maybe the pound or euro, but compared to others, it may be on an even rate of slide. We have to have a currency, and since all currencies are losing value, we have to get out of them with our surplus assets, and into something else, just to save ourselves. Gold and silver are historic money for thousands of years, and aren’t dependent on the whims and votes of politicians, so they are the logical way to save ourselves. When we need dollars, we can sell a few ounces, get dollars, and buy what we need. Simple? I just don’t think the dollar is going to totally ’collapse’ any time soon, and if it did, and was replaced by something else, you would still have saved yourself with gold and silver.
(7) Thinking that barter with silver coins will be necessary eventually, is fantasy. Why? because without a currency, there can be no society, or even civilization. You can barter with your neighbor or even a farmer perhaps, but you can’t write checks for, or wire gold and silver. Without a currency, there would be utter chaos. The local gas station or super market has to pay their bills with currency wired or checks written, and it can’t be done with silver coins. Barter is fun at yard sales, but a civilization or nation cannot exist without a currency. We buy gold and silver to protect us from politicians’ universal practice of ruining the currency of the nation which put them in office. It’s been happening for thousands of years, and won’t stop any time soon. Protect yourself, don’t save in dollars, think, stay here, arm yourself, vote right, and be damned glad you are an American. There’s no place like it anywhere on earth.