Do you buy actual metal or metal funds?
I’m still hesitant in buying actual metal due to history. The gov’t outlawed owning gold before. Why wouldn’t that happen again?
I’m ignorant on metals at this point, but getting interested. Whole investing life was spent on stocks and funds with no interest in metals or mining.
I like the metal itself. I’m unconcerned with any laws the government might pass regarding ownership of metals. I was hesitant at first too but after much debate with a few free republic members on the matter, I became convinced that gold and silver are an excellent means of protecting oneself against inflation. My own erudition as well as the opinions of most other freepers strongly suggests that higher than normal inflation is in our future regardless of anything we see or hear today about dollar values or market rallies. AFAIC, until we see a significant and lasting reversal of the unemployment rate, any faith in this economy or the stock market is misguided. The government and the fed are clearly attempting to reverse a deflationary spiral by increasing the money supply but that strategy ignores the real cause of the deflation and, worse yet, exacerbates it. The root cause is debt and they are creating more debt as well as decreasing the purchasing power of the consumer by devaluing the dollar without creating any significant mechanisms by which to raise wages for US employees to a degree that will compensate for the decreased value of the dollars in their pockets. The deflationary spiral will continue despite the inflationary environment because they are attacking the problem from the wrong direction. The wise investor will look for means of preserving his or her wealth at this point and will avoid trying to get rich off Wall Street’s “half price sale”. this ship is going down and, as another poster said upthread, Obama and company are simply rearranging the deck chairs.