[quote=SD Transplant]My concern with physical gold is where should you take it to redeem for cash? I don’t know how liquid of an asset gold may be. Maybe someone with experience of buying gold and selling it for cash could give us some feedback.[/quote]

If you’re going to hold metal, it absolutely MUST be physical. Do not trust paper. ETFs will be deadly. Not only do their prices not track the actual price of metals, but they are not even redeemable for gold or silver, themselves. If the price of gold goes to $5000/oz you can redeem $5000, but in the end you still won’t own any gold. That may suit your needs just fine in the short term, but we may very likely see a time in which no one wants dollars. If that happens, a million shares of GLD or SLV will be absolutely useless.

Also, there are many more shares of gold and silver ETFs outstanding than the actual volume of existing gold and silver. So when the short squeeze comes, ETFs will be useless.

Also consider that ETFs can only be sold via the stock market. In the event we experience a systemic breakdown, your ability to liquidate and cash out would be severely limited. One also wonders what kinds of additional government restrictions might eventually come down to limit or prevent liquidation of stocks as the market collapse intensifies.

And last, but not least, when you sell an ETF, the tax man cometh. When you unload bullion at a local dealer or to your best friend, no one is the wiser. Dealers are everywhere in LA, and I suspect in the coming years EVERYONE will be a dealer 😉

Keep and hold physical. It is truly your best bet and hedge against what’s to come (in addition to food, of course).

I have only sold to a dealer once, and it wasn’t difficult at all. Of course the price I got was a few bucks under spot, but it was tax free 🙂

In terms of storage, everyone on this board should have a good, fire-proof safe for important docs, cash, metals, heirlooms, etc. That’s just common sense. At this point, I trust my own ability to safeguard my wealth more than I trust any bank or broker to do so. With a good alarm, a safe and a couple of reliable firearms, your assets can be adequately protected.