there is no ‘safe’ way to store valuables whether it is in your home or Fort Knox – there are just degrees of safety
I recently read this suggestion which makes sense: “never store more gold at home than you would willingly give up”
the depository programs are needed because it isn’t safe to store valuables in your home – even with the .45 and the 12 ga next to your bed
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one of the reasons for buying precious metals at this particular juncture is to protect yourself from the continuing debasement of the US dollar (call it inflation if that helps you sleep at night) – with all the financial fraud going on right now (which always happens at the end of a fiat currency’s lifecycle – read your history books) you also need to protect your assets from loss via a failed investment bank, internet brokerage, etc
you have to decide for yourself how much protection you need or want – are you willing to take physical delivery of your stock shares to eliminate the risk of your brokerage going under? do you feel comfortable having your assets inside the US borders or do you want to gain some geographic diversity via gold in a Swiss safe deposit box or gold depository (for example)? lots of options to choose from
Jim Sinclair (www.jsmineset.com) is advising his readers to eliminate all financial intermediaries that stand between them and their assets – he acknowledges that options are limited for 401K plans unless you are willing to take the tax hit (early withdraw penalty plus taxed at current income rate) – Mr Sinclair recommends taking physical possession of Canadian or Swiss Treasury Bills for cash holdings right now
another option for 401K money would be to take a loan against the account and use the money to accomplish whatever financial protection you thought was appropriate – I think you can borrow up to 50% – this way you wouldn’t have the tax penalties and you could gain some protection for your retirement assets – I’m not recommending doing this but it might make sense for some people
