The Average Person’s Guide To Buying Gold in 2020
This article is for anyone that wants to own gold but doesn't have millions of dollars to invest.
If you’re trying to answer the question, "Should I buy gold in 2020," I'm here to answer it for you: the answer is absolutely yes, you should buy gold right now whether it's still 2020 when you read this.
I often see people searching for time sensitive words like, “is it a good time to buy gold?”
The problem with this question is the implication of buying gold as a way to make a profitable return.
That is not how you should think about buying gold.
You want to OWN gold. Not buy gold.
I’ll explain what I mean by this below.
This article will help you think about buying gold and give you the confidence to be a long term holder of the original form of money.
Gold is the original money. It has the longest history of use as a recognized store of wealth. It's safe to assume this will continue into the foreseeable future.
Gold is not something that generates income. It is a store of wealth, and it tends to hold its value over time. Some call it a hedge. I call it wealth, or a place to hold wealth, or a form of wealth, or just again, wealth.
A toga worn by the elite in Ancient Rome cost may have cost a single gold coin. Today, at gold's current going price of around $1800, a nice suit costs the same: one gold coin.
There is a reason governments around the world—and the wealthy—have been buying up gold for years: because the world economy is based on fiat dollars and will eventually collapse. A fiat dollar system is why we get inflation every year. The entire system is a house of cards, and it won't last.
No one knows when this collapse will happen or how it will happen, but each new crisis further tips the inevitable scale in the wrong direction.
For example, as I write this, it was a month ago that the United States Federal Reserve printed seven trillion dollars in a blink of an eye. Never in American history has such a large number of dollars entered the market in such a short period of time..
How can something that printed out of thin air have any value?
It can't. It doesn't.
And the FED has been pulling this move for years now. It is no coincidence there is a new financial crisis every 5-10 years. As the system becomes more inflated, these financial quagmires will happen more frequently. When they do, as it always does, the government will step in and do everything they can to prevent collapse with all kinds of fancy economy terms.
Without going too far down that rabbit hole, I recommend you do some basic research on your own about the FED and the banking system in general, and especially about the history of fiat money in general (it's a gloomy account).
If we focus on the first principles of money and government and fiat dollars, we get a foundation understanding we can use to think about why we may want to own gold.
Here are a couple:
A fiat dollar system is not sustainable. It requires ever-more injection to prop up and will ultimately collapse one way or another.
We don't know when that will happen, but when it does, gold will be one of the only ways to protect wealth. And it will likely skyrocket in value as a result.
Gold is a store of wealth and does not generate income or "return" like real estate or equities can. This is why holding all of your wealth in gold is not advisable. (You want a mix.)
Gold has the longest history as a recognized store of wealth. That is not likely to change anytime soon.
Gold is fungible: one ounce of gold is worth the same as another ounce of gold.
Depending on how much or how little faith you have in the US banking system after you do your research, you will adjust your preference for how much gold you want to own based on the variables.
Buying gold in 2020: Probably the best thing you could do
I've been buying stocks in quality US companies for a few years now.
I'm still pro-equities for anyone that takes a long-term investing approach. If you did nothing but bought the few tech monopolies, you'll probably do just fine over the next ten years.
But then 2020 happened, and everything I thought I knew about what could or couldn't happen in this country went out the window.
Before 2020, I had optimism about our future.
Now I'm pessimistic about what's going to happen first and optimistic about what happens after we go through whatever reset we need to go through. I'm preparing for the reset to the best of my ability because we just don't know what could happen.
So 2020 rolls around, and the politicians purposely shut down the economy, citing shaky evidence under a banner of "saving lives."
Then the FED prints trillions under the guise of saving the economy. The hospitals aren't full like they said.
Then protests rage around the country, and social distancing goes out the window. It's ok since your fighting for a cause said the hypocrite media. As soon as the protests died down, it's back to weapons the virus again.
Then it became: "be ready for the second wave."
Never in my lifetime would I have imagined I'd see the masses cower to a narrative so fast and so easy and for so long. The elite and the media have dialed in their propaganda machine to laser-like accuracy and effectiveness.
It's scary as F$*#.
If I had to summarize it all, it would be this; I'm buying up gold and cryptocurrency while hoping for the best and planning for the worst.
I still believe owning stock in good companies should be a part of any long term wealth creation strategy—if you buy and hold. If you are the type to pay attention to the financial news, you probably shouldn't own stocks. (This advice applies to all investing.)
So until 2020, I didn't see any reason to own gold at this point in my life. I always figured I could wait until later. Well, that attitude is how you get caught with your pants down.
That has changed for me and it probably should change for you.
Now, I now MUST own gold.
As a result, I've ramped up my gold allocation to reach a range of 10-15% of total net worth.
There are countless articles and videos covering gold ownership and pros and cons and all that, so I'm going to do my best to keep it simple for you here.
My goal is to get you to a place where you are confident enough to buy gold and own it for the long run. Keep researching until you get there. When you do, ideally sooner than later, start buying.
The full spectrum of Gold Pundits
On one end, you'll find people talk about the cons of owning gold, and there are some for sure. On the other end, you'll see "gold bugs' talk about gold as the end-all-be-all.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. As Aristotle so aptly named it, "The Golden Mean" is the best choice between two extremes. The more research you do, the closer you'll get to your Golden Mean for your gold ownership strategy.
Gold vs. other assets
The most commonly held assets include:
Real estate
Business ownership (Stocks fall into this category)
Precious metals
Art (not my expertise, so I Don't mess with it.)
Collectables (not advisable unless you're an expert)
Cryptocurrency
When the dollar eventually crashes, or when we hit our next major reset, and the elites inevitable intervene to try to reduce the damage, those that win will be those who own assets.
Those that lose are those that don't own assets and instead hold cash.
Keep in mind, none of this is investing advice. This is just how I think about owning gold. Here are the pros and cons of owning gold.
Cons of owning gold:
Gold doesn't generate income, so the wealth you keep in gold will miss out on returns you could have generated owning income-producing assets like businesses, stocks, and real estate.
Gold is hard to move and store (though the services I recommend make this super easy)
Gold can be taken from you or lost
Pros of owning gold:
Hedge - there is a near 0% chance that your gold will ever go to zero (If we start mining asteroids, this could happen.)
Gold gets stronger the more fake money gets pumped into the fiat system (and this happens all the time)
Gold has been and still is recognized as a store of wealth across the world. (Governments have been buying it up for years even though no policy forces them to do so.)
Gold is easy to convert to other currencies. You can probably liquidate your gold regardless of what's going on.
When should I buy gold?
Don't try to time the market.
Instead, buy a little bit at a time over a consistent period. This is called "Dollar-cost averaging," and is the ideal strategy for attaining your target gold allocation.
Of course, you can still buy all at once if security and utility are primary concerns.
In the long run, use an automatic investing strategy that buys a little bit at a time. Then set it and forget it.
Again: don't try to time the market.
No one can time the market.
Some get lucky, and some don't, and no one can predict either. So remove that from the equation completely using automatic investing tools like the one I'm going to mention below.
Should you buy physical gold or have someone store it for you?
There is always a risk of having someone else hold your gold.
Anything could happen.
The government where your gold is held could nationalize vaults and take your gold. America once passed the gold act of 1933, making it illegal to own gold, which forced citizens to sell their gold to the government at a set price. This could happen anytime.
The risk for this is very low, but it is still a risk to consider.
This is how I'm approaching the problems with physical gold ownership:
I'm keeping a number that I'm comfortable with on my person. Probably a bag of 1oz gold coins. Because I'm working on becoming a global citizen, mobility is critical, so it would have to be an amount I can conceal while moving across borders.
Above that, I'm keeping the majority of my gold with OneGold, in a vault in Switzerland (The Swiss have a long history of being pro-banking and pro-privacy for wealth holders.)
After that, I may move some of my gold holdings to goldmoney.com as a further diversification strategy.
Now let's assume my gold holdings eventually reach around $100,000.
I don't know what I’ll do beyond that.
Maybe more drastic measures will be needed, such as finding a secure location known only to me. Perhaps some buried treasure shit is necessary. I don't think it will come to that, which is actually my say of saying I HOPE it doesn't come out that.
What is the best place to buy gold online in 2020?
My pick is: OneGold
I'm buying my gold bullion through OneGold and keeping it in the Switzerland vault.
I'm also keeping some silver bullion in the Canada vault.
You could keep it in the United States, and it would probably be fine, but that's a bit too risky to me considering what's going on in 2020. So I prefer to keep my gold holdings offshore.
If you ever need to liquidate your gold holdings, OneGold will send it to you.
There is a small storage fee for storing your holdings, calculated at a rate for gold and a separate rate for silver holdings (since silver takes up more space)
The price over spot that you pay when purchasing is how OneGold makes money. It is pretty negligible if you're buying and holding since you'll end up covering this cost as your holdings appreciate in value over the years.
Another option is Goldmoney, but I've never tried them. I may open an account and keep some gold there to have some diversification. That will be up to you.
OneGold, based on my research on the buying gold online offerings, is the cheapest place to buy gold I have found.
With the low fees over spot, the super low storage fees, and the fact that it can be shipped to you anytime you want to take possession of your holdings, OneGold is the best choice for the typical person to buy gold in 2020 and have it protected and easy to move.
Buying gold for the typical person
Everyone should own gold.
This should be clear if you've read this far.
Remember, this is not investing advice. It's just what I believe the average person should do.
How much gold should you own?
Your allocation will depend on your financial situation and goals. I'm aiming for hitting 10-15% of my net worth in gold. I will hold the rest of my liquid holdings in bitcoin, which I detail in this article. (TK)
I also own guns and ammo and some extra food for worst-case scenario situations. I have my passport. I'm working on acquiring real estate. I'm continually investing in my knowledge and skills since that is always my first line of defense.
True security requires a diversified approach. You have to cover all the angles. And having gold is a BIG angle to cover.
Buying gold frequently asked questions
Should I buy gold stocks?
I don't think so.
Imagine how complicated a process gold mining is. THen you have employees, expenses, regulations, and the ever-changing price fluctuations of gold that can go up or down. It never seemed intuitive to me to buy gold stocks just because the price of gold is likely to increase.
Of course, if you had a long term strategy and looked into the best gold mining companies, then maybe you could make it work.
This is far too risky for me.
When should I buy gold?
Dollar cost average in or buy gold on any dip.
Don't try to time the market.
The most important thing with owning assets is the amount of time you hold the asset.
Buying matters, but if you are holding for the long run, then buying matters much less. So dollar cost average in or buy on the next dip, and you'll probably do fine.
Why should I buy gold?
You should buy gold because our fiat dollar system based on debt is going to come crashing down.
As I write this in 2020, it's likely to come crashing down this year or next or maybe the following.
Either way, whenever this happens, your gold holdings are going to skyrocket. It will also be very likely that the US goes back to dollars being a gold-backed currency.
In Conclusion
Gold is currently the best way to hold wealth. Bitcoin, in my opinion, comes close, but whether or not you buy and own Bitcoin will be dependent on your research.
Gold is the original form of money and will be recognized as money for years to come.
It not only stores your wealth as a hedge against inflation, but it also has the upside potential that comes from modern fiat currencies failing.
Since it's only a matter of time before the fiat system collapses and is forced to go back to the gold standard, you're holding of gold will end up being an investment that pays off handsomely.
Everyone should own gold.