Let me turn that around – later in this article I’ll cover how to buy gold offshore. Let’s first look at why to buy gold, and why offshore.
Most people reading this blog probably don’t need much convincing about the case for gold. Free marketeers like Ron Paul have dedicated lifetimes to promoting the case for gold as money. What’s more surprising is that even many socialists have seen the light – for example, some of those participating in the recent ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests have also been calling vociferously for a return to the gold standard.
Then again, perhaps it’s not surprising at all, given what is becoming more clear every day. The Federal Reserve, a private corporation in cahoots with the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and others, is conspiring to erode the purchasing power of the dollars, pounds and euros of ordinary citizens. Fiat money, and its collapse, is unstoppable. The only way to protect yourself is to hold real money – and that means precious metals.
Buying gold, as well as silver and other precious metals, is an excellent way to preserve your purchasing power over time. I don’t see holding gold so much as a way to make money, as a way to keep what you already have.
However, it’s not just central banks and the Fed who are up to no good. Wall Street is in on the act too, with misleading products like ETFs. ETFs are a way to speculate on the price of gold, but they are what I call ‘fiat gold.’ No doubt there is some gold there backing the ETFs, but there is a lot of evidence to suggest they are not fully backed. I would be happy to send more evidence to anyone who is interested. Besides, in the event of a crisis, if the banking system is shut down as it was for example in the days after 9/11, how will you get at your gold when you need it most if it’s just numbers in your brokerage account?
I would also stay away from services like BullionVault and GoldMoney that offer to ‘look after’ your gold for you, while giving you electronic access. That’s all very well as far as it goes. These companies are reputable and honest as far as I know, but don’t be fooled into thinking they are a substitute for owning real physical gold bullion. At the very least these are financial accounts, similar to foreign bank accounts that should be reported on your tax return. They are also very transparent – if you have online access to your account, you can safely assume that Big Brother does too!
Physical gold is the only way to go. Real gold coins or bars that you can touch with your fingers and hide where you think fit, in a place that only you and maybe your chosen heirs or most trusted confidants knows about.
Hiding a portion of your gold offshore is an important part of a six flags diversification strategy. Fortunately, it’s also one of the few non-reportable investments still left out there. If you buy gold and stick it in a vault (Switzerland and Singapore are the in-places to store it, but almost anywhere outside your country of residence is good) it’s regarded as a physical item, not a financial investment, so you are not required to declare its existence to anyone.
Buying gold offshore is still relatively straightforward. In gold trading centers like Switzerland and Hong Kong you can still walk in off the street and buy gold bullion for cash, no questions asked, for decent premiums. Even in many other countries, including the US and Canada, gold bullion can be obtained easily with a few days’ notice.
For larger quantities, of course, you should make arrangements in advance. A good offshore financial consultant will be able to facilitate the transaction for you, depending where in the world you are looking to buy gold offshore. Feel free to contact this author if you are interested, via the publisher, for additional recommendations.
Bill Freeman