[ben.]

...
If the market crashes, we’re all going to be living in poverty. Why would we want gold?

I want you to think back to Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was turned into a helpless swamp. There was no government, no effective police force, and no order. Did those people suddenly start trading gold? Of course not. They traded water, food, clothing, and other items of USE. If the world goes to hell, usefulness becomes valuable. Gold is not useful
...


http://money-hawk.com/blog/2008/12/...d-so-are-people-who-tell-you-to-invest-in-it/



That article got me thinking. In a way it makes sense that Gold is as worthless as our Dollars and Euros in regards to how helpful it is.

I still will keep $1,000 to $2,000 in Silver Dollars around, but hoarding precious metal shouldn't be people's main concern. I would rather invest in land. For me I conclude that other aspects such as health, know-how, personal fitness, food, a place to go and a general game plan are more important than investing in 20 or more Gold Eagles.

 

[ChubbyHubby]

I couldn't agree more with the author. Everything that was said was spot-on.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

Unless a total collapse never happens and we become entrenched in a long depression....in which case, Gold will have tremendous value compared to the dollar. It will be a great onvestment in that senario.

It only becomes worthless if a complete collapse occurs. And even then, to those who have the ability to trade it globally, it will still be worth while.

We'd have to be blasted all the way back to Caveman times for it to be totally worthless.

 

[mgd_only]

what ever gold is good you can crack someone in the head with it , makes a great counter weight and many other things as well.

now a year or more after collapse it will work as a currency. but it won't be better than bartering items for other items. like food water and other survival items they will be better than bars of metal. however if the economy just starts to go Weimar Republic then you would be stupid not to have invested in metals. and being a survivalist web site we prepare for all kinds of things not just one thing. like me i prepare for everything from a flat tire to invasion , from snow storm to flood , from aliens to zombies and from nuke war to weimar hyper inflation.

you've been here for ten posts. maybe you should read some more debates on this forum about the uses of gold to hedge against lose of capital and other reasons for members buy'n/recommending metals and lets see if you come back with the same argument. i doubt you will but hey i've been wrong before

 

[Texas mom]

If we're really talking about a SHTF scenario, then gold won't be very useful. For the survivalist who is preparing for that kind of scenario, I think gold is a bad investment.

 

[Cryptkeeper]

...
If the market crashes, we’re all going to be living in poverty. Why would we want gold?

I want you to think back to Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was turned into a helpless swamp. There was no government, no effective police force, and no order. Did those people suddenly start trading gold? Of course not. They traded water, food, clothing, and other items of USE. If the world goes to hell, usefulness becomes valuable. Gold is not useful
...


http://money-hawk.com/blog/2008/12/...d-so-are-people-who-tell-you-to-invest-in-it/



That article got me thinking. In a way it makes sense that Gold is as worthless as our Dollars and Euros in regards to how helpful it is.

I still will keep $1,000 to $2,000 in Silver Dollars around, but hoarding precious metal shouldn't be people's main concern. I would rather invest in land. For me I conclude that other aspects such as health, know-how, personal fitness, food, a place to go and a general game plan are more important than investing in 20 or more Gold Eagles.

i dont agree with the comparison a natural disaster is nothing like an economic crash NOTHING like it. your right some land would be a great investment as long as you buy it out right and not make payments and you dont buy to much that you cant pay the taxes when you have no job :thumb:
saveing food and other supplies is what most all of us do, but we will need some gold & silver to protect the money ppl have left. if it does crash then the dollar will only have 1 value and that is to whip your a$$.

who ever wrote the artical sounds to me to be an idiot. if you want some real world advice of what it will be like in an economic crash you REALLY need to read this.
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=49;t=000074;p=0

i think you got the right idea have a little silver and gold but stock pile items you will need :thumb:

 

[ChubbyHubby]

Unless a total collapse never happens and we become entrenched in a long depression....in which case, Gold will have tremendous value compared to the dollar. It will be a great onvestment in that senario.

This isn't the 30s... there is no gold standard any longer. Gold's value relative to the dollar is effectively meaningless. Gold trades just like any other commodity... at the whim of the market. But unlike other commodities, as the author cited above so accurately points out, it has no intrinsic value.

You can't compare the situation we face to the depression era because of we no longer use the gold standard. That's probably a good thing, since gold was confiscated at a fixed value by the govt during those times :

The next best indicator you could look at - which isn't a good one at all but better than nothing - is past performance during past recessions. If you do, you'll see that gold prices have both risen, and dropped - due to influences outside the recession itself.

Really... this myth that gold is a safety-net investment has no real basis in fact. Historically, it's been one of the worst investments you can make. It's even worse when you consider the fact that if you want to purchase actual, in-your-hand gold, the price you pay is above market value.

It's done quite well in the last 10 years. But so have stocks. It's on the downslide now... maybe not as fast, but definitely going down. If your idea of successful investing is limiting the amount you lose... it might make sense.

 

[Per Ardua]

...
If the market crashes, we’re all going to be living in poverty. Why would we want gold?

I want you to think back to Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was turned into a helpless swamp. There was no government, no effective police force, and no order. Did those people suddenly start trading gold? Of course not. They traded water, food, clothing, and other items of USE. If the world goes to hell, usefulness becomes valuable. Gold is not useful
...


http://money-hawk.com/blog/2008/12/...d-so-are-people-who-tell-you-to-invest-in-it/



That article got me thinking. In a way it makes sense that Gold is as worthless as our Dollars and Euros in regards to how helpful it is.

I still will keep $1,000 to $2,000 in Silver Dollars around, but hoarding precious metal shouldn't be people's main concern. I would rather invest in land. For me I conclude that other aspects such as health, know-how, personal fitness, food, a place to go and a general game plan are more important than investing in 20 or more Gold Eagles.

Comparisons should be self consistent. The people in New Orleans may not have started trading in gold, but they probably didn't see their property values go up much either. If someone in New Orleans had purchased gold rather than a house prior to the hurricane, they'd probably be better off right now.

I think the comparison and logic is flawed but I do agree with the conclusion and would aslo prefer to invest in land, food and items of more immediate use than gold.

Cheers,
-Per.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I would agree that buying PMs at the expense of getting other preps like food,water,guns & ammo, would be foolish. But I don't believe that we are headed toward a Mad Max-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it kind of thing, but more of a downward spiraling dollar and global economy, in which case gold and silver will likely rise considerably in value.

 

[Frank&Sense]

1) During Katrina a lot of folks not in New Orleans were buying and selling gold.

2) You assume that it will be always be tooth and claw after the SHTF. Your presumption is society will break down completely, everywhere, and forever.

3) Historically, gold has been valued in societies that were more diseased, war-torn, starving and poorly run than any today. On every continent in every age regardless of the strife and social breakdown, gold, silver and diamonds have keep their value and use. Why should that be different today?

 

[anne36]

Gold is easy to buy, but may be harder to sell.

Just like the diamond engagement ring you get before the wedding. The minute you put it on your finger its worth goes down to about a tenth of what you bought it at.

I know, because I tried to turn my ring in for credit to the same jeweler who sold it to me, about 12 years earlier. (Had the original paperwork on the ring), and it was worth much less then, than I had originally paid for it. Go figure? Arent precious metals and jewels supposed to go up in value?

 

[Northern Wisconsin]

...
If the market crashes, we’re all going to be living in poverty. Why would we want gold?

I want you to think back to Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was turned into a helpless swamp. There was no government, no effective police force, and no order. Did those people suddenly start trading gold? Of course not. They traded water, food, clothing, and other items of USE. If the world goes to hell, usefulness becomes valuable. Gold is not useful
...


http://money-hawk.com/blog/2008/12/...d-so-are-people-who-tell-you-to-invest-in-it/



That article got me thinking. In a way it makes sense that Gold is as worthless as our Dollars and Euros in regards to how helpful it is.

I still will keep $1,000 to $2,000 in Silver Dollars around, but hoarding precious metal shouldn't be people's main concern. I would rather invest in land. For me I conclude that other aspects such as health, know-how, personal fitness, food, a place to go and a general game plan are more important than investing in 20 or more Gold Eagles.

If you have a few hundred thousand dollars to preserve gold is the best way.

Yes get some land but, not to much.

Remember you will have to pay property taxes.

 

[Humungus]

if things get to the point where where gold is worthless, than 'owning' land will just mean defending it. It wont matter that your name used to be on a piece of paper somewhere saying you own it 'legally'.

All but the very worst scenarios will involve a surival or eventual re-emergence of SOME form of financial system. With that in mind, gold is one of the best ways to preserve money through various possible currency changes and mass inflation.

 

[Humungus]

Gold is easy to buy, but may be harder to sell.

Just like the diamond engagement ring you get before the wedding. The minute you put it on your finger its worth goes down to about a tenth of what you bought it at.

I know, because I tried to turn my ring in for credit to the same jeweler who sold it to me, about 12 years earlier. (Had the original paperwork on the ring), and it was worth much less then, than I had originally paid for it. Go figure? Arent precious metals and jewels supposed to go up in value?

sure, the gold and gems would go up in value. But when you buy something like a ring you pay more than market gold price. Its sort of like if you buy an aluminum john boat, you pay more than what it would cost to buy a hunk of aluminum of the same weight.

 

[WSierra]

If we're talking 'survival' here, and not long term investments (this isn't investmentsboards.com ;-) ), I'm not interested in gold. I can't eat it. If we find ourselves in survival mode,.. and someone offers me a basket of gold coins in exchange for a case of beans,.. I'd have to turn them down. I intend to prepare. Non-perishable food, water, shelter, and the means to keep them. Pretty simple plan and gold isn't on my list. Gold & silver is neat, but in the near term, I'd rather barter for something useful.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

What about .22 rounds?

 

[Farnorthdan]

I'm going to have to agree with mgd on this one, having a few ounces of gold certainly can't hurt. My main concern right now is Food, Food and more food. I also have invested heavly in other metals...copper, brass and lead..:

I think its also critical to have plenty of weapons on hand to protect said assets....:thumb:


DS

 

[TacomaJPP]

You can't eat gold...

 

[countryboy123]

No we should keep our money in Dollars. After all, the dollar is only going to be devalued by 30 percent in the next year or two right? 30% isnt so bad.

And when it is all done, we can take our money that is worth 30% less and complain about how it only buys so much food and so much gas.

Who wants to preserve their buying power by buying something as "worthless" as gold? I mean it is downright unpatriotic to think for yourself and buy gold, when these fund managers are telling you not to do it.

Of course the fact that these same fund managers are buying as much gold as they can find might should tell you something....

 

[Samain]

I have to agree with the article. At least for the short term golds value will be irrealevent. Worth would most likely put into useable items like food, water, clothing, and other supplies. If things return to some normality perhaps then people may start trading luxury resources.