Things I Need to Know Before Investing In Precious Metals

Precious Metals

Precious Metals

Precious metals are the metals that everyone wants to invest in – silver, gold, platinum, and palladium for a start. Everyone thinks that they can get rich from investing in these metals, and many people can. There is a lot to know about investing in general, and specifically investing in precious metals.

You can do some research and find out many things about these precious metals and what it takes to invest in them. You can also see metal-res.com to see what they have to say about it. They are very knowledgeable and can teach you many things about investing in these precious metals.

This article will give you some things to think about before you begin investing. These things will help you to decide if investing in precious metals is something for you. You may decide that it is not, and that is okay, too.

Questions

1. Do You Want Physical, Digital, or Paper?

You can get these metals in all these forms, physical, digital, and paper. You need to be aware that you only really own the physical metals. Digital forms are backed by exchange-trade are also good, but the paper versions are usually not backed by anything physical, so beware. It is best to have the physical metals because you know for sure that you own the metals.

2. Allocated or Unallocated Metals?

You will want to see if your metals are allocated or unallocated before you buy. If they are allocated, they provide a higher degree of safety for the investor. This means that they are segregated and unencumbered and they provide you with a title of ownership. They cannot be lent to others or leased to other people. This means that you own the exact amount of metal that you paid for. You can learn more about allocated and unallocated metals here: https://moneyweek.com/2102/buying-gold-allocated-and-unallocated-gold-accounts-14900/. This site will help you to learn more about it.

Precious Metals

3. Is There a Mark-Up to Spot Metal Prices?

If you are buying your metals from a dealer, you want to be aware of the possibility of the price of the metal being marked up. All dealers have some kind of mark up, but you want to be aware of how much the mark up is. Compare the prices between a few dealers to make sure that you get the best deal for your money.

4. Where Are My Precious Metals Stored?

One of the biggest reasons that people buy precious metals is to hedge against the risks of a bad economy and inflation. If this is the reason that you want to buy precious metals, you also want to make sure that your metals are stored in a safe place. You want to make sure that the storage facility is insured against any type of loss. Even though there is always the possibility of loss at any storage facility, you want to make sure that it is insured just in case.

5. Can I Take Delivery of My Precious Metals?

If you want to take physical delivery of your precious metals, the best way to do it is to buy coins and bars. Other types of precious metals are harder to have the physical gold in your home. If you choose to own your metals, you will also have to find a place to keep it. Will you have a safe in your home, or will you choose to keep it in a safety deposit box in a bank or credit union? This is something that you need to think about before you take physical delivery of your metals.

6. What Are the Ongoing Costs?

If you have physical delivery of your precious metals and keep it in your own home, you will not incur any extra ongoing costs. If you keep it anywhere else, you will have to think about the cost of storing them and the cost of some sort of custodian to watch over it for you. These costs usually are not too bad considering the cost of the metals themselves, but they are still something that you might want to consider.

7. How Liquid is My Investment?

You will need to also think about how liquid your investments are. Will they be easy to sell, or will it take a little longer? If you have physical coins and bars, it might be a little while before you can sell it. If you have ETFs for your precious metals, you can trade those all day on the market. Learn more about ETFs here to see exactly what they are. You will have to decide if your investment is for the long term, or if you only want to keep it for a short period.

8. How Are Precious Metals Taxed?

Precious metals are subject to the capital gains tax of about 28% if you have it for more than a year. If you have it for less than a year, you will not be subject to that tax. If you have ETFs, you are still subject to these taxes, so it does not matter which you have in the case of taxes. This is something that you need to be aware of if you want to invest in precious metals.

These are just a few of the questions that you need to ask yourself before you begin investing in precious metals. There are more things to consider, and you can do some more research on your own. These questions will give you a good head start to seeing if investing in precious metals is for you.

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