"Invest in gold NOW!" ... errr ... why?

[alternative-energy]

Thanks for the support Snowhope. I was begining to wonder if I had done something wrong!

I think MacG regards gold as a barbaric relic which has no purpose in a civilised society. He is prejudised against gold. Of course he is correct. In Utopia do you remember what the slaves chains were made from? Gold. What a neat idea Thomas More had!


The Question to this thread was Err ... Why Gold?
I think this has been outlined
1) If I had 2k worth of gold ( amount i could easily hold in my hand) i literally could buy a shed load of razors. Gold is small and portable
2) In the Roman example it is indestructible and has, so far, always been valued by humans as a form of currency.
3) It has in the past kept pace with inflation. Will shall see what happens to the gold : razor ratio as time goes by (if Vortex agrees to this frivolous pursuit).

I haven't really heard any other arguments that have pursuaded me otherwise. Except the " There will be no guarantees that this always be the case" kind. Of course you should concentrate on paying off debt and not put all of your spare cash in gold.


MacG wrote

I think that this "buy gold" encountered on PeakOil sites is invented by people without skills who desperately try to find something to do about their miserable situation. I would suggest taking up shoe repair as a hobby instead. Or sewing. Or gardening.

If thats relating to me...

As far as hobbies go. I can tell you I have quite a few... Half term for me Yes, I'm a teacher ( not a someone in the upper classes though i have been fortunate in some of my investment choices in the past) now so I have time to:
Train for my next Tri, get the allotment sorted, phone up Ofgem to see how I will finally receive my ROCs. Oh and a climbing trip for the weekend. I don't often get a chance to post on this site though i like to look in from time to time: too busy.

I think the peak oil survivalists ( mostly veering towards the obsessional) who hoard a huge number of items and go shopping for disaster, do peak oil no favours. Because the average Joe is so removed in their everyday lives from this mentality that they will believe (rightly or wrongly) that they are nutters. Not that that relates to any of you guys!

[MacG]

If thats relating to me...

Nops. I think mostly about the various people who write about economics on dedicated sites.

Come to think of it: I dont think I could buy even a single disposable razor with a Krugerrand here. They would just stare at me when I tried to pay.

[brasso]

An interesting thread, which seems to be basically about hording as an alternative to investment!

As for gold, well... I think the reason why alot of folks get so frothed up about it is because our governments keep creating more and more money, which has the effect of eroding the value of the cash in our wallets (sort of stealth tax), so they tend to view investing in gold as an act of rebellion. The UK created about 11% more money last year - I wonder why inflation's so high? Hmmm...

Most of the sites tend to be US, because that's where alot of mismanagement and monetary growth is coming from, so it's holders of US Dollars who are really jumping onto gold (and euros...).

Really, whether you're interesting in holding physical gold depends on your reasons. Gold has always held its value for thousands of years, but then so has land. Gold's attraction is that it's portable and a good amount of value. A single sovereign costs around ?80, so anyone can hold a few as a safety blanket. You don't have to be a millionaire!

But as an added bonus, gold is now a worthwhile investment. It's shown a 10% rise in the last 30 days.

So should you buy gold? Hell it's up to you! It's an investment like any other. Whether it will survive PO is up for debate, but I think it's likely. It certainly has a better chance than a pension or shares in Marks & Spencer!

Yours in the cause,
Brasso

[Erik]

For me and I guess for a lot of people here, I simply don't have enough spare cash available to buy into gold - it's way down the list of priorities, in fact I don't think it's on the list at all.

One comment though: Gold (real gold, not paper) may have the advantage of being small and portable, but it's also attractive to thieves - and once stolen it's gone forever. An equivalent investment in training for new skills cannot be stolen!

Also, without intending to sound condescending, if anyone is hoarding cash and gold at home, then be careful not to state the fact too often in an open forum such as this one! Sorry if this is stating the obvious...