Turning gold into cash should be the last thing people do.
Unlike the US dollars, gold can't simply be mined fast enough to reduce its values. Whereas with the US dollar, the US federal reserve can just print it, literally.
Gold is the money of the future, especially when the economic system finally collapse. Gold has been money for thousand of years for good reason.
Unless there are better form of money in a free market, gold is the best choice. Horde some of it.(Of course, don't convert your entire saving into gold, that's stupid.) It may leave you one of the last guy with real wealth after an economic collapse. It is the cork that float in an ocean of economic uncertainly.
This is of course, assuming that the government managed to outrun our economic productive capacity.
>> Gold has been money for thousand of years for good reason
Only if you consider "because it's shiny" to be a good reason. That's the historical basis for gold being valuable - it looks good (according to the tastes of medieval royalty) when made into a crown/necklace, is easy to form into a nice shape, and is relatively scarce based on our current technology. There's noting innate in gold that makes it more or less valuable as a currency than any other resource that exhibits scarcity.
What we consider valuable changes with the times - go back two thousand years and change and you'll see that the most valuable items tended to be exotic rocks, salt, and certain types of dye.
Gold doesn't corrode, easily divisible, is portable are just many reasons why gold has been the money of choice.
In the desert, salt is worth more than gold.
Other part of the world, they use cows.
Like you say, it all depend on the circumstances, how much gold there is. However, gold has continued to be the money of choice for civilizations for thousand of years. It withstood the test of time and to this day continued to be regarded as a valuable commodity.
Ultimately, the value of gold is a subjective one.
I wanted to know what gold-pressed latinum was, having heard about it on Deep Space 9. I looked it up 2 weeks ago. It's basically a currency which can't be beamed or replicated, thus preserving its value as a currency.
Interesting, and according to Wikipedia, first devised in the short story series: Venus Equilateral.
> gold can't simply be mined fast enough to reduce its values
No, but people's DESIRE for gold can change quite quickly.
Gold can lose value very very fast if people decide that a given national currency is going to be inflation-free - they would rather have their wealth in a liquid form, and sell the gold for cash, thus driving down the price of gold.
Why did housing prices crash over the last year? Was it because so many houses were created in 12 months? No, it was because people's estimation of the value of houses went down, due to new and better information.
> No, but people's DESIRE for gold can change quite quickly.
Whether or not people's desire for gold and PGMs change or not - they will still desire products that use PGMs (e.g. catalytic converters). Gold has some awesome properties.
Also - the desire for gold is 1000's of years old. Until women will be happy with a plastic engagement ring gold will remain valuable.
> Why did housing prices crash over the last year? Was it because so many houses were created in 12 months? No, it was because people's estimation of the value of houses went down, due to new and better information.
I thought it was because loans were given too easily (i.e. too much money in circulation).
> Gold is certainly not immune to such effects.
The reason why some people prefer gold as a store of value is because the government can't use inflation to rob you of your money. Inflation occurs always when the government prints more money and it serves as a hidden taxation. In the course of history a lot of governments printed money in order to finance its numerous social experiments (Germany, Zimbabwe, etc...)
The problems in Zimbabwe could have been averted if the government was forced to back their currency (partially) by gold.
Whether or not gold should be used as a medium of exchange is up to debate. The bigger question is: What gives you confidence in the value of a dollar?*
* substitute dollar with your local currency of choice (pound, Australian dollar, Euro, Zim dollar, rand, etc...)
Last weekend I was at a hotel and saw a small seminar with a bunch of mostly older people. The sign read GOLD4CASH. Is this the other side of Cash4Gold's business?
I have actually heard some dubious ads on the radio about buying gold recently ("we'll send you your first shipment of real gold in 2-3 weeks after signing up", etc.).
Though the catch is that gold itself does not have any purchasing power in the real world. You have to trade it for real currency before you'll be able to pay for other goods and services.
Additionally it doesn't actually provide you with a fixed income, like you can with cash in an interest bearing account, or with shares in companies that pay a dividend.
Suffice to say now would be an excellent time to turn gold into cash given the high current gold price. Just do it through a reputable dealer.
I disagree of course. Even 3% inflation is more than most people get in interest. But, of course, the good old days of 3%, or even 6% inflation are firmly behind us, aren't they?
What burns me is the capital gains tax, which, even in the best of times, is a slap in the face. But now, as we enter this period of extremely high inflation, anybody lucky enough to not be in cash, is promptly charged a nice fat capital gains tax the instant they convert their asset (gold/land/etc) into the inflated currency. Now, even if you are a good socialist and believe in capital gains taxes, I wonder how you feel when there's been no real gain at all? When all you did was preserve what used to buy a loaf of bread, so that you could still buy a loaf of bread after the inflation, and even then, are deemed worthy of confiscation.
Unlike the US dollars, gold can't simply be mined fast enough to reduce its values. Whereas with the US dollar, the US federal reserve can just print it, literally.
Gold is the money of the future, especially when the economic system finally collapse. Gold has been money for thousand of years for good reason.
Unless there are better form of money in a free market, gold is the best choice. Horde some of it.(Of course, don't convert your entire saving into gold, that's stupid.) It may leave you one of the last guy with real wealth after an economic collapse. It is the cork that float in an ocean of economic uncertainly.
This is of course, assuming that the government managed to outrun our economic productive capacity.