How much bullion do you really need?

[SanMiguel]

As some may know, I am not generally a fan of the public buying bullion because they buy it in such small amounts that it won't be much good to them in a state of world panic, economic crisis, etc. Joe Public thinks that a few krugerrands is what they need to protect them.
So, how much bullion do you think you'd really need to protect yourself if the currency was devalued Zimbabwe style?

I've heard 1% of net worth being used, 10%, 25%.
Are people just drumming up random percentages?

If 2 zeros were knocked off the currency, I could see how 1% might be used but 10?

 

[Adamus]

Gold is good.

Oh no sorry it was "Greed is good" wasn't it?

Gold is good for making idols.

I think gold is the ultimate currency, so I figured if we had some sort of apocalypse then you might want some gold after that.

But then I figured, if you want to buy a loaf of bread and all you've got is a krugerrand, you'll either end up with a load more bread than you wanted or you'll be overpaying enormously. I mean, you can't get change for it, all the other currencies are dead and gone in the post-apocalypse mad max world. maybe the baker will give you some cowrie shells as change.

So what are you going to do with a load of gold?

But seriously, if you're worth £10,000,000 now and you buy £1,000,000 worth of gold and then sterling collapses, if you lose everything else, at least you'll be worth 2000 ounces of gold or thereabouts. Whether you can then do anything with it is another question.

 

[SanMiguel]

Gold is good.

Oh no sorry it was "Greed is good" wasn't it?

Gold is good for making idols.

I think gold is the ultimate currency, so I figured if we had some sort of apocalypse then you might want some gold after that.

But then I figured, if you want to buy a loaf of bread and all you've got is a krugerrand, you'll either end up with a load more bread than you wanted or you'll be overpaying enormously. I mean, you can't get change for it, all the other currencies are dead and gone in the post-apocalypse mad max world. maybe the baker will give you some cowrie shells as change.

So what are you going to do with a load of gold?

But seriously, if you're worth £10,000,000 now and you buy £1,000,000 worth of gold and then sterling collapses, if you lose everything else, at least you'll be worth 2000 ounces of gold or thereabouts. Whether you can then do anything with it is another question.

Yes, but the idea in that case is that the 1m that you bought the gold for will now be worth 10m again in the new financial system - how anyone can know that is anyone's guess of course. Added to that is the fact that you won't be able to exchange your gold for a good few years in your own country if the gov recall it all so yes it won't do you much good unless you keep it to yourself.

In a currency revaluation, that 10% net worth in gold will also mean your wealth remains constant. If it's change you want then you need silver also.
All buried in the back garden where no-one knows about it but you.

But the figure seems arbitrary or no-one has yet explained it. 10%?

 

[Dunecat]

Yeah but with gold as a currency it would be impractical to use it when nobody knew how much of it bought something? Na, I think if it really broke down, barter would happen before the govt scrambled to possibly reforge a new currency... probably similar to the way hilter handled things. He was certainly a tyrant but he did a good job economically before he screwed it all up lol.

hmm but interesting you bring up zimbabwe... do you guys think that hyperinflation could happen if America lost this demand for dollars? So I'm thinking that with a large supply of dollars that America has made and been able to spend due to foreign demand, which would mean that there is an excess of USD that would cause a huge amount of inflation if they all flooded back to America?

 

[Martinghoul]

This much: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10347270.stm

The unique opportunity to buy this baby at auction is coming up. It's tomorrow, in fact. Only $4mil and you could be a proud owner of this stylish fashion accessory.

 

[Waterfield]

I hope it's chocolate inside.

 

[Black Swan]

buy krugs, pandas, maples etc...because it's good fun to build a collection knowing that it is worth something/will hold its value. But long term (smoothing out those darn peaks and troughs) it hasn't performed that well over 20 years, just over the past 6. And bear in mind if we do go to hell in a hand cart having 50 ounces of gold in your house aint too clever a move...so then you really need somewhere to store it...insurance is an issue too..