How to Store Gold & Silver

You are considering buying gold as an investment, but you aren’t sure where to store it. Due to its value, you need to put as much thought into storing gold as purchasing it. You need to choose an option that will safeguard your investment, so it will be there for you when you need it.

You have three main choices for storing gold. Let’s look at each one.

At Home

Some people choose to store gold at home. If you go this route, you might want to get it insured to protect yourself in the event of burglary, or natural disaster. While insurance protects your investment, it is expensive, depending on your investment. You could easily spend more on insurance than you would if you stored it at a third-party site.

If you still decide to store it at home, you need to find a good storage spot. Make sure it isn’t too obvious or easy to reach. It’s wise to store it three layers deep, so thieves won’t find it easily if they ransack your house. You’ll also need to consider increasing your home security by adding alarms and safes. Again, this adds to the cost of storing it at home. What you thought would be cheap and easy can actually be expensive and difficult.

In a Safe Deposit Box

For many, a safe deposit box is the preferred method of storing gold. This option allows you to maintain direct control over the gold without having it in your home, fully allocated to the individual. You still have complete privacy since the box operators don’t know what is in your safe deposit box, and you don’t even have to worry if the company goes bankrupt. The contents inside of the boxes aren’t part of the balance sheets, so your investment is protected.

You have two main choices when selecting a safe deposit box. In the past, bank safe deposit boxes were the most common. However, most banks have stopped issuing safe deposit boxes, and there are other issues, as well, such as the tumultuous banking industry leading to closures. Factor in bank holidays and bankers’ hours, and it can be difficult to get to your safe deposit box as needed.

Privately run safe deposit boxes are the other option. These boxes are growing in popularity due to the ease of access and use. Plus, some third-party companies partner with bullion dealers, allowing you to purchase and store the bullion easily.

With a Bullion Dealer

Finally, you can store gold with a bullion dealer. Bullion dealers offer allocated and unallocated storage. Allocated storage means the bullion dealer stores your gold separately from its inventory and you have the title to it. You have to pay for insurance, storage, and more, so this method can be expensive. Although, you maintain direct access to your Bullion. Unallocated storage means that the dealer records the gold that it owes you but does not set any gold aside. While it’s more affordable, you could lose it all if the dealer or financial institution goes bankrupt.

Which Option Is the Right Choice?

Most collectors agree that a safe deposit box is the ideal way to store gold. You retain access and don’t have to worry about bankruptcy. Also, it’s much safer than storing gold at home. If you are interested in investing in gold, start looking for private safe deposit boxes to house it. Contact a Guardian Vaults consultant today to find out more on fully allocated and segregated storage for your bullion.