Gold Investing

Exactly, to make money buying and selling gold you have got to be trading in volume and looking at tiny market trends. Holding onto gold long term is simply a way of protecting wealth against inflation as it's seen as a safer bet then cash. But you could say the same thing about art and valuable artifacts.....another thing the wealthy will buy to hide and protect wealth.

There is no get out of jail card for people in this situation other than to cut back and hold your breath and hope things get better. My opinion is we are in a very bad place because our growth is the worst in the G7 which will mean lower than expected tax revenues partnered with the need to support a crumbling state infrastructure....I'm afraid tye government failed to fix the roof in the summer

 

Full sovereigns on eBay are selling for around £380-400,halves are £190-£200.

 

It is worth taking into account that if you are buying and selling sovereigns through a dealer there will be a spread, roughly, of around 12%. So the gold price will have to increase by 12% before you break even. The advantage of buying sovereigns over bullion is that it is CGT free. But of course that only matters if you make a profit that puts you in that bracket.

I would not recommend buying privately as you will never know what you are getting.

The dealer I use.

 

Very few things are made of 24 carot gold.It’s often 9 or 18,Sovereigns are 22 carot.

 

I have bought several times on eBay,always had the genuine things,I often collect and check size and weight!

 

I would not buy anything like that on eBay, these things are often counterfeit and weight proves nothing. You buy and sell this stuff via the official routes or risk losing all your money.

There are different coins with different purity and weight and sell at different prices. You can buy a half sovereign but the value of royal mint can also be influenced by how rare they are.

We have yet to experience the level of inflation required to buy gold. If this was Turkey then gold would be viable but inflation is still only 11%.....it's not hyper yet.

 

Sovereigns are 7.98 grams and 22.05mm diameter,1.52mm thick,no other metal can equal this,so if all this is correct you have 22 carot gold.

 

In addition, many countries have gold reserves, so they benefit from the fact that the value of gold has remained consistently high. You won't earn much by investing in gold, but you will get money stably. The first time I invested money in gold was on the recommendation of https://stephenswmg.com. I got 20% of my investment every year, which is a lot.

 

Absolutely, investing in gold is often seen as a bedrock of stability in the financial world. The notion that gold is the world currency with minimal risk of devaluation adds to its appeal. Many countries maintaining gold reserves further underline its enduring value.

 

While the returns might not be spectacular, the reliability and stability make gold investments a prudent choice. It's like having a financial anchor in the ever-changing sea of investments.

 

There are some gains if gold rises there’s no tax to pay on the gains unlike savings in banks. Also you can have gold investments and still claim means tests benefits such as pension credit,which you can’t if above the limits in savings.

 

As a significant holder of gold in bullion form may I suggest it is a bit more complicated.

Firstly gold in its physical bullion form, like many other assets that appreciate in value over a certain amount, can fall into the capital gains tax bracket. If I sold my gold now I would have tax to pay on the gain as it has appreciated to a significant degree since purchase. However if you buy your gold (or silver) in the form of legal tender, for example gold sovereigns, capital gains tax does not apply.

In terms of benefits this would very much depend on a "decision maker's" ruling. It could well be argued that gold, held as either bullion or legal tender, sovereigns for example, have no other use other than an investment or savings and so fall within the investment or savings umbrella and therefore have to be declared. It would need a test case to resolve this issue but I somehow doubt a gold bullion millionaire would have much mileage in claiming benefits if they had no other savings or investments; I exaggerate to make a point.

In addition if you bought your gold with the intention of reducing your conventional savings for the purposes of claiming benefits this would definitely fall within the scope of "deprivation of capital" and would be counted.

It is worthwhile repeating that any investment in physical gold, whether bullion or coin, is subject to the bid offer spread on purchase which may be around 10%. So your investment would have to increase 10% before you sold to just break even. I was fortunate in buying my gold just before the Brexit vote so benefited from the almost constant rise, with a few dips, since then.

 

I was thinking of sovereign and similar gold items rather than bullion,where capital gains would not involved,and only myself would know the buying and selling prices. It’s as good as cash,easy to sell usually at a gain if timed correctly,and doesn’t count as capital for benefit claims or inheritance tax.

 

This sounds all very complicated, last gold I came by I scrapped it at a jewelers, if it was me I'd be buying platinum or silver, way better short term return.

 

I beg to differ again slightly from some of your points.

Gold sovereigns are not certainly not exempt for inheritance tax as they are part of a person's estate on death. You can of course gift sovereigns subject to the annual gift limits, but that is no different to any other gift of value or cash annually up to the limit of £3000. One can hide them from the authorities before death, but that would require some careful planning and if it was any significant amount you would be open to some dire financial penalties if discovered. This would be no different than hiding any other asset.

As for benefit claims if you were holding a significant amount in sovereigns, that would be very much at the discretion of the authorities and whether they decided it was an investment; as I said, this is a question that is very much open. This is of course if you decided to declare them, but I am talking about the legal position not the position if you are "hiding" your savings. There is no regulation that specifically states they are not counted. To repeat, if you divested yourself of savings into gold with the intention of being eligible for benefits you would absolutely fall within the "deprivation of capital" rules.

As to it being easy to sell at a gain "if timed right", well that is the chance you take as with any other investment asset. It's the "if timed right" bit which is key and it is extremely difficult to make consistent profits, certainly in the short term. My gold has been held long term and is currently making a significant profit, as I say, but that was almost entirely due to good luck.

As to only yourself knowing the buying and selling price of sovereigns or similar (I assume legal tender gold coins) that would be irrelevant as no tax on gold coins would be attracted in any case.

In all the points above I am assuming a person wishes to work within the law, if you wish to work outside the law and regulations that is of course different. If we are only talking about a few thousand here and there it is hardly worth the risk reward ratio in working outside the law. More than a few thousand the reward might be greater but then the risk increases.