Marc Faber: Don’t Store Your Gold In The United States

Zero Hedge ^ | 08/25/2011 | Simon Black of Sovereign Man

[SeekAndFind]

From Simon Black of Sovereign Man

Marc Faber: Don’t Store Your Gold In The United States

As usual, the CNBC hosts were completely dumbfounded.

Phoning in from Sao Paulo, Brazil, investment guru Marc Faber was a guest on CNBC last week, once again telling the unvarnished truth about the state of the world economy and bankrupt western nations.

This time, Faber had a very clear message: that everyone should own *physical* gold… and what’s more, they should store it outside of the United States:

“I prefer if investors hold physical gold in a safe deposit box, ideally outside the US, in various locations… Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada… I think it’s important in today’s very uncertain world to diversify, not only the various asset classes… but also the custody of your assets should be in different jurisdictions.”

His hosts couldn’t believe it. -NOT- store in the United States, the bastion of freedom and security??!?! What lunacy!

CNBC: “Uh, so do you thus not trust US banks or US custodians? Do you think they might fail or abscond with the gold?”

Guffaws and incredulous snickers emerge from the hosts.

Faber: “I don’t trust anyone.”

Uncomfortable silence.

CNBC: “Hmmm. Interesting.”

Completely devoid of anything intelligent to say on the topic of sovereign diversification, they quickly changed the subject to talk about equities… but Faber soon came back to his original point.

Among other things, he mentioned that banks in Asia are FAR more stable and sound than they are in the west for not having invested so heavily in dead weight assets like Greek bonds or US mortgage-backed securities.

I couldn’t agree more.

This is a point I’ve been pounding on from day 1: internationalization, what I frequently call planting multiple flags, is absolutely critical to reducing your risk.

You won’t ever hear about it from the talking heads on state-sponsored media like CNBC. They refuse to look at the real world where America is no longer the center of the financial universe or the safest place to put money.
Truthfully, though, bankrupt nations like the United States pose the greatest risk of all to our prosperity and livelihood, regardless of whether we’re just starting out or have already achieved it.

This is because politicians will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo; the more they try to ‘fix’ things, the worse the situation becomes. They think they can borrow their way out of debt and spend their way out of recession. When these tactics don’t work, they just borrow and spend more.

In recent remarks during an official visit to Japan, Vice President Joe Biden said that China became the world’s second largest economy only because of US troop presence in Asia.

This line of reasoning only makes sense to a politician: China’s growth has nothing to do with its huge population, massive accumulation of savings, burgeoning technology, or culture of productivity… and everything to do with US military installations in South Korea, Japan, and Okinawa.

Such logic truly tests the patience of rational, thinking people, yet it exemplifies the kind of out-of-touch, mindless bureaucrat who is running the country.

Marc Faber has it absolutely right: entrusting the preponderance of your assets to these moronic sociopaths is a foolhardy endeavor. Own physical gold as a hedge against their idiotic fiscal policies, and store it overseas to make sure they can’t get their thieving hands on it.

Here in Austria, there’s a great secure storage facility in Vienna called Das Safe. You can rent a safety deposit box from them completely anonymously, and the box contents are insured for up to $50,000.

This is financial privacy at its finest… and if you want to take Marc Faber’s advice, you should definitely consider Das Safe. As an aside, Austria is also a great place to buy gold; you can purchase the gold ‘Philharmonic’ coin at almost every bank in the country at premiums as low as 3%.

If you’re serious about doing this, you should check out last month’s edition of Sovereign Man: Confidential. I covered a lot of detailed information about moving and storing gold overseas, including specialized contacts and obscure regulations that you need to know about.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I can’t remember exactly, but there was a new law that went into effect in July prohibiting the sale of precious metals that were not delivered within a few weeks, so I am not so sure that such IRA’s are available anymore.

---

You misunderstood a report relating to certain commodities traders. Those IRAs are certainly available.

[greeneyes]

Ok. I just read a 2 sentence reminder about the law, and wondered if it pertained to IRA’s. Didn’t research it because I had no interest in those IRA’s.

[muawiyah]

The Dutch didn't have wheat and beans. They had tulip bulbs.

I suppose wheat and beans would have also commanded very high prices.

You have to plan ahead on these things.

BTW, I've met and talked to people about their experience in the 1943 winter and the bombing of the dykes.

Do you know what refugee relief is like in an occupied country with the Nazis in charge? It wasn't pretty.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

There is no need to store gold off shore. With Geochashing, your gold can be as safe as any Swiss bank safe deposit box. Many people prefer GPS coordinates to Swiss bank account numbers.

[OB1kNOb]

Wish I had all those big nickels now.

Those big nickels are going for over $31 each at the moment. :-)

Mom said they had been stockpiling them in case the money ever became worthless again.

As David Morgan says, "Silver is the money of last resort."

[OB1kNOb]

I can't believe I am having to think these thoughts.

Neither did the citizens of Weimar Germany, Hungary, Argentina, Zimbabwe........ :-(

[Travis McGee]

The reason for Faber specifically talking about gold and putting it overseas is because no American’s bank account is safe from the IRS today any place in the world. The IRS has bullied the world’s banks into sending them complete information on all deposits by Americans abroad. Only gold (or other PMs, diamonds etc) put into a box is safe from this intrusion.

[Travis McGee]

I hope that GPS is working forever, and is not encoded by the govt. I think it’s a little early to treat GPS as a permanent utility.

[Travis McGee]

When food is worth more than gold is when starving refugees are sorted out in camps.

But the guards who take the gold in exchange for rice (or those who take the gold from the guards) will buy land and houses with the gold.

So it wasn’t that the “food was worth more than gold,” but rather, a case of extortion: give us your gold or face death by starvation.

[Travis McGee]

Good luck finding a reputable bank in Asia or anyplace else that will not fill out mandatory reports that will be sent to the IRS. It's the price the IRS has demanded for the continuation of basic reciprocal banking agreements. Try to deposit some money overseas without Uncle Sam knowing, and you will find it's not very easy any more.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“Which is great until a home invader has a gun against a loved-one’s head”

You know what we call a home invader? Target practice. If you are not capable of protecting your gold then you probably should just bury it in a PVC tube in the backyard and plant a rose bush over it.

[mad_as_he$$]

In the case I am referring to “bank” is a loose term and you do not actually deposit anything. More like secure storage. Ever been to Timor?

[Travis McGee]

Never been to Timor. How do they do it there?

[Travis McGee]

Don’t make the mistake of hubris. Unless you live on a private island and are guarded by Blackwater, you’re at risk of home invasion or a sniper ambush or the like. Ponder life in Mexico, where gangs kill mayors and police chiefs (who are guarded better than you or I) every day. Kidnapping a relative (how many nieces and nephews do you have? How much do you love them, if they’re sceaming on the cell phone?)

Please, no hubris. I’m an ex-SEAL and the scenarios scare me a LOT. I don’t live behind a swept-zone surrounded by triple concertina wire and a platoon of troops. Everybody has to go shopping-—and risk a parking lot takedown by “commando criminals” (cite Argentina, Mexico) who are dressed in police or SWAT type uiniforms. Just to kidnap a relative, to torture, because an extensive google search revealed one’s foolish propensity to talk about PMs on the internet.

Old tech or new tech, torturing beloved relatives is the proven method to find buried or hidden treasure. Please don’t be so glib in dismissing the possibility of a home invasion or similar hyper crime against your family.

It sounds like somebody in Ocean City (NJ or MD) bragging at this moment about throwing a hurricane party and riding it out.

[Atlas Sneezed]

You know what we call a home invader? Target practice.

---

I think it’s a naive mistake to assume that your skill with guns will stop every possible criminal effort.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

I hope that GPS is working forever, and is not encoded by the govt. I think it’s a little early to treat GPS as a permanent utility.

(Hey, my first Travis McGee post! Love the books!) Excellent point, Matt. We have so much access to technology these days that we can easily forget that there are other ways of doing things. I believe that the military is currently able to instantly shut off certain regions and even encrypt the entire GPS system so the concern is certainly valid. If for some reason the GPS navigation isn't working in the future, a "stash" could still be recovered old-school using compass and tape. Assuming that laser range finders, internet satellite maps, and digital compasses are still functional, recovery would still be a snap.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Here’s the thing. Speaking for ourselves personally the cartel, para military and the US military are not coming after us. Even if we had a bunch of gold nobody would know it. Nobody is going to kidnap our family. Thats just not the kind of folks that will seek to do us harm. It will be random crime. Gang bangers and druggies in our area. I have yet to see a gang banger at the Bulls Eye range.

As for our current reality we are living the nightmare right now. The crime here in the suburbs of Atlanta is really bad right now. The cops told us its pretty much everywhere. We have had people on our property more than once and up on our deck as recently as last week. We are way past speculation. We have been at the back door with weapons in the middle of the night. We walk our property in the dark with weapons. After awhile you do get a certain feel for it. Most people are not prepared for a real confrontation. So maybe the target practice crack was a little over the top but we are not terrified of intruders. Chances are they will not be prepared for us. Criminals like easy targets. They will usually shy away from a real fight. If the SHTF then there will just be too many of them to hold onto a house in a neighborhood.

Thats why we are settling on a place up in the mountains with no cultural diversity, lightly populated and we are already fairly ensconced in the community and we have friends who have already moved up there and are LAL.

If I had a lot of gold, first I wouldn’t tell anybody about it and second I would not hold it out of the country as when the SHTF you will never be able to take possession of it. If its in the bank they will probably steal or confiscate it. ETF’s are even a worse idea. A good safe secreted and cemented to the floor is a good idea and/or bury it or some of it in a PVC pipe in the backyard. But thats our plan maybe not for everyone. You cannot plan for every scenario that could happen. Just do what makes sense.

[Palladin]

“Thats why we are settling on a place up in the mountains with no cultural diversity, lightly populated”

It’s amazing how many people I know, who live in big cities, are doing this. However, they all have beaucoup inherited bucks to do this.

What do poor conservatives do?

[Georgia Girl 2]

“It’s amazing how many people I know, who live in big cities, are doing this. However, they all have beaucoup inherited bucks to do this.”

“What do poor conservatives do?”

Thats a really good question. We are lucky because we are selling an intellectual property and buying something. Otherwise we would be hard pressed. I have done some research for a friend of mine who just wants a place to run to in case everything goes South. In rural GA there are some really cheap properties. You would not want them as your dream home but just for a run to they are fine. I have found several really nice doublewides on 1-2 acres up in the mountains for $15,000 to $20,000. They are FHA repos and in good areas so if you offered $10,000 you could probably get one. They have wells and septic tanks. You should go online to the MLS in your area and check stuff within 100 miles or so of where you live. You might be suprised. There are so many foreclosurs in the rural areas. Good luck.

[misanthrope]

BTTT