HOW TO INVEST IN GOLD?

"When you invest in gold, what you are looking for is a long-term store of value," said Tomás Epeldegui, director of Degussa, in the last session of Value School. The talk was dedicated to the topic ' How to save and invest in gold to protect and increase your wealth in the long term ' and addressed both historical and more practical aspects related to the place it should occupy in an investment portfolio, how to buy it or where to keep it gold ira companies reviews.

 

Who also highlighted the reserve of value of this precious metal? López Zafra, who reviewed the use of gold as money throughout history, highlighted as one of its benefits the fact that “it has value in itself, outside of political power, because people freely chose it”. He especially stopped at the milestone that marked the abandonment of the US gold standard in August 1971 by decision of President Richard Nixon. In this sense, during his speeches, he insisted that the bad reputation of this investment product comes, above all, from politicians, because an economy based on the gold standard "would mean tying up the spending of politicians," for which he acknowledged that it would be practically impossible to return to him.

 

The director of Degussa explained the difference between physical gold, in which his company is specialized, and paper gold, placing the former in the wealth basket, “it is a diversifying element of our wealth”, and paper gold in the financial portfolio. And he insisted on the function of the former as insurance to cover "the future of the rest of the investments." In this sense, he used several graphs, based on studies by JP Morgan and the World Gold Council, to show that, “adding a percentage of gold to a set of investments improves the profitability of the set and reduces volatility." Regarding the best time to invest in gold, he opined, supported by Professor López Zafra, that “It is always a good time ”and he advised doing it“ on a recurring and constant basis ”, not only in times of uncertainty,“ which is when it is usually done ”.

 

One of the questions that were raised was the profile of those who invest in gold, an issue on which Epeldegui was very clear: “ They are people who are concerned about going beyond the fixed income and variable income funds that have been offering them all life and that they see that they do not come to fruition ". To which he added that another important point for them is the liquidity offered by gold and which other investments lack, “as it is the international currency par excellence." He was also supported in this regard by his table companion, who stated emphatically that "gold can be exchanged anywhere in the world."

 

Regarding the taxation of physical investment gold, Tomás Epeldegui pointed out that it is very interesting for investors, "given that it is exempt from paying VAT by European regulations", as long as it meets certain characteristics. “In the case of bars, they must have a purity of at least 999.5, those of Degussa have the maximum, 999.9, while the coins must be legal tender, have been in circulation, be later than one year 1800, have been minted by central banks and have a purity equal to or greater than 999 ”, he explained.

 

For all these details, he highlighted the "added value" of going to an establishment accredited by the LMBA (London Bullion Market Association), the most important association of market professionals that operate with gold and silver in the world., "As is Degussa, because in our headquarters we help and advice our clients directly and personally, although it is also true that more and more bullion is bought online ”.

 

Another issue that was addressed in the meeting was how to protect the bullion or coins once acquired. Epeldegui stressed that, "as it is a metal that does not spoil or rust, it can be stored anywhere, everyone has their hiding places", but recommended doing so in a safe deposit box and reported that Degussa offers their customers a rental safe deposit box service in which they can store not only coins and bullion, but any other personal object of value, with the option of securing the deposited content.

 

The session aroused great interest among the public who attended the room and those who connected through the web. Both were interested in issues such as the possibility of returning to the gold standard, details about taxation, profitability in recent years or the ecological footprint left by extraction.