This is from www.sovereignman.com. A very worthwhile newsletter to subscribe to in my opinion. I'm not sure of their paid services, but I think some people here are members. I've sorted out my overseas plans but I'm interested in commencing gold storage in another jurisdiction. More research to do, but this article was informative. I think I'd go with Singapore due to the closeness and also I don't trust Europe, especially the EU after its recent history.
So what happens when you're on your way to Singapore or Switzerland and you declare you have over $10,000 in gold as you're leaving Australia?
Keep in mind that governments may adjust their own legal powers. Any private metals storage vault is an convenient target (ie, large asset in one place) when governments become desperate enough to confiscate metals. When gold or silver become key as wealth, governments of all kinds will seek it to maintain their own power.
Why wouldn't they just nationalise Australia's plentiful gold mines instead of sitting on the floor of a vault prying open SDB's one by one and taking your 3 rolls of silver lunars and your couple of 1gram novelty gold bars?
This. If Australian govt suddenly needs gold there is plenty currently being mined and they know exactly where it is.
I personally wouldn't store anything overseas. Much less protection if you are not a citizen of the country and not living there.
For example, because gold sitting in the mines needs to be extracted and the government has to pay workers to do it (or use slaves), while the other type is ready for consumption and thus more valuable.
Going offshore isn't going to help you unless you have never bought anything online and only bought less than $5,000 worth from a local coin dealer with cash and then physically transport that yourself overseas. Anything else and it can be tracked down via bank transfers or shipping records. Anyway, 90%+ of the metal the Perth Mint refines is exported, there just isn't enough PMs held here in Australia that I think the govt would get much out of trying to go around and get everyone's gold. Even the consolidated gold piles, like Perth Mint and the various private vaults, maybe that is $5 billion worth. Even if gold was revalued to $10,000 an ounce in some economic breakdown, that is only $50 billion dollars. Whoopie do, that isn't going to make one little bit of difference to whatever problem the govt is dealing with at that time.
Still much easier for government to nationalise a private mine, pay good wages to miners than to have riot team searching street to street digging up backyards looking for fractional gold coins. Ps You would need to presume all the reserve pm and or pm in soft targets like, banks and private vaults. Would be nationalised at the same time as the time as the mine.
But you're quite intelligent Bron. How does it go, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
I don't get your point. I know plenty of our Depository clients have metal in other locations, diversification is good, but I find it funny that people think Australia is a safe location for their metal while Australian's think other places are better, I suppose the grass is always greener. Gold was confiscated in the US because they were on a gold standard and it was a way of expanding the money supply. These days central banks have other methods and govt desperate for money will have many more attractive assets to go after. However, I don't think an outright confiscation of any asset will happen, that is just too blatant and obvious, a lot easier to just raise taxes, change tax rules, understate inflation that indexing payments relies on etc. That sort of financial repression is far more effective because average person does not really have any idea or any event/action to clearly focus on as to why they feel so much poorer.
Never thought about riot teams, it did not happen in US during the *peaceful* confiscation anyway. It happened, though, during the Nazi regime.
I don't get the overseas storage thing. Either here or overseas you'd presumably be using a private vault, so isn't it just as "safe" from either government? But at least locally you have the ability to drop by any time and get it if you see problems coming (that would almost certainly be the case). Or sue the company if it came to that, or be more closely involved in liquidation if the company folded etc. I'd hate to be overseas and a non-citizen of a country holding any of my assets, especially when I already live in arguably one of the most political and financially stable countries in the world. I think it would be better to spread your risk around at multiple local storage facilities than going overseas. If you are worried about SHTF scenarios, then international air travel is probably one of the most risky things that could get shut down.
Exactly. You can abuse people by the millions easily by raising taxes and/or adding new taxes and other things, and generally you'll get away with it fairly easily, at least until the next election. Only a complete fool would try and take people's gold in their SDB's or cash in their bank accounts, people tend to take that sort of thing really personally for some reason...
I meant that the government's playbook is a long history of confiscation or whatever it chooses 'for the greater good' and, although it may be self-evident that the issues created by seizures might make the exercise futile, or, at the least, benefit neutral, the government would still pursue its well worn tactics of theft and oppression. ie. be the hammer to our nail.
If they need cash or other assets, the superannuation system is just sitting there with everything logged and recorded. Taking real estate is even easier - it's not like you can move it or hide it.
