Hi everyone. Im a medical student in their mid 20's a husband and a young father. I bought my first stake in silver last night. ~ 30 ounces. I know, not very much but all i could afford at the time. I'll accumulate close to 250,00 us dollars in debt when i finish school and concerned about my financial future in medicine. We have a tax return coming soon and could probably afford to buy another 30-60 ounces of silver. That extra little bit of cash from the return could definitely help us now but prob not a neccesity. I don't really have savings to speak of. Is it worth the risk? Could/should i use some of my student loans to invest in silver? I know the amounts I'm investing are child's play to many of you but if theres anything you could share with a young guy trying to protect his families future it would be much appreciated. PS. my first purchase was from Apmex but forums keep telling me there are better places to purchase silver with less above spot. Could someone point me to a reputable seller?
Thanks for being my first reply ever! Does silverstackers.com itself sell silver or individual members?
Welcome SilverYoo - could you fill out your profile location? Sounds like you're in the US but not sure.
Use all means necessary to obtain Silver? loans, part of each paycheck etc? Whats the likelihood of it going back to 1dollar/oz or just losing alot of its value.
I'm not a financial advisor and i dont think many on here are so we cant really give you any, only comment on what we do personally. Personally i would never get in debt to buy Silver, Gold or any other investment. I save in S & G with money i earn because i believe its a safer place to have it than a bank and at the moment im getting a better return than a bank. There is a lot of information about, especially here, so do some research and you may come to the same conclusions as the rest of us about Silver
Hi SilverYoo, I think personally you will be fine if you complete your medical degree. As a doctor you will have a skill which is always in demand and if you so desire you will have options to live and work overseas. In a real shtf scenario you probably won't have to worry about paying off your loans as the amount will be worthless in fiat. In regards to protecting your families future you are already on track as investing in oneself you can never go wrong especially with a skill that is always in demand regardless of what happens. I wouldn't go all in on Silver not that I expect it to crash back to $1 but it is very speculative and subject to big moves in price. Like greyman mentioned, buy physical not paper pm's. Good luck
Hi SilverYoo, I buy all my silver from Global Silver Investors (globalsilverinvestors.com). They are based in the US and only charge 1.25 USD over spot which is excellent value for rounds I think.
Im no expert mate but if i was living in the US id be stocking up on food/water/shelter/protection for my family if it was me.We all have our own opinions,not trying to be a panic merchant but things dont look all that great for the US...financially that is.Id be putting half towards the essentials of life and the rest into getting out of fiat currency.Do your homework on the net if you dont know whats happening to your country(and the world economies as well) and make your own decisions from that.Just MY opinion.Good Luck Bud.
Welcome SilverYoo. You will be definitely well off sourcing local product there in the US. Australian silver is premium heavy and the costs to ship OS make it a fairly poor option for anything but a collector. I recommend you check out local independent mints in the US. APMEX (site sponsor) & QSB (Quality Silver Bullion) are low cost local distributors. If you're on a short stack, focus on the best bang for buck options - although with the way the US is headed, getting a little junk silver for barter might be prudent. A lot of the members here on SS are Australian and oceanic, but we do have a few US investors. That said, we are generally very switched on to the US markets and watch with keen interest on news and events coming across the ocean.
I put my bathroom construction money into silver and gold a few years ago. I'm glad that i did and only wish i had put it all in at that time. I guess it depends on how confident you feel the metals market is looking. I'm confident.
Hey silveryoo, I'm in the US and one dealer that is very reputable here (based in Austin, TX) is bulliondirect.com I've done a lot of business with them over the years and it sounds like they would be a great option for you. Go to the site to see how it works, but basically since you don't have tons of cash on hand, they have a system where you can buy whatever you can afford, even a single ounce. You have the option of storing it with them free of charge as long as you like and when you want to take delivery you can. This way you can buy a little at a time and not get raped by shipping charges. They give you the list of everything they sell in both their catalog and the nucleo exchange. Catalog is what BD sells to you, while the nucleo exchange is a place where individual buyers and sellers come together, and BD charges a 1% commission on whatever you buy or sell there. They explain all of it and give you a tutorial. One thing about them, though, is that customer service is almost nonexistent. It's all computer-based---they don't even have a telephone number. You can email them if there's an issue and they do respond, but if you're the sort that needs your hand held and/or want to talk to a person, you may want to consider another option BUT the prices are extremely competitive and you won't have a cheaper shipping option with a small investing budget. It's very easy to use. I'm also a young, married father in school full-time (economics) and working full-time, so I know about investing on a budget. Good luck to you!
Should I buy Silver rounds or silver eagles, maples, Kooks etc? Also is a crashing dollar the only real way for me to make a "huge profit" from silver?
Thanks for your response Agent Pur. You know it's really a stressful time for me right now. Being the head of a household, eldest son to both my mother and mother in law, and school + residency setting me back at least 5-6 years until i make an actual salary + now that i'm hearing that there it could be the "End of America" with a crashing dollar and an unstable government.. Sorry I'm just rambling/venting. My head is spinning like crazy. You know I was watching my daughter earlier today and couldn't help but wonder if i should start preparing for a disaster. Normally I would shrug "conspiracy theories" like these off but looking at her made me really think "WHAT IF?" Do i need to buy a firearm? stock water and food? My wife is also kind of weary about me spending money on silver too. Is it worth her stress to go through all this trouble? ANyways. it's good to know that there are others like me out there. I really appreciate your post today. Hope all is well with your family and your future planning. God bless and hope to hear from more people like you. PS: I checked out BD. Do they only offer a few coins in their catalog as I saw maybe 2 gold coins and 4-5 silver coins/rounds offered. and do you suggest buying from nucleo exchange or catalog? how about apmex?
Interesting thought on this issue. Will outstanding loans be wiped out in a SHTF scenario or will the debt wipe people out completely.
I agree that you should do everything to complete the degree. I think the medical profession is probably the most recession proof one around. you sacrifice a lot of years to get to the end of it and the rewards are commensurate to the sacrifices I think. Firearms? Maybe. It depends on how secure you feel you would be. For me, if I lived in the US it would be a no brainer. AR-15 and ammo. Food? Definitely. Depending on how old your daughter is you could stack any number of things. Infant acetaminophen and antipyretics are essential. Silver? If you have money that you can do without, after sorting out the above then buy some silver but keep premiums low. In the US I'd be buying "junk silver" bags of 90% coins at spot or near spot whenever I could without regard to price till I had 200 ounces. Thats the minimum target imo.
250k is quite a bit for a med degree. I take it is a good one. Last time I looked here it costs up to 200k for international students and 100k+ for locals, but if a subsidised positions is gained, then that cost falls to 50-60K total. A decade or so ago, you'd pay about $32k in a government subsidised position, and unlike the USA, it is not paid upfront. Repayment was deferred until earning above a threshold. Although you are in a high pressure position, with all the responsibilities and uncertainties, it would be a really high stakes gamble to use debt to buy silver, especially when there is your future at stake. You already have a bird in the hand, your tuition fees. But imagine if a nanotech replacement was found for silver in industry? Or if China has a meltdown? I'd agree with others that you will have a vocation which will pay for itself. It is wise to consider what the future of medicine holds, especially portable and high value skillsets. I see Obama is doing his level best to socialise medicine over there, which is just too big a fish to swallow. We have a hybrid. Pretty good public care, when you consider it, coupled to a cartelized College system which ensures a restricted supply of specialists and therefore lesser competition. For some strange reason I'll never fathom, this especially applies to Dermatology.
