Saving for a house deposit. Should I save in Cash or Gold?

[OldNick]

I did something similar when we bought our home a couple of years ago, the main deposit was held in cash bonds and my stack held in gold (about 20% of the deposit value)

The stack was additional to the deposit not part of it

the stack made a very helpful contribution to all the other costs involved in a house purchase

I believe it’s too risky to put all your deposit into gold/investments when buying a home (rather than a second house as an investment opportunity)

[Pete]

20 hours ago, theylivewesleep27 said:

I have about 15k in savings which I'm saving for a deposit to buy a house in a few years. I was thinking about using that money to buy gold instead of having cash in the bank. Then wehn it comes time to buy a house i can sell it, and hopefully i will have made money if gold prices go higher. Any advice on what i should do? Buy the gold or just keep saving the cash?

Depending on where you live, in many parts of the UK, £15k isn't going to suffice as a deposit and in a couple of years house prices will have likely risen so much that your savings are effectively wiped out. If you can buy a property now then that's what to do and not wait. Interest rates are at their lowest but job security might be an issue for many people.
Buy Premium Bonds and maybe you will get a few small prizes but there is always a chance of better.
Cash in the bank is doing nothing for your wealth.
Almost every other investment carries some risk - low risk small gains / high risk high gains but also high loss potential.
Buying gold is great if the price of gold rises but suppose you had bought last summer what would you be thinking today ? - check the charts !!

[MrTT]

On 20/02/2021 at 16:03, theylivewesleep27 said:

I have about 15k in savings which I'm saving for a deposit to buy a house in a few years. I was thinking about using that money to buy gold instead of having cash in the bank. Then wehn it comes time to buy a house i can sell it, and hopefully i will have made money if gold prices go higher. Any advice on what i should do? Buy the gold or just keep saving the cash?

I am in a similar situation, i put all the cash into physical silver and gold.

Around 75% silver, 25% gold.

Because i am 100% sure both silver and gold will go up alot.

When sell, the cash will go into property.

[theylivewesleep27]

9 minutes ago, MrTT said:

I am in a similar situation, i put all the cash into physical silver and gold.

Around 75% silver, 25% gold.

Because i am 100% sure both silver and gold will go up alot.

When sell, the cash will go into property.

What makes you 100% sure it will go up?

[HerefordBullyun]

1 minute ago, theylivewesleep27 said:

What makes you 100% sure it will go up?

We are in a commodities super cycle. Everything will go up. Gold silver tin lithium lumber uranium platinum.

[Mike1976]

48 minutes ago, MrTT said:

I am in a similar situation, i put all the cash into physical silver and gold.

Around 75% silver, 25% gold.

Because i am 100% sure both silver and gold will go up alot.

When sell, the cash will go into property.

What time length are you looking at before cashing in? 

[HerefordBullyun]

51 minutes ago, HerefordBullyun said:

We are in a commodities super cycle. Everything will go up. Gold silver tin lithium lumber uranium platinum.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/next-commodity-supercycle

Further to my last comment

[MrTT]

13 minutes ago, Mike1976 said:

What time length are you looking at before cashing in? 

2 - 3 years.

[Coolsmp]

10 hours ago, Pete said:

Depending on where you live, in many parts of the UK, £15k isn't going to suffice as a deposit and in a couple of years house prices will have likely risen so much that your savings are effectively wiped out. If you can buy a property now then that's what to do and not wait. Interest rates are at their lowest but job security might be an issue for many people.
Buy Premium Bonds and maybe you will get a few small prizes but there is always a chance of better.
Cash in the bank is doing nothing for your wealth.
Almost every other investment carries some risk - low risk small gains / high risk high gains but also high loss potential.
Buying gold is great if the price of gold rises but suppose you had bought last summer what would you be thinking today ? - check the charts !!

All the advice offered here, this is by far the best!

[Alex944]

I currently in the procedure of buying a house. 

Especially when saving for a goal, I would consider it important to not have all your eggs in one basket and to have a clear exit strategy. I have saved in a mix of a Savings account (about 10K in cash was a safe point since deposit + fees will require about 40-45K in my case), and the rest has been invested over the years. Mainly into stocks and crypto, only added gold and silver to the mix since about two years ago.

Big benefit of stocks and crypto is the fact that it's easy to liquidate,. Generally in my eyes PM's are the safest way to go, though perhaps not on a smaller term (thinking 1-3 years). The cliche advice of ''diversify your portfolio'' very much holds true in this regard and again, when saving for a goal, it's important to have the ability to liquidate your investments.

Best of luck with the journey, housing market is a B.....

 

[silenceissilver]

19 hours ago, Coolsmp said:

All the advice offered here, this is by far the best!

It's by fare the worst. Taking a mortgage in such uncertain times is a very bad idea. It could break your neck, so to speak. We might see debt forgiveness but only under painful personal concessions (e.g. not to own anything), we might see a revaluation of private debt etc. It's impossible to predict but it's like crossing the Atlantic with a trunk. What would have been the right thing a generation ago is completely wrong now.

 

[Swampy]

24 minutes ago, silenceissilver said:

It's by fare the worst.

I think you’re correct to urge caution at this point in time.  

But aspiring to own your own home is something think 99.99% of us all want.  Absolutely no point paying rent all your life and living in a tent is great... for a weekend!  In the U.K. it’s almost impossible to purchase a house without a mortgage.  So I say - go for it when the times right. 

[theylivewesleep27]

38 minutes ago, silenceissilver said:

It's by fare the worst. Taking a mortgage in such uncertain times is a very bad idea. It could break your neck, so to speak. We might see debt forgiveness but only under painful personal concessions (e.g. not to own anything), we might see a revaluation of private debt etc. It's impossible to predict but it's like crossing the Atlantic with a trunk. What would have been the right thing a generation ago is completely wrong now.

 

I have been thinking about this a lot. That right now isnt a good time to be enslaving myself to a life time mortgage when the world is so uncertian. They could be a huge economic collapse due to the scamdemic, and also the "great reset" isnt far away and who knows what trouble that will bring. Thats kind of why id rather have my money in gold instead of fiat currency. I feel it will always hold its value but paper money could become worthless.

[silenceissilver]

35 minutes ago, Swampy said:

I think you’re correct to urge caution at this point in time.  

But aspiring to own your own home is something think 99.99% of us all want.  Absolutely no point paying rent all your life and living in a tent is great... for a weekend!  In the U.K. it’s almost impossible to purchase a house without a mortgage.  So I say - go for it when the times right. 

What you ideally want and what is possible or at what cost can be two very different animals, unfortunately. The opportunity to buy a house doesn't dissolve into thin air if you don't take a mortgage now.

[Paul]

Snag a 2oz gold Una & Lion & Three Graces at launch and buy a house outright without mortgage (if your lucky!)  

[Coolsmp]

2 hours ago, theylivewesleep27 said:

I have been thinking about this a lot. That right now isnt a good time to be enslaving myself to a life time mortgage when the world is so uncertian. They could be a huge economic collapse due to the scamdemic, and also the "great reset" isnt far away and who knows what trouble that will bring. Thats kind of why id rather have my money in gold instead of fiat currency. I feel it will always hold its value but paper money could become worthless.

Although no one can predict the future. Buying property has always been a clever investment for most as prices generally go up over long periods of time. You pay rent or you pay mortgage. Mortage you will eventually pay off, rent you wont. Mortgage and home ownership you get capital appreciation, rent - the owner gets that. Who's gunna win at the end of the day. I own 3 properties, 2 with no mortgage. Ive never regretted it.

This great reset thing is a misnomer bit like when people thought the world would end in 2000 or 2012 when the Myan calender finished.

[Coolsmp]

 This is not a recommendation of advice and you should always do your own research and whats best for you as everyones personal circumstances are different as are there risk tolerances

[silenceissilver]

26 minutes ago, Coolsmp said:

Although no one can predict the future. Buying property has always been a clever investment for most as prices generally go up over long periods of time. You pay rent or you pay mortgage. Mortage you will eventually pay off, rent you wont. Mortgage and home ownership you get capital appreciation, rent - the owner gets that. Who's gunna win at the end of the day. I own 3 properties, 2 with no mortgage. Ive never regretted it.

This great reset thing is a misnomer bit like when people thought the world would end in 2000 or 2012 when the Myan calender finished.

I agree Great Reset is a misnomer, it should be called the not so great transformation. But putting it on the same level as the Maya calendar when a forum, the World Economic Forum, where the top business men and politicians of the planet meet, writes about a vision where you (not them) will own nothing by 2030 - not even clothes(!), makes little sense to me. They are very open about it:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/how-life-could-change-2030/

[Swampy]

11 hours ago, silenceissilver said:

writes about a vision

It’s a very well written thought piece to start intellectual conversations and debate. Reminded me very much of the Orwellian text 1984.

Reading that, as oppose to market, stock, and technology reports must have been a refreshing change.

I enjoyed it so thanks for sharing.  

If this happens in Denmark - I’ll cope with it - providing they keep sending bacon 🥓 🐷!  

 

[Silversavant]

I would like to add that if you are going to look into buying a hard asset like gold, then make sure you keep your proof of purchase and ensure that money comes out of your bank account, not a cash payment. If you were then to sell the commodity then make sure you sell it and can prove where that money came from and what for.

Your mortgage lender and conveyancer will be looking into money laundering so you need to keep your paperwork and money trail tight AF. If you cannot prove where that money came from then you WILL be declined a mortgage.

 

 

[SidS]

On 21/02/2021 at 17:17, HerefordBullyun said:

We are in a commodities super cycle. Everything will go up. Gold silver tin lithium lumber uranium platinum.

I suspect the spot price for mercury might go down though. Which is a shame as it's clearly the most liquid asset. 😉

[Hunter87]

When you come to ask for a mortgage you will need to show all of your bank accounts to a financial advisor I’d think it would look better if you had money in accounts rather than in gold.