BullionVault - Opinions & Storage Pros/Cons

[Diamond]

I would really appreciate hearing more experienced members opinions of BullionVault & if they are a good company to deal with, or otherwise.

I'd also be interested in views on the Pros & Cons of storage. I'm new to all this & have noticed a number of people saying if you don't keep it close, you don't own it.

With the economy looking dodgy, we are thinking of selling a small property & putting the proceeds into PM's. VAT free silver looked an attractive option but I'm not sure how practical it would be to keep this at home.. Lol! Obviously it wouldn't be VAT free either then. Any advice on this subject would be fantastic. Thank you!

[Coverte]

18 minutes ago, Diamond said:

With the economy looking dodgy, we are thinking of selling a small property & putting the proceeds into PM's. VAT free silver looked an attractive option but I'm not sure how practical it would be to keep this at home.. Lol! Obviously it wouldn't be VAT free either then. Any advice on this subject would be fantastic. Thank you!

 

Personally, I would keep the property and rent it out, the market may have dips being predicted, but wait until you see PM price movements with no passive income !!

God stopped making land a long time ago and land is the biggest factor in new properties, or lack thereof. 

[CosmikDebris]

I don't have any experience with Bullion Vault but I, and probably a few others here would recommend Glint https://glintpay.com/ if you wanted a vaulting option at a very low cost. The purchase of gold is also very cheap and you can spend it, if you wish, with a Mastercard, you can also buy and spend USD and Euros.

However I think most would also recommend that you hold physical metals at home or close by in the form of Sovereigns and/or Britannias  which are capital gains and VAT free.

 

[Bigmarc]

Personally I would keep the property.

Gold, I only hold physical.

Silver is currently about 50 50 split between a vaulted position and physical.

I am not with bullion vault just something similar and the only reason I do this is to liquidate fast if there is a good deal on physical or another random spike in the price happens. I use to follow the mantra if you don't hold it but the world has changed and there are better ways of doing things to suit your personal needs. 

 

[Wileyfox]

Hi Diamond, first off welcome to the forum I hope you enjoy the community here.

3 hours ago, Diamond said:

I would really appreciate hearing more experienced members opinions of BullionVault & if they are a good company to deal with, or otherwise.

I've been using BullionVault since 2008 as I sought a safe place to put my savings following the last finanical crisis. I've always found BV a good company to deal with: you can see the bar lists, choose the juristiction in which your metal is stored, and even own a whole bar outright if you have the funds. A key advantage is that you can buy/sell on the exchange 24/7 with a fairly small spread i.e. it is a very liquid investment - I basically use it as a savings account.

3 hours ago, Diamond said:

I'd also be interested in views on the Pros & Cons of storage. I'm new to all this & have noticed a number of people saying if you don't keep it close, you don't own it.

The pros for me of storage with BullionVault (or similar) is the liquidity this offers and that it's safe enough for 'most' situations. However, it is not a substitute for physical metal under your control and I agree that if you don't hold it you don't control it.

Consider the following example - there's a currency crisis and the government of the day (in the interests of national security) enforces capital controls, bail-ins and passes a 'compulsory purchase of monetary metals act'. This enables the treasury to purchase all the gold and silver from UK nationals and compensates them at the market rate. The custodian of your metal would have no choice but to comply with the new law and facilitate the exchange. You'd then have a number on a screen and the government would have the gold.
 

3 hours ago, Diamond said:

With the economy looking dodgy, we are thinking of selling a small property & putting the proceeds into PM's. VAT free silver looked an attractive option but I'm not sure how practical it would be to keep this at home.. Lol! Obviously it wouldn't be VAT free either then. Any advice on this subject would be fantastic. Thank you!

If you are looking to use PMs as an investment that you will want to exchange for something else in the near future then BullionVault will likely meet your needs. If you are preparing for a full blown currency crisis and banking collapse then there's no substitute for having some physical gold and silver under your direct control.. plus it's quite fun to look at and hold!

[Diamond]

3 hours ago, Coverte said:

 

Personally, I would keep the property and rent it out, the market may have dips being predicted, but wait until you see PM price movements with no passive income !!

God stopped making land a long time ago and land is the biggest factor in new properties, or lack thereof. 

Property was the long term plan, so I'd usually completely agree but I'm a little concerned the property bubble may be in danger of bursting soon. 

[Diamond]

3 hours ago, CosmikDebris said:

I don't have any experience with Bullion Vault but I, and probably a few others here would recommend Glint https://glintpay.com/ if you wanted a vaulting option at a very low cost. The purchase of gold is also very cheap and you can spend it, if you wish, with a Mastercard, you can also buy and spend USD and Euros.

However I think most would also recommend that you hold physical metals at home or close by in the form of Sovereigns and/or Britannias  which are capital gains and VAT free.

 

Thanks for the heads up re Glint. Sovereigns & Britannias close to home seems a good plan too. 

[Diamond]

22 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Personally I would keep the property.

Gold, I only hold physical.

Silver is currently about 50 50 split between a vaulted position and physical.

I am not with bullion vault just something similar and the only reason I do this is to liquidate fast if there is a good deal on physical or another random spike in the price happens. I use to follow the mantra if you don't hold it but the world has changed and there are better ways of doing things to suit your personal needs. 

 

Sounds a great balance. Do you mind me asking which vault you use? I'd hold it near home if it was Gold but Silver seems a little bulky & heavy to hold.. Lol! 

[Tortoise]

Hi,

Another option, might be to hold a Physical Gold Exchange Traded Commodity Fund, which is traded on the stock market, e.g. :https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/i/invesco-markets-physical-gold-etc-gbp

Other brokers are available besides HL, I just used them as an example.  For small amount a Physical Gold fund could be cheaper than bullion Vault and I believe would have smaller spread on the buy/sell price.

Regards

[Bigmarc]

11 hours ago, Diamond said:

Sounds a great balance. Do you mind me asking which vault you use? I'd hold it near home if it was Gold but Silver seems a little bulky & heavy to hold.. Lol! 

https://kinesis.money/precious-metals/

https://revolut.com/commodities-trading

Both are vaulted kinesis is allocated revolute is unallocated (they hold it for you in their name) I am currently using both as don't want it all in one place but favour revolute as I like their business model and use other services. Kinesis was a recommendation from other forum users and seems that their services are growing since signing up. I have a feeling many users use vaulted positions as a savings account like @Wileyfox explained. I did look in to glint a while ago but they had teething problems to begin with and didn't go back (bad feedback). To be honest the amount of funds you are talking about bullion vault maybe the best option for you. 

Hope this helps.

[Bars]

12 hours ago, Wileyfox said:

Hi Diamond, first off welcome to the forum I hope you enjoy the community here.

I've been using BullionVault since 2008 as I sought a safe place to put my savings following the last finanical crisis. I've always found BV a good company to deal with: you can see the bar lists, choose the juristiction in which your metal is stored, and even own a whole bar outright if you have the funds. A key advantage is that you can buy/sell on the exchange 24/7 with a fairly small spread i.e. it is a very liquid investment - I basically use it as a savings account.

The pros for me of storage with BullionVault (or similar) is the liquidity this offers and that it's safe enough for 'most' situations. However, it is not a substitute for physical metal under your control and I agree that if you don't hold it you don't control it.

Consider the following example - there's a currency crisis and the government of the day (in the interests of national security) enforces capital controls, bail-ins and passes a 'compulsory purchase of monetary metals act'. This enables the treasury to purchase all the gold and silver from UK nationals and compensates them at the market rate. The custodian of your metal would have no choice but to comply with the new law and facilitate the exchange. You'd then have a number on a screen and the government would have the gold.
 

If you are looking to use PMs as an investment that you will want to exchange for something else in the near future then BullionVault will likely meet your needs. If you are preparing for a full blown currency crisis and banking collapse then there's no substitute for having some physical gold and silver under your direct control.. plus it's quite fun to look at and hold!

Neil mccoy ward is that you?

[Wileyfox]

2 hours ago, Bars said:

Neil mccoy ward is that you?

 😅 I've watched a few of his clips though not for a while!

[HillWalkerDundee]

Dont trust grown ups. If you havent got it then they have. Possession is 9/10 of the law.

[HillWalkerDundee]

On 11/09/2021 at 13:27, Wileyfox said:

 😅 I've watched a few of his clips though not for a while!

I am a regular watcher, i like a balance to the rampers in life. It helps to be a cynic in life when it comes to money. People like Neil McCoy-Ward and Tom Winnifreth, whether you agree with them or not, are a necessary counter balance that keeps feet on the ground.

Edited September 12, 2021 by HillWalkerDundee

[Bratnia]

On 10/09/2021 at 21:38, Wileyfox said:

Consider the following example - there's a currency crisis and the government of the day (in the interests of national security) enforces capital controls, bail-ins and passes a 'compulsory purchase of monetary metals act'. This enables the treasury to purchase all the gold and silver from UK nationals and compensates them at the market rate. The custodian of your metal would have no choice but to comply with the new law and facilitate the exchange. You'd then have a number on a screen and the government would have the gold.

When the US compulsory purchased gold in America (1934) individuals still had the option to use the gold sale proceeds to buy silver instead, or nowadays controls could perhaps be circumvented via the likes of bitcoin/crypto, money moved outside of the country and gold purchased elsewhere. Similar to how a 1934 American whose gold was compulsory purchased could have bought/stored gold in London or Switzerland. More just the inconvenience of having to incur trade cost and time/effort. Someone else has a number on their screen, you still have gold. If anything such government actions as compulsory purchases, currency controls, punitive taxation levels ... are a pretty clear indicator that keeping/moving gold elsewhere is more inclined to be the better overall choice compared to having a number on a screen.

[WulfrunCoins]

This isn't meant to cast any shade towards BullionVault

But, 2 companies in America have got caught duping customers:

https://coinweek.com/argent-first-state-depository-to-pay-146-million-for-precious-metals-fraud/

I think the old adage "If You Don't Hold It, You Don't Own It" is paramount.
Especially as a lot of companies have been gorging themselves on cheap debt for over a decade, the rising interest rates will expose a lot of poor businesses in the coming years.

 

[Coverte]

I heard about this elsewhere, anything like PM's with consequential value often attracts this type of behaviour sadly.