My week in review - 7 days of TSF for FNF

[FourNinesFine]

OK, so right off the bat I appreciate that this may come off as a little self-indulgent. So, for those with better things to do with their time than listen to (read) my ramblings, I'll provide a TLDR.

TLDR: I joined TSF a week ago today, and I can't believe just how much I've learned in that short space of time. I feel genuinely welcomed and so many folks have been extremely generous with their responses, especially to questions that have probably been asked a hundred times before. Thank you!

 

This time last week, I was a man with a plan. I'd made my first foray into PM stacking, picking up a modest 20oz of silver, split across 1oz Britannias and Maples. Britannias for all of their liquidity and CGT benefits and Maples because I just bloody love the look of them! Beautiful coins.

I knew that stacking was the right course of action for me because for the last 20 years, I've been the opposite of frugal. By no means reckless but equally, no budgeting and a lot of waste! And what better way to scratch the 'retail therapy' itch than by purchasing money?
I've made some good choices along the way; channeling money into mortgage overpayments rather than into savings to maximise the value of my 'money' in a historically low interest rate environment. So, instead of my funds sitting idle in a bank account earning next to zero interest, I've been whacking huge chunks off the mortgage in order to pay it off a decade early. This is a great result, but it does leave me in a position of having no savings to speak of.

It was aginst this backdrop that I began to investigate non-traditional investment vehicles, outside of the FIAT system. Which is where I found precious metals. From there it was a whirlwind leap down the rabbit-hole of Youtube videos, articles, blogs and the like.

I know everyone's jourrney is their own but consuming so much content in such a short space of time did lead to some soul searching.

Did I think that SHTF was really on the horizon?

Am I a crank or a kook for wanting to divest my wealth from the traditional banking sector?

Who was I to think that I could hold investments in real, material gold and silver - wasn't this the preserve of the elite? I'm just the guy who was once the kid that was dragged up on a council estate and what...? a current account with the Co-op Bank too good for me now?

So, a shout-out must go to @BackyardBullion who was a voice of sense and reason in a sea of wildly diverging Youtube content. It did help me to stick to my guns and affirm my belief that even people like me could put some real money into starting a stack.

Armed with my learnings about VAT on silver, I scoured the bullion dealers (websites) for secondary market coins (preferrably 'Minty' ) and picked up my first 20oz in relatively short order. (I was yet to learn about the huge differences in premiums).

I made my way to TSF in the hopes of finding safe-harbour amongst like-minded souls and to further absorb knowledge and advice from folks that had been in this game since way before I even knew it existed. Genuinely, I am one of those people that pictured investments in gold in terms of the solid gold bars you saw in films like Goldfinger and The Italian Job. You either had to be stinking rich already, or a gangster. How little did I know.

And it's to you fine folks of TSF that I really want to tip my (lead-lined bowler) hat. I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome, or less like a conspiracy-theory wielding 'nut'. But more than that, is the authentic and genuine questioning of my comments and investment 'strategy' that was always well-intentioned and tactfully put. On other forums I could easily have beeen made to feel foolish or at best, amateurish. Not so here, where comments and questions have always seemed to be designed with my best interests in mind. That shouldn't be under-estimated, because you don't get that everywhere. Some of you have gone out of your way to help me with queries, direct messsage me with helpful info and hold a mirror to my thinking and judgement. But I don't want to over-egg it (not this close to Easter anyway!! )

Suffice to say that armed with only what I've picked up in the last seven days alone, my investment journey feels like it's already on much firmer footing. And this 'wannabe Silver magnate' now owns gold! Imagine that. If my friends could see me now. But the first rule of PM club...

Well, enough of this waffle. Hopefully you get the idea. I'm thankful for your support and chuffed to be part of this community. Long may it continue.

 

FNF.

[Gordy]

4 hours ago, FourNinesFine said:

OK, so right off the bat I appreciate that this may come off as a little self-indulgent. So, for those with better things to do with their time than listen to (read) my ramblings, I'll provide a TLDR.

TLDR: I joined TSF a week ago today, and I can't believe just how much I've learned in that short space of time. I feel genuinely welcomed and so many folks have been extremely generous with their responses, especially to questions that have probably been asked a hundred times before. Thank you!

 

This time last week, I was a man with a plan. I'd made my first foray into PM stacking, picking up a modest 20oz of silver, split across 1oz Britannias and Maples. Britannias for all of their liquidity and CGT benefits and Maples because I just bloody love the look of them! Beautiful coins.

I knew that stacking was the right course of action for me because for the last 20 years, I've been the opposite of frugal. By no means reckless but equally, no budgeting and a lot of waste! And what better way to scratch the 'retail therapy' itch than by purchasing money?
I've made some good choices along the way; channeling money into mortgage overpayments rather than into savings to maximise the value of my 'money' in a historically low interest rate environment. So, instead of my funds sitting idle in a bank account earning next to zero interest, I've been whacking huge chunks off the mortgage in order to pay it off a decade early. This is a great result, but it does leave me in a position of having no savings to speak of.

It was aginst this backdrop that I began to investigate non-traditional investment vehicles, outside of the FIAT system. Which is where I found precious metals. From there it was a whirlwind leap down the rabbit-hole of Youtube videos, articles, blogs and the like.

I know everyone's jourrney is their own but consuming so much content in such a short space of time did lead to some soul searching.

Did I think that SHTF was really on the horizon?

Am I a crank or a kook for wanting to divest my wealth from the traditional banking sector?

Who was I to think that I could hold investments in real, material gold and silver - wasn't this the preserve of the elite? I'm just the guy who was once the kid that was dragged up on a council estate and what...? a current account with the Co-op Bank too good for me now?

So, a shout-out must go to @BackyardBullion who was a voice of sense and reason in a sea of wildly diverging Youtube content. It did help me to stick to my guns and affirm my belief that even people like me could put some real money into starting a stack.

Armed with my learnings about VAT on silver, I scoured the bullion dealers (websites) for secondary market coins (preferrably 'Minty' ) and picked up my first 20oz in relatively short order. (I was yet to learn about the huge differences in premiums).

I made my way to TSF in the hopes of finding safe-harbour amongst like-minded souls and to further absorb knowledge and advice from folks that had been in this game since way before I even knew it existed. Genuinely, I am one of those people that pictured investments in gold in terms of the solid gold bars you saw in films like Goldfinger and The Italian Job. You either had to be stinking rich already, or a gangster. How little did I know.

And it's to you fine folks of TSF that I really want to tip my (lead-lined bowler) hat. I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome, or less like a conspiracy-theory wielding 'nut'. But more than that, is the authentic and genuine questioning of my comments and investment 'strategy' that was always well-intentioned and tactfully put. On other forums I could easily have beeen made to feel foolish or at best, amateurish. Not so here, where comments and questions have always seemed to be designed with my best interests in mind. That shouldn't be under-estimated, because you don't get that everywhere. Some of you have gone out of your way to help me with queries, direct messsage me with helpful info and hold a mirror to my thinking and judgement. But I don't want to over-egg it (not this close to Easter anyway!! )

Suffice to say that armed with only what I've picked up in the last seven days alone, my investment journey feels like it's already on much firmer footing. And this 'wannabe Silver magnate' now owns gold! Imagine that. If my friends could see me now. But the first rule of PM club...

Well, enough of this waffle. Hopefully you get the idea. I'm thankful for your support and chuffed to be part of this community. Long may it continue.

 

FNF.

well said that man!!!

[Dazzlinh]

I enjoy reading your posts and comments. They’re all really well written. Welcome to PMs!
 

I joined TSF a year ago after watching BYB’s YT videos too. During lockdown when I had loads of time on hand I also watched loads of other PMs videos and got hooked into the silver hype by mostly American YouTubers. Now a year on, it’s safe to say the biggest losses I’ve made have been on my silver sales (despite spot price being £1 higher now). Not to say it’s not for everyone but it’s not for me anymore.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Dazzlinh

[James32]

34 minutes ago, Dazzlinh said:

I enjoy reading your posts and comments. They’re all really well written. Welcome to PMs!
 

I joined TSF a year ago after watching BYB’s YT videos too. During lockdown when I had loads of time on hand I also watched loads of other PMs videos and got hooked into the silver hype by mostly American YouTubers. Now a year on, it’s safe to say the biggest losses I’ve made have been on my silver sales (despite spot price being £1 higher now). Not to say it’s not for everyone but it’s not for me anymore.

Completely understand your points. Everything has a cycle though and if you treat PM's like supermarket's treat bread,you will do ok.

Everything you buy now gets put to the back of stack. Anything you sell must be a few years old and should ( spot depending) be either at break even or in profit. 

Silver has its place if used correctly ( I've made every mistake going including paying vat for 3 full years because I didn't know any better/or the forum existed 😅 

 

 

 

[FourNinesFine]

1 hour ago, Dazzlinh said:

I enjoy reading your posts and comments. They’re all really well written. Welcome to PMs!
 

I joined TSF a year ago after watching BYB’s YT videos too. During lockdown when I had loads of time on hand I also watched loads of other PMs videos and got hooked into the silver hype by mostly American YouTubers. Now a year on, it’s safe to say the biggest losses I’ve made have been on my silver sales (despite spot price being £1 higher now). Not to say it’s not for everyone but it’s not for me anymore.

Thank Dazzlinh, that's very kind.

Yes, I defintely felt some of that hype from YT. It's like all things I suppose, you don't realise how rich and diverse a community / activity is until you really start to understand it and immerse yourself in it. Everything from hobbyists to stackers to flippers to collectors to doomsday preppers...and everything in between.
 

I never thought I'd be even remotely interested in the numismatic side of things (and I'm not really...), and yet I find myself investigating the Somali Elephant coins.

As my knowledge and confidence grows, I hope to be able to capitalise on some more calculated investment choices, like buying a specific RM pre-sale coin with a view to flipping it within 12 / 24 months, but anything I tried along those lines now would just be a punt.

In the meantime, it's soveriegns for stacking and some occasional silver for diversification ... and to stare at like a mountain dragon!

 

FNF.

[LawrenceChard]

21 hours ago, FourNinesFine said:

... especially to questions that have probably been asked a hundred times before...

 

You can say that again!

😎

[Paul]

On 14/04/2022 at 14:51, FourNinesFine said:

It was aginst this backdrop that I began to investigate non-traditional investment vehicles, outside of the FIAT system. Which is where I found precious metals. From there it was a whirlwind leap down the rabbit-hole of Youtube videos, articles, blogs and the like.

Did I think that SHTF was really on the horizon?

Am I a crank or a kook for wanting to divest my wealth from the traditional banking sector?

Who was I to think that I could hold investments in real, material gold and silver - wasn't this the preserve of the elite? I'm just the guy who was once the kid that was dragged up on a council estate and what...? a current account with the Co-op Bank too good for me now?

I made my way to TSF in the hopes of finding safe-harbour amongst like-minded souls and to further absorb knowledge and advice from folks that had been in this game since way before I even knew it existed. Genuinely, I am one of those people that pictured investments in gold in terms of the solid gold bars you saw in films like Goldfinger and The Italian Job. You either had to be stinking rich already, or a gangster. How little did I know.

And it's to you fine folks of TSF that I really want to tip my (lead-lined bowler) hat. I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome, or less like a conspiracy-theory wielding 'nut'. But more than that, is the authentic and genuine questioning of my comments and investment 'strategy' that was always well-intentioned and tactfully put. On other forums I could easily have beeen made to feel foolish or at best, amateurish. Not so here, where comments and questions have always seemed to be designed with my best interests in mind. That shouldn't be under-estimated, because you don't get that everywhere. Some of you have gone out of your way to help me with queries, direct messsage me with helpful info and hold a mirror to my thinking and judgement.