The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Discussion of the Gold portion of the Permanent Portfolio

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MachineGhost
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The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by MachineGhost » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:50 am

Q How is the Hard Assets Alliance different from all the other companies that deal in precious metals?

Flexibility, ease of use, and complete storage security are the hallmarks of the Hard Assets Alliance. With just a couple of mouse clicks, you can buy gold, silver, platinum, or palladium in bars or coins, and store your purchase in your choice of locations worldwide. Or you can have your purchase shipped to you anywhere in the world within two days.

Either way, you are the owner of a precise and specific amount of metal. When it’s stored in our vault partners’ facilities, we are simply the steward of your property.

And when it comes time to sell, with just a few mouse clicks your metals become cash in your account.

Q I am interested in internationalizing my precious metals assets, but I see that my Hard Assets Alliance account is technically based in the US. Should that concern me?

The seamless, highly secure platform used by the Hard Assets Alliance currently requires that accounts be technically domiciled in the United States, though your precious metals can be stored in insured vaults outside of the US – including New York, Salt Lake City, Zurich, London, or Melbourne – with more to come in the near future.

While we are currently working through the considerable technical and regulatory challenges of also offering non-US accounts, the current US account requirement should be of little or no concern to anyone.

If you are a US citizen or resident, the fact that it is a US account will save you a huge amount of time and hassle complying with the latest US government regulations that require detailed reporting on foreign-held assets.

However, if you ever become at all concerned about your US account registration – for example, in the unlikely event that the US government began signaling it might again want to nationalize gold holdings – a quick call or a couple of clicks from you will set in motion the transfer of your metals, or the proceeds from the sale of your metals, to the destination of your choice, including one outside of the US. All transfers, either in physical metals or the proceeds from a sale of those metals, will take place within two business days.

If you were really concerned that gold was going to be targeted, you could also log on to sell your gold holdings and replace them with another metal (platinum or palladium).

Realistically, if you are worried that transferring your funds or metals would ever have to take place more urgently than two business days, then the Hard Assets Alliance is probably not right for you. But for most people, two business days should be more than sufficient for any conceivable scenario.


http://d3k0ihy9emwgeg.cloudfront.net/pd ... torKit.pdf
Last edited by MachineGhost on Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes

Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet.  I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
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Benko
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by Benko » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:27 am

Thanks for posting.
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by alvinroast » Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:02 pm

So has anyone here opened an account with Hard Assets Alliance?

I'm considering it with international storage to diversify geographically even though the account is in the US.

Any thoughts?
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by BearBones » Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:24 pm

alvinroast wrote: So has anyone here opened an account with Hard Assets Alliance?

I'm considering it with international storage to diversify geographically even though the account is in the US.

Any thoughts?
Not sure if this really qualifies as international diversification. MT or Craig?
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by alvinroast » Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:04 pm

BearBones wrote:
alvinroast wrote: So has anyone here opened an account with Hard Assets Alliance?

I'm considering it with international storage to diversify geographically even though the account is in the US.

Any thoughts?
Not sure if this really qualifies as international diversification. MT or Craig?
While I agree that it may not count as international diversification, the international storage adds a physical distance without having to fly to Switzerland. It seems like anything is better than paper gold (GLD).
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craigr
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by craigr » Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:08 pm

I'd rather see the company operating it outside the US. Any company with lots of assets and business inside the US is open to pressure to do things that may not be in the customer's interests.
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Re: The Best Ways to Buy, Store, and Sell Precious Metals: A Comparative Analysis

Post by alvinroast » Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:16 pm

craigr wrote: I'd rather see the company operating it outside the US. Any company with lots of assets and business inside the US is open to pressure to do things that may not be in the customer's interests.
Good point, Craig. More food for thought.
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