Santander Safety

[centurian]

All this 85K "protection" twaddle really only applies to the small operators.

If one of the big 5 were to implode, they would probably take the other 4 with them. Where would all these 85K's come from. Even Merv couldn't print the cash fast enough.

It's a bit like getting "humongous meteor insurance". Even if you could buy it - it would be worthless because any such strike would bankrupt the insurance company anyway.

[ChimpMaster]

All this 85K "protection" twaddle really only applies to the small operators.

If one of the big 5 were to implode, they would probably take the other 4 with them. Where would all these 85K's come from. Even Merv couldn't print the cash fast enough.

It's a bit like getting "humongous meteor insurance". Even if you could buy it - it would be worthless because any such strike would bankrupt the insurance company anyway.

I often think that too. The only logical course of action is to spend the money. You can't take it out of the bank and keep it at home, I mean not if you have a reasonably large amount anyway. You could invest in gold but it's only really 'yours' if you keep it at home - for example a notary or intermediary could still go bust leaving you with nothing.

Property - though it could lose value - is still one of the safest options I guess. At least you know it's legally yours. And if you rent it out you will have some income from it to compensate for any price falls during a down market.

[petergriffin]

The only logical course of action is to spend the money.

This is one possibility, the other being:

You could invest in gold but it's only really 'yours' if you keep it at home

This is a better idea. Imagine you have 100k in the bank (seriously who is thick enough to leave 100k sitting in a current account?). You can leave 20k in a savings account for emergency, then 40k in gold bullion (18 1ounce Wiener Philarmoniker + 18 1 ounce Britannia) and another 40k silver bullion in mixed silver coins bought over time in Germany at 7% VAT.

[ChimpMaster]

<snip>
This is a better idea. Imagine you have 100k in the bank (seriously who is thick enough to leave 100k sitting in a current account?). You can leave 20k in a savings account for emergency, then 40k in gold bullion (18 1ounce Wiener Philarmoniker + 18 1 ounce Britannia) and another 40k silver bullion in mixed silver coins bought over time in Germany at 7% VAT.

Plenty of contractor accounts will have > £100k sitting there, allowing for taxation to be paid etc (which is still due if the bank runs off with your money!).

Personally I am not going for the bullion option. I just don't trust it, I mean it's still not there with you, in front of your eyes is it? So what's to stop the bullion provider to discount your claim to anything you have bought? Or to stop them going bust, or perhaps the government from seizing all the gold... it's happened before!

[escapeUK]

Plenty of contractor accounts will have > £100k sitting there, allowing for taxation to be paid etc (which is still due if the bank runs off with your money!).

If the government failed in its duty to protect the banking system, then they could whistle for the tax that was lost in said system.

[mrdonuts]

shares

stick the money into shares

[eek]

Plenty of contractor accounts will have > £100k sitting there, allowing for taxation to be paid etc (which is still due if the bank runs off with your money!).

Personally I am not going for the bullion option. I just don't trust it, I mean it's still not there with you, in front of your eyes is it? So what's to stop the bullion provider to discount your claim to anything you have bought? Or to stop them going bust, or perhaps the government from seizing all the gold... it's happened before!

There was a time and a place for buying gold. That time was 4-7 years ago.

[petergriffin]

Personally I am not going for the bullion option. I just don't trust it, I mean it's still not there with you, in front of your eyes is it?

I don't get that one. Can you not keep the precious metal at home in a safe? Do you trust a bank more than your own safe?

[centurian]

I don't get that one. Can you not keep the precious metal at home in a safe? Do you trust a bank more than your own safe?

Vastly simplying things, but...

Larger amounts of gold come with a certificate of proof that they are x% pure. But to keep that certification, you have to keep it stored in an approved centre.

The moment you take it out - it loses its provenance and the "value" of the gold drops considerably, because no-one buying it can be sure it is x% pure - unless you go to the cost of getting it analysed and recertified.

So if you store it at home, you either have to buy uncertified gold (which may or may not be real), or buy certified gold and lose the certification.

[petergriffin]

Vastly simplying things, but...

Larger amounts of gold come with a certificate of proof that they are x% pure. But to keep that certification, you have to keep it stored in an approved centre.

The moment you take it out - it loses its provenance and the "value" of the gold drops considerably, because no-one buying it can be sure it is x% pure - unless you go to the cost of getting it analysed and recertified.

So if you store it at home, you either have to buy uncertified gold (which may or may not be real), or buy certified gold and lose the certification.

Are you talking from experience or are you just guessing? There's no such a s thing as certified or uncertified gold. What you are referring to is "assaying". If you buy gold bars from a reputable dealer they will come with their own certificate; if you sell this gold to the same dealer they will just pay the spot price minus something, no questions asked. If you sell it to another dealer, he/she might ask for it to be 'assayed'.

If you buy gold coins they don't need to be either certified or assayed because one knows already how much gold there is in a particular coin and it is quite easy to verify if a coin is fake or not just by passing it through a Fisch:
Don’t buy fake gold coins. Get the Fisch. Protect your gold investment.