So many scandals! How to properly buy gold in 2024?

Many people view gold as an alternative currency they can use to pay for essential purchases in times of crisis. To always have it readily available, they therefore store the precious metal at home. This prevents dependence on, or default risks from, banks, stock exchanges, technology, and third-party providers. Buyers can remain anonymous up to a value of €1,999.99, and storage is free—at least as long as you don’t buy a safe. While this may be a viable solution for smaller quantities, the risks increase as the investment amount rises. Burglars could find the gold, especially since they know the most common hiding places (as we reported). Furthermore, many insurance policies do not fully cover the loss or theft of gold.

Many people therefore prefer to take their gold to the bank, where secure safe deposit boxes are available. This saves the cost of owning a private safe. In return, one pays an annual fee ranging from a low two-digit to a low three-digit amount, depending on the insurance coverage. The insured sum for bank safe deposit boxes is very limited in most cases, averaging 30,000 Euros. Moreover, it is questionable to what extent banks are a crisis-proof storage location for gold. As seen in 2008, banks often closed during major economic crises. Even during normal operations, investors have limited access to their gold due to opening hours. Since 2021, the tax authorities also have the option to access safe deposit boxes, for example, in the case of seizure or forced execution.

Some investors therefore swear by investing their gold abroad so that the government has no access to it. However, in an emergency, this can also make it difficult for investors themselves to access the precious metal, for example, if it is located in Switzerland during a situation like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, especially for larger investment sums starting from 10,000 Euros, it is advisable to look for a professional storage service provider in Germany. However, other dangers lurk here: Is my gold really there? This question is justified, as in many fraud cases, product providers had not purchased and stored enough gold. This problem has now been resolved with a technical solution – blockchain technology.
Now, investors can confidently take advantage of professional storage, as it makes the most sense. In addition to comprehensive insurance coverage, investors can save up to 7.5% on their purchase compared to private storage. Added to this is the peace of mind that thieves and burglars cannot steal gold from their homes or extort its surrender by force.

It is also crucial when buying gold to be able to inquire about buying and selling prices in advance. Stay away from dealers who do not disclose their spread! A case involving the provider Global Gold was found on a financial platform online, where a customer purchased precious metals for 52,535 Euros in 2018. The following year, he received a message that his stored metals had a buy-back value of just 27,714.33 Euros. This corresponds to a loss in value of 47.25 percent! Such cases must be prevented by only buying from providers who disclose the difference between buying and selling prices from the outset.

To avoid the circumstances and risks of storing gold bars or coins, some investors purchase gold in the form of ETFs. In doing so, they legally acquire bearer bonds. Investors thus remain creditors of a special purpose vehicle whose exact hedging ratios remain opaque. While physical delivery is theoretically possible, it is at least undesirable. Gold buyers are ultimately faced with the decision of either buying a life raft or a voucher for a life raft – a choice that buyers of technology metals such as gallium and rare earths, like terbium oxide, must also make (as we reported).

The ultimate in security, which gold buyers should absolutely pay attention to, is that the gold provider is connected to Finomet. Only with digital fund utilization control do customers enjoy this ultimate consumer protection. A provider that has successfully used this system since its inception in 2022 is Noble BC in Germany and Green Group in Austria. Here, buying gold is not only secure but also particularly convenient. Customers can have the gold delivered at any time and conveniently buy and sell their gold online from home. They can also choose between storage locations in Switzerland or Germany.