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This guest post was submitted by Mark Herpel, a reference in e-gold and digital currency. He is the editor of DGC Magazine, an excellent free e-magazine that covers e-gold topics. If you are in to digital currency, that’s the place you need to go. Marc is a long time collaborator of Piggy Bank Pie, he’s been onboard since the very beginning. Very busy with DGC Magazine, we don’t get the chance to read his material too often, but each time he submits a text to Piggy Bank Pie, it’s a hell of a post! Enjoy.

For centuries, gold ownership has been a recognized strategy for storing personal wealth and preserving value. Governments may rise and fall, entire financial systems may collapse but throughout all of history the value of gold has always remained strong.

Gold is considered a safe haven in times of economic crisis. As global economies expand and shrink, precious metals such as gold are trusted as one of the best ways to preserve personal wealth. Gold investments do not experience any inflation. In fact precious metals provide safety from rising prices and inflation. Gold ownership preserves purchasing power and complements any portfolio.

Today’s economy looks bad, should I sell my house, cash out of my 401k and buy only gold?

Not unless you want our wife and kids to leave you! Using all of your investment dollars to buy a lock box full of gold is just not practical in today’s electronic world. Having all of your assets, money and faith in one investment, is also just bad economics

Do I need a seat on the commodities exchange and a million dollars before I can buy gold bullion?

No. Just as you don’t need to work on Wall Street to buy a stock. Today’s Internet has brought banking, investing and global financial markets into our living rooms. Access to financial markets and investing is now widely available with a home computer. Plus the fees, commissions and minimums to get started are low enough for just about everyone.

Should I be moving my US Dollar based investments into gold?

If you are investing for safety, yes, because of a slowing economy and current troubles with banks, real estate, fiscal debt, personal debt and inflation….moving some value out of USD based investments and into gold is recognized as a prudent and safe move.

Ultimately, each person should determine how much of their wealth they want protected from today’s global uncertainties and that portion of value could be to moved into gold….the sooner the better.

The real power of gold, comes from its ability to diversify and protect investments.

As inflation eats away at your money’s purchasing power, through higher prices, you should be shifting your funds, investments and your liquid money over to the safety of precious metals such as gold. Over the past 5-6 years, since 2002, U.S. Dollar investments like the popular 3 month treasury bill have yielded less than 3% per year. During that time, the rate of inflation has been higher than 3% so money held in US dollar investments like Treasuries, have been losing real purchasing power. The cash value accumulated from the Treasuries’ investment today has less buying power than it did five years earlier. The cost of goods you buy each day has risen at a much faster pace than the value of US dollar investments. Gold is one answer to preserving that purchasing power.

If you had NOT bought US Dollar investments and put that same amount into gold, as the price of gold has risen along with the price of goods you would not be feeling any inflation. In this same period of time, gold and silver have bucked the downward inflation trend by posting gains in dollar values of over 300%, couple this with the 50% drop in the USD and you have a whopping 350% increase in your gold assets to help you fight off inflation.

Since 2002, gold as priced in US Dollars has moved from around $270 an ounce to $950 an ounce. Anytime during this period, if you moved dollar based investments over into gold…you were not alone in your actions.

Gold is not a stock market or equity ‘investment’, the price of gold is based on global supply and demand. At no point can anyone say, “based on quarterly earning gold is now overpriced!” If you are moving your funds into gold for safety and security, there really is no price, you could or would say, “its too high!” In fact if you were to adjust the price of gold for inflation, based on the highs during the early 1980’s it should be trading just above $2000 per ounce.

Gold is real money, it holds real value no matter which way a local or national economy is moving. If the price of goods in US Dollars is moving up, so is the price of gold and your buying power is preserved.

The only gold I’ve ever bought before today was jewelry, how can I take full advantage of the Internet and buy or sell gold today?

While your wife may recommend matching Gold Rolex watches…there is a slightly more cost effective way to own gold!

Just as anyone can easily set up an online brokerage account and buy stock online, there are Internet Bullion companies that have made it just as easy, cost effective and fast to buy pure gold with your personal computer. In fact ,since precious metal bullion is not a financial investment vehicle, it’s actually easier to buy gold online than it is to purchase a stock or mutual fund.

Why buy gold or silver online with Crowne Gold?

Crowne Gold is a precious metals dealer that gives clients the ability to buy, store, sell gold and silver as well as the ability for you to exchange gold like money or exchange both gold and silver. Customers have the option of physical delivery or an electronic gold bullion account. For many customers, delivery of the physical gold or silver can be a costly headache depending on their local jurisdiction. Many customers also simply don’t want to be storing expensive portable gold bullion in their residence

Crowne’s solution?

Crowne Gold provides the ultimate precious metals solution. Crowne enables their customers to buy, sell and process exchanges in gold using the Internet.†From your home or nearest Internet portal you can buy and sell gold bullion effortlessly then transact dollar payments through your local bank or crownes new debit card option. (More on this huge announcement soon)

In addition to Crowne customers buying and selling, they have the option of transferring all or a part of their precious metal to any other Crown Gold account holder. The ability to pay someone or receive payments requires just a few keystrokes. Transactions are accomplished by weight in grams or ounces and using the national currency equivalent. In other words, you may purchase or transfer either a weight such as one gram or a currency amount like $30, to anyone, anywhere, privately, instantly and securely from the convenience of your own computer. All digital gold accounts with secured gold positions are held in high security vaults and regularly validated by external auditors.

Crowne Gold clients may buy & sell gold and silver based on market prices anytime 7 days a week. Crowne offers consistently low prices and friendly service. Account balances are instantly summarized each time you login. Account histories and transactions can be accessed anytime on-line and they are presented in the same format as an Internet bank account. Clients’ gold and silver positions held on deposit are reflected in each customer’s on-line statement and re-valued automatically based on world spot prices.

Clients’ gold or silver is held in good delivery form in either medallions or bars. Customers may elect to take physical delivery of gold in beautiful one troy ounce gold coins, 10-ounce gold bars, kilo bars, or 400-ounce bars. All delivered gold is guaranteed .9999 fine, the highest purity available anywhere in the world. Crowne has recently commissioned the Crowne Mint for beautiful 50 troy ounce silver bars. With silver increasing in value these new bars are sure to be a favorite among buyers.

If your money market, bank saving or investment dollars are shrinking because of low interest US dollar investments, please consider moving some of those funds over to the safety of precious metals. A balanced investment portfolio including gold can help you survive the everyday ups and downs of a global economy. Now that the Internet allows gold bullion purchases from your living room, its your job to consider moving away from those sinking US dollar vehicles. Try Crowne Gold, its one of today’s most convenient and cost effective way to purchase gold or silver bullion.

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