The question: “Brian, how do you get your money outside of the US and avoid all of the hassle?”
I read an article in National Geographic magazine a while back that spoke of Gold… the beautiful yellow metal that never tarnishes.
A very interesting statistic that article taught me was: if you took all of the gold that has ever been mined and put it all together in one place, it would fill up two Olympic-sized swimming pools. That’s it. No more. In the history of nations, it has ALWAYS remained the backbone of all financial institutions.
So one thing we do is buy gold. Now here’s the dilemma with gold. It’s heavy, hard to transport and not safe to store in your home. Don’t get me wrong… having a few ounces lying around is never a bad idea.
But what about having $50K… $100K… $500K+ lying around your home?
That could be very bad if someone found out, and someone always does. I would never put my family at that kind of risk.
What to do? Do you store your gold in a US bank safe deposit box? That’s not an option for us. Do you store your gold in an offshore bank’s safe deposit box? Hmmm… Maybe… But there is a lot of risk with that as well.
Those are both viable options for many people. However, if your gold is in the US, how are you going to get it offshore? Once you get it offshore, what financial institution are you going to trust to hold onto your livelihood?
I’m not saying this is the best way. I’m not saying this is the only way. But this is the way I do it. A lot of people will blast me for my choices, but I don’t care. I’m not advising anyone to do manage their money the same way I do, but I’ve been asked this question many times, so I feel obliged to share with those who are interested.
I buy gold through Gold Money by having money wired from my US credit union to Gold Money. I can wire up to $5,000 a day by fax request (plus wire fees).The $5000 a day is my Credit Union’s limitation.
If I need to cash in my gold, I have Gold Money sell my gold and wire my money to my Banco Republica of Uruguay bank account. Once my gold is liquidated from Gold Money, I have two options.
- Buy gold in Pocitos or Centro (there are a couple of places that sell gold in these areas of Montevideo) and put my gold in a safe deposit box at a local depository.
- Do a wire transfer to my BuillionVault account from my Banco Republica of Uruguay bank account.
I keep gold in BullionVault because they have nothing to do with getting gold or cash out of the US. So, just in case something happens and the US won’t allow the purchase of gold or what have you… I’m diversified. Maybe I’m a little paranoid, but I’d rather be paranoid and wrong than unprepared and right.
The differences between Gold Money and BullionVault are:
- Gold Money will allow a wire transfer to purchase funds from anywhere… While BullionVault will only allow funds to be received from one bank account.
- Gold Money allows you to sell gold and transfer it to any bank account in the world… While BullionVault will only transfer money to the bank account it receives money from.
- Gold Money allows you to purchase Gold, Silver and Platinum while BullionVault only allows for Gold Transactions.
Hey Gold Money or BullionVault may be an option to help you get your gold or cash out of the US. Then again, it may not. Either way, I’m not offering or soliciting any financial advice, I’m just letting you know what works for me.
fubarrio says
brian,
interesting manuever. y the level of indirection? is the idea that brou’s (and uy’s bank secrecy) will stop a subpoena at gold money from following the trail to it’s eventual location (in safe dep box or bullionvault)?
do u mind sharing what the total cost/margin is for the aforementioned transactions — cu to gm to brou to bv?
how long u here for? cute pics of you and zoe.
ciao,
fubarrio
Brian and Chrystal says
Hey Fubarrio,
Thanks for reading our blog. You’ve presented some great questions.
To your first question; I’m not a subpoena expert, but, I know it would be a lot harder for a subpoena at Gold Money to track money after it reached BRAU. But I sincerely hope that never happens… because I’m not doing anything illegal…
The cost… Our CU charges a $45 wire fee to wire to Gold Money… Gold Money cost 2.49% commission on a $5,000 Gold Purchase which is $125
Gold Money sells our Gold 0% commission, and transfers our cash to BRAU cost $40 wire fee.
So us buying gold at Gold Money and getting it down here cost us $210 on $5,000… Which is less expensive and less of a headache than Western Union.
BRAU to Bullion Vault cost $45 wire fee that BRAU charges… Bullion Vault cost .8% commission on a $5,000 Gold Purchase which is $40
Bullion Vault also charges a .8% commission when it sells your gold ($40) and a $30 wire fee back to BRAU, which is still less than Gold Money.
Both Gold Money and Bullion Vault have storage fees which are minimal… Once you reach 400oz of gold in either one, you can have your bar shipped to you (at your expense).
All around Bullion Vault is less expensive than Gold Money, it’s charts are live 24/7 (Gold Money’s charts are frozen on the weekends)… BUT Gold Money is more flexible.
And to your final question… We are here for the long haul…
I hope this answers your questions,
Peace,
-B-
Scott D says
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Swiss-banks-have-no-space-left-for-gold!-19698-3-1.html
(!)
Mostly for my own curiosity, what is your main goal with investing in gold? Are you trying to hedge currency risk? (By replacing it with commodity risk?) Inflation risk? Failure of banks? Failure of sovereign nations?
See you guys in a few months! I can’t wait to see what Zoë gets up to when she is a little older!
Brian and Chrystal says
Ding ding ding… And the answer is all of the above. The strongest currencies in the world are backed by gold… And the article you posted is right on. The buying power of any currency backed by gold surpasses that of the US dollar by a lot. Since we lost our ass…ets in the stock market, gold has yet to let us down…
We’re looking forward to seeing you and meeting your family in a few months.
-B-