The Pros and Cons of Storing Gold and Silver at Home

As a precious metals investor, it’s your job to properly store your gold and silver in the best manner possible. Otherwise you could end up leaving your investments vulnerable and unsafe. That’s the last thing you should have to worry about on a daily basis.

Most intelligent investors realize the value of Brinks and other gold storage facilities. But at the same time, some investors would prefer to store their gold and silver in the comfort of their own home. It’s your choice in the end, but one method is a heck of a lot safer than the other. As I’m sure you know, storing precious metals in a facility designed to protect your investment is the wise choice.

How do I know this? I know because there are certain pros and cons to storing gold and silver at home. In truth, you should focus on building your retirement portfolio with precious metals. You’d be much better off purchasing them metals within a gold IRA account. And part of retirement investing is choosing an inexpensive and trustworthy storage facility to protect your investments.

With that said, we’ll now take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of storing gold and silver at home. And we’ll also talk about a precious metals IRA and why we feel it’s such a good idea.

The Pros of Storing Silver and Gold at Home

Although it isn’t my favorite way to store precious metals, there are certain positives to storing them at home. To better understand how I feel about this topic, please consider the following positive aspects of this practice:

• It’s cheaper to store precious metals at home. By storing precious metals at home; you get to avoid paying a facility for the privilege. This may seem like a wise choice on the surface. But home gold storage can get pretty expensive as well. You may need to purchase a brand-new safe that could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. By storing gold in a facility, you’ll have to pay a yearly fee based on the amount of gold you have. Or a flat fee if you’re doing business with the best broker. But home storage is still going to be an investment. You’d be foolish to put your gold coins in a box or suitcase and store them at the back of your closet. You may end up getting burglarized one day and the lucky crook could run off with your entire nest egg. Although it’s technically cheaper to store gold and silver at home, sleeping soundly at night is still a better investment.
• Offshore gold storage is way more expensive than storing gold at home. In fact, we only recommend this choice if you own $1 million or more in precious metals. But if you’re a serious investor, you know that precious metals aren’t safe on your property. Anyone could walk into your home at any time and steal your valuable investments. Buying a professional safe is an absolute must. And you have to invest in a safe that is impossible to crack. Otherwise the best thieves will end up getting their grubby little hands on your gold and silver anyway. I know storing gold at home is likely better than offshore storage. But it’s still far from the smart way to keep your precious metals investments safe. And it’s against the rules entirely if you plan on investing through a silver IRA.
• You have easy access to your precious metals when storing them at home. Some people feel that they need their investments close at hand. They never know when an emergency will strike and they’ll need to sell their investments for cash. If you’re in this vulnerable position, you may not want to invest in precious metals altogether. It sounds like you’re on the verge of personal economic struggles and selling your investments would be the only way out. Although it’s nice to have easy access to your investments, it certainly isn’t the smartest choice. Your children or other members of your family may accidentally stumble upon your metals and take them for their own. You could lose them in a fire. Or someone could accidentally throw them out during spring cleaning, or another crazy scenario. It’s always safest to pay a storage facility to keep your precious metals IRA investments secure and protected.

The Cons of Storing Silver and Gold at Home

There are reasons why you might want to store gold at home. There are even more negative reasons to avoid it that I’ve alluded to already. To help you better understand the negative side of home gold and silver storage, please consider the following:

• Homes aren’t designed to keep precious metals safe and protected. On the other hand, trusted vaults and storage facilities were designed with this function in mind. They were created to keep your valuables safe and secure from people that shouldn’t have easy access to them. Keeping your gold and silver in a storage facility means you’re doing everything possible to protect these valuable commodities.
• Residential homes are susceptible to fires, natural disasters, and burglary. Guess what? Only the most elaborate and effective criminals will ever break into a precious metals IRA storage vault. And even if they pull it off, the odds of getting away with the crime are almost zero. The crooks have a better chance of winning the lottery or get struck by lightning than robbing a storage vault. For those smart enough to invest in a gold IRA, storing your precious metals in a secure vault is mandatory. If you really want to improve your retirement portfolio, forget about home storage altogether. It isn’t allowed and it isn’t recommended anyway because it leaves you vulnerable to natural disasters, fires, and theft.
• This may seem hard to believe, but you could actually forget where you’ve stored your precious metals. You may hide them so well that you don’t remember where you put them. Is this likely going to happen? Probably not, but it’s possible nonetheless and it bears mentioning. Securing your gold in a precious metals IRA vault in a storage facility means you’ll never accidentally misplace your investments. You’ll always know where it is and it will remain safely protected by the trustworthy company monitoring your vault.

Selling Gold and Silver Investments Stored at Home

Believe it or not, there’s another expense attached to storing gold and silver at home. You may not realize it now, but if you attempt to sell to a broker they’ll force you to appraise your precious metals. Why? They don’t know what kind of scam you might be trying to pull on them. They don’t know if you’re actually selling real gold or fool’s gold made of other alloys. For all they know, you’re trying to pull a fast one on them and sell them counterfeit coins and bars.

On the other hand, keeping your gold and silver in a reputable storage facility avoids paying an appraiser. Why? The precious metals broker knows that they’re dealing with a trustworthy organization. It’s likely they already do business with your storage facility in the first place. So purchasing gold stored in their vaults isn’t such a risky endeavor. They can already count on the fact that the gold is real and it hasn’t been tampered with.

There are a lot of unscrupulous people trying to sell fake gold to others all the time. This is not only disappointing and disheartening; it’s also the sad truth. 

On the whole, you’ll have to pay a gold appraiser for their services. They’ll charge anywhere from $50 an hour to $150 an hour or more. If you’re selling a large lot of precious metals, it could take the appraiser many hours to go through everything. This could potentially cost you anywhere from $500-$1000 or more, which is a waste of money if you ask me. You’re better off keeping your money safe in a secured vault and avoiding appraisal fees altogether.

The Right Way to Buy & Store Precious Metals

Have you heard of a gold IRA? If so, why are you considering buying gold and silver and stuffing it in your closet? The safest and most effective way to purchase precious metals is through an IRA account.

Why is that? Simply put, a precious metals IRA grants you the ability to buy precious metals and store them for your retirement. They will remain safely secured in an unbreakable vault owned by a trusted security company. And by keeping your gold in this account, you can store it and earn value in a tax-free or tax-deferred way.

Do yourself a favor and contact a precious metals broker right away. You can find the best by visiting our top 10 list. 

Or if you prefer, contact Regal Assets immediately and sign up for their free investor’s kit. They’ll help you open your gold IRA and guide you toward the best purchases after you fund your account. You’ll appreciate their impeccable customer service, their expert guidance and their intelligent and thoughtful recommendations.