03suzuka...s2000

im 22 and For the past 20 years i have seen my dad buying loads of physical silver. He would buy $100-$200 in silver rounds and 1-10oz bars per paycheck and put them in his safe. Needless to say all the silver he has bought over the years is worth aloooooot more then he bought it for. And hes suggesting to me i start doing the same thing he did. He thinks the price will continue to sky rocket since new battery technology requires silver and he thinks in the next 20 years most cars on the road will be electric with the silver in the batteries.

So my question to you guys is should i start buying physical silver since i dont really have enough buying power to invest in gold. And no time to keep up on stocks.

Keep in mind i would be buying this for long time investment, not for a quick flip when prices go up 6 months later. More of a retirement plan in addition to my 401k and union pension.

rwheelz

There have been several threads in this forum over the past year about buying silver. A lot of people feel it is a solid investment, along with the other precious metals. Make sure you have a safe place to store it. A lot of home insurance policies have a low limit for coverage on things like cash and precious metals.

magician

I would never invest in silver directly (or gold, or any other commodity for that matter), simply because the storage costs and inconvenience would be beyond my capacity to endure.

That said, if you have the capacity to store silver safely and in a manner that maintains its value, it seems to be a reasonable investment. I would do the research to compare it to other investments; if you do, and it comes out - well - shiny (rwheelz has a valid point about insurance) , I wouldn't have any objections to it.

Best of luck!

rob-2

No problems. Most banks have a safety deposit box large enough for a small yearly fee that will meet your needs.

darkdream

You do not need to keep up with stocks unless you plan to be a type of day trader or do flash trading. Since you plan to do long term investing you can pick out stocks you believe have growth potential.

I have quite a bit of silver, but it was cheap as heck. I bought pre-1965 coins for basically face value or was given bank bags full of them from relatives. Much cheaper than buying silver bars if you have any luck at finding the coins for cheap.

MrKlean187

^This is true about the pre 1965 coins, however, this method would require one to melt down the coins and then separate the silver from the other metals and alloys. Currently, melting coins is illegal. 1965-1970 half dollars are worth about $4.50 in silver/copper value as they are 40% silver content and are still readily available in circulation unlike most other older coins. If you check ebay, those same half dollars are being sold for $5.00 each!

s2000Junky

I heard that the pre 1965 Quarters are 99% silver. In that case would you really need to melt them down? I guess they can still can be found in circulation.

MrKlean187

^they are 90% silver, yes they would need to melted down if the economy collapsed and US currency was worthless. At that point, the metal is what is worth the money, but it would not be .999 percent pure silver. Its the purity of the coin that would be the issue when selling in weight.

Mr White

I just found a 1964 silver quarter yesterday. Made my day. lol

sahtt

I like precious metals and own some 'alternative' investments as well (i.e. Swiss franc) but putting large amounts of your net worth, especially as a substitute for other types of savings, in gold/silver is gambling more than investing. I am not telling you not to do it, just be cognizant of the fact you are betting at best, gambling at worst, not "investing." You don't need to convince me how wise it is, i.e. it's a currency hedge, a government collapse hedge, a macroeconomic/global commodity play, a battery play, etc., I know all those variables better than most and have ~6% of my net worth in physical gold. Silver, however, has no cash flow and is worth strictly what someone else will pay for it. People will (often) tell you stocks are the same thing but that is not the case. Stocks are ownership and with a debt free entity, potentially machinery, buildings, and patents. They often deliver cash flows as well, even if not all of them are quickly returned to investors. (although I prefer it that way).

And I will give you some extremely valuable advice you will probably dismiss, the fact your father or friend or uncle has made money over the past 10-20 years in a particular asset class makes the probability lower, not higher, that you will do the same. If your father and just been crushed in the silver market, that is probably a moderately good indicator it is a good time to buy.

Lastly, if you decide to move forward with it, I 2nd magicians advice and advise you to find a more efficient way to invest than the physical commodity. I have a buddy that does the exact same thing you described your father doing, he's got $100-250k in silver in the small house he rents. Even if by some miracle he gets all the money he thinks it is worth if (when?) something happens, which I put at maybe a 1% chance, it's going to be a catastrophic nightmare dealing with the insurance company and getting fair value if a fire/theft/etc. occurs.