WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.480 There is something almost primal about gold, 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.179 isn't there? I mean, it's not just a metal on 00:00:06.179 --> 00:00:08.640 the periodic table. Oh, it's entirely psychological. 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:12.099 Right. It's the apocalypse asset. When the stock 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:15.380 market is bleeding out or inflation is eating 00:00:15.380 --> 00:00:17.739 your savings or the news is just a constant stream 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:21.120 of anxiety, the lizard brain wakes up and screams, 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:24.079 get the shiny rock. Get the shiny rock. Yeah, 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:26.440 that's exactly it. It feels like the one thing 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:29.379 that can't just evaporate into thin air. it really 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:32.259 is the ultimate panic button. And it has that 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:35.140 timeless allure because for thousands of years 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:36.960 it has actually been the money of last resort. 00:00:37.820 --> 00:00:41.560 But that emotional reaction... that lizard brain 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.460 impulse you just mentioned, that is exactly where 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:46.359 people get into trouble. Right, because panic 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:48.979 is rarely a good investment strategy. And that 00:00:48.979 --> 00:00:51.079 is exactly what we are digging into today for 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:53.340 this deep dive. Because just because it's gold 00:00:53.340 --> 00:00:55.380 doesn't mean it's a smart move if you buy it 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:57.799 the wrong way. Exactly. In fact, you can absolutely 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.100 lose your shirt investing in the so -called safest 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:02.020 asset on earth if you don't read the fine print. 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:04.519 And that is the reality check we all need today. 00:01:04.730 --> 00:01:07.010 For this deep dive, we are looking at a really 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:10.189 comprehensive analysis titled Critical Gold Investing 00:01:10.189 --> 00:01:12.549 Errors to Avoid. Right. It's published by the 00:01:12.549 --> 00:01:15.409 Gold IRA Company's Bulletin. And the headline 00:01:15.409 --> 00:01:19.510 here is, effectively stop buying gold until you 00:01:19.510 --> 00:01:21.930 read this. Which sounds like a bit of a cold 00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:24.250 shower for the gold bugs out there. It is a cold 00:01:24.250 --> 00:01:27.489 shower, but a very necessary one. So before we 00:01:27.489 --> 00:01:29.709 get into the nitty gritty, tell us a bit about 00:01:29.709 --> 00:01:32.090 the brain behind this analysis. Like, who are 00:01:32.090 --> 00:01:34.439 we learning from today? We are looking at the 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.780 work of Doug Young. He's a heavyweight in this 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:40.879 specific niche. He has over 20 years of experience 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.459 in financial markets. OK. But more importantly, 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.939 he has spent the last 15 years specifically specializing 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:49.939 in gold IRAs and precious metals. That is a very 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:52.480 specific focus. Very specific. He's conducted 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.239 over 80 detailed evaluations of gold IRA companies. 00:01:56.700 --> 00:01:58.760 So this isn't just some casual observer. This 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:00.920 is someone who acts almost like an auditor for 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.569 the entire industry. So he's seen the plumbing. 00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:06.450 He's seen the plumbing, the leaks, the sewage, 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:09.349 all of it. He knows exactly how the contracts 00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:11.490 are written and he knows the aggressive sales 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:13.969 tactics that get used on unsuspecting investors, 00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:17.110 which is exactly what we need to unpack. So the 00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:19.289 mission for today is. Pretty straightforward. 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:22.509 This isn't a how -to on getting rich quick. Think 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:24.909 of this more as a survival guide for your portfolio. 00:02:25.110 --> 00:02:27.289 I like that. A survival guide. Yeah. We are going 00:02:27.289 --> 00:02:30.750 to walk through six specific traps that Doug 00:02:30.750 --> 00:02:33.750 Young identifies. Traps that inexperienced investors 00:02:33.750 --> 00:02:35.949 fall into all the time. And what's fascinating 00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:38.430 here is that some of these traps don't look like 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:41.030 traps at all. Right. They look like normal investments. 00:02:41.069 --> 00:02:43.289 They look like common sense. They look like convenient, 00:02:43.389 --> 00:02:46.060 easy ways to get into the market. But as the 00:02:46.060 --> 00:02:48.400 source material reveals, they can actually be 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.280 massive financial dead ends. OK, let's get right 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.580 into it. The first trap Young talks about is 00:02:53.580 --> 00:02:55.960 a timing issue. And honestly, this one surprised 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.419 me a bit, because in the stock market, we are 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:00.860 trained to be agile. You know, you buy a tech 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:03.620 stock, it pops 10 % in a week. You sell, you 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.580 take the win. Right, day trading mentality. Exactly. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:08.860 But he says the first major error is treating 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:12.039 physical gold like a day trade. Why can't someone 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:14.080 just buy gold today and sell it next month if 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.530 the price goes up? because that goes completely 00:03:16.530 --> 00:03:18.490 against the reality of physical commodities. 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:21.569 We are so used to apps where you can click a 00:03:21.569 --> 00:03:25.030 button and trade instantly with zero fees. Young 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:27.949 is arguing that you absolutely cannot treat physical 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:29.969 gold that way. It really comes down to friction. 00:03:30.150 --> 00:03:32.150 Friction. So what kind of friction? If I buy 00:03:32.150 --> 00:03:34.449 gold today and the global price, the spot price 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:37.169 goes up next month, shouldn't I be able to just 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:39.509 sell it for a quick profit? You would think so. 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:42.159 But you have to factor in the spread. This is 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:44.860 a concept Young emphasizes heavily in the bulletin. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:46.620 You have to understand that there isn't just 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:49.419 one price for gold. Right. There is the spot 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:52.599 price, which is the wholesale price for a massive 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.780 400 ounce bar sitting somewhere in a vault in 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:59.280 London. You, the regular investor, cannot buy 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.439 at that price. Because I'm not a central bank. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.180 Exactly. You're buying from a retail dealer. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:07.620 That dealer has overhead. They have minting costs, 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.280 shipping, insurance, staff, security, and of 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.259 course, their own profit margin. So they pass 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:16.120 all of that on to me. Yes. So when you buy a 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.360 coin, you pay the spot price plus all those extra 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.680 costs. That's called the ask price. OK, let's 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:24.379 put some real numbers on it so we can visualize 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:29.120 this. Say spot is $2 ,000. I might pay $2 ,100 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.600 or $2 ,150. Right. But here is where the trap 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.370 snaps shut. If you turn around the very next 00:04:35.370 --> 00:04:37.910 week or month to sell that coin back, the dealer 00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:39.829 isn't going to pay you $21 .50. Because they 00:04:39.829 --> 00:04:41.870 need to make money on the buyback, too. Exactly. 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:43.970 They probably won't even pay you the $2 ,000 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:46.850 spot price. They pay the bid price, which is 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:49.129 the wholesale rate they can acquire it for. So 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:51.050 effectively, the second my transaction clears, 00:04:51.310 --> 00:04:53.410 I am instantly in the red. You are immediately 00:04:53.410 --> 00:04:56.009 out of the money. You are underwater. To sell 00:04:56.009 --> 00:04:58.410 it back and just break even, the global price 00:04:58.410 --> 00:05:01.029 of gold has to rise enough to cover that entire 00:05:01.029 --> 00:05:04.000 spread. that whole gap between what you paid 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.040 and what you can sell it for. That makes perfect 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:08.259 sense. It's exactly like driving a new car off 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:10.639 the lot. You take that immediate depreciation 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:13.079 hit or in this case a massive transaction cost 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:16.160 hit. That's a brilliant analogy and Young points 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.129 out that gold often go through long periods of 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:21.069 consolidation. Meaning it just kind of trades 00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:23.670 sideways. It trades sideways. It stays flat for 00:05:23.670 --> 00:05:25.370 a while. It's not always shooting straight to 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:28.189 the moon. So if I buy gold with money, I need 00:05:28.189 --> 00:05:31.189 it for next month's rent or a tuition payment 00:05:31.189 --> 00:05:34.370 in six months. You are almost guaranteeing a 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:37.829 loss. Even if the broader market didn't crash, 00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:41.389 you lose money simply on the spread. The source 00:05:41.389 --> 00:05:44.810 is very clear on this rule. Gold requires a medium 00:05:44.810 --> 00:05:47.319 to long term view. We are talking years, not 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:49.839 weeks. You need time for the organic growth of 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.100 the asset to actually overtake those initial 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:54.680 dealer costs. Precisely. Never invest funds you 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.300 might need to access soon. OK, so patience is 00:05:57.300 --> 00:05:59.480 the name of the game. Now let's move to the second 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:01.699 trap. And this one addresses the convenience 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.139 factor. I think a lot of us, if we want to invest 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:06.540 in gold, we look at buying physical bars and 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:08.160 think, well, where am I going to put this? Do 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.660 I need a safe? Is it heavy? It feels like a massive 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:13.959 hassle. It is a logistical challenge for sure. 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.379 You're dealing with a physical object. in a very 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:18.899 digital world. So the obvious solution seems 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:22.459 to be why not just buy a gold ETF? Specifically, 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.699 the source mentions the GLD ETF. It trades like 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:28.160 a stock. It tracks a gold price. It sits right 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:29.860 in my brokerage account. It seems like the perfect 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:33.560 modern solution. But Doug Young is waving a massive 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:36.699 red flag here. A massive red flag. And this is 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:38.240 where we really have to look at the fundamental 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.779 difference between price exposure and actual 00:06:40.779 --> 00:06:43.399 ownership. Young warns that investing in an ETF 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:46.120 like GLD is entirely different from owning the 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.079 metal. How so? When you buy the ETF, you are 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.600 just holding a piece of paper or a digital entry 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.199 on a screen. That entry represents a claim on 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:56.420 a trust. But the trust owns the gold, right? 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:59.319 So indirectly, I own it. Ideally, yes, the trust 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.220 has the gold. But your legal relationship is 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:05.000 with the trust, not the gold itself. This introduces 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:07.639 what we call counterparty risk. Young notes that 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:09.660 if you actually sit down and read the prospectus, 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:12.300 the fine print that nobody ever reads it is almost 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:14.819 always written entirely in the trust's favor. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.660 Written in the trust's favor is never a phrase 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:18.100 you want to hear when we're talking about your 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:21.019 life savings. No, it's terrifying. The source 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:23.819 dives into the mechanics of this. In a normal 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:26.439 sunny day market, everything works fine. The 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:28.680 price tracks. You can buy and sell your shares 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:32.100 easily. but in a catastrophic market failure, 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:34.699 which, let's be honest, is usually exactly why 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:37.579 people are buying gold in the first place. The 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:39.899 trust has out clauses. What kind of out clauses? 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.120 Well, specifically regarding redemption. Young 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.540 explains that unless you are what they call an 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:47.300 authorized participant, which basically means 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:49.660 a massive Wall Street institution dealing in 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:52.779 millions of dollars, you cannot trade your retail 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:55.899 shares for actual physical metal. You can't just 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:57.920 call up the GLD hotline and say, hey, send me 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.279 my gold. So I'm stuck with the paper. We are 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:02.699 stuck with the paper claim. And here is the really 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:05.550 scary part. If the financial system really breaks 00:08:05.550 --> 00:08:07.730 down or if there is a severe global shortage 00:08:07.730 --> 00:08:10.730 of physical metal, the trust often has the legal 00:08:10.730 --> 00:08:12.970 right to just settle your claim in cash. Wait, 00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:14.769 hold on. Let me get this straight. If the dollar 00:08:14.769 --> 00:08:16.569 is collapsing and I specifically bought gold 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:18.350 to protect myself from the dollar collapsing 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.189 and I want my value, they settle me out in dollars. 00:08:21.470 --> 00:08:24.050 That is the ultimate paradox. You were handed 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:26.750 back the very currency you were desperately trying 00:08:26.750 --> 00:08:29.939 to hedge against. So the entire reason you bought 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:32.720 the gold to have a safe haven completely outside 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.879 the banking system is negated because you bought 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.080 it through the banking system. That is exactly 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.960 the irony Doug Young is highlighting. His advice 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:44.440 is stark. Physical gold minimizes this because 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:46.620 you eliminate the counterparty risk altogether. 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:50.299 If you hold the physical coin in your hand, you 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.679 don't need a trust, you don't need a custodian, 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:54.820 and you don't need a bank to fulfill a promise, 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.529 you actually own the asset. It's the difference 00:08:57.529 --> 00:08:59.990 between holding the deed to a house and holding 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:02.649 a ticket that says we owe you one house subject 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:05.450 to availability. Exactly. Or we owe you the cash 00:09:05.450 --> 00:09:08.090 value of a house as determined by our lawyers. 00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:10.789 Yikes. OK. Point absolutely taken. Physical is 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:12.549 safer for the long haul because it removes that 00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:14.750 counterparty risk. So let's say I'm convinced 00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:17.190 I want physical gold. I walk past a high end 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:19.850 jewelry store window and I see a beautiful 24 00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:22.789 karat gold necklace. I think perfect. It's real 00:09:22.789 --> 00:09:24.870 gold. It's valuable. And I can wear it to a nice 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:27.509 dinner. But Young lists this as the third major 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:31.289 error. Yes, the jewelry trap. This is a remarkably 00:09:31.289 --> 00:09:34.590 common misconception. People confuse consumable 00:09:34.590 --> 00:09:37.730 luxury goods with investment assets. But it is 00:09:37.730 --> 00:09:39.690 gold, right? If it's 24 karat, it's pure. It 00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:42.210 is pure gold. But think about what you're actually 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:44.809 paying for at the register. When you buy that 00:09:44.809 --> 00:09:47.549 necklace, you aren't just paying for the raw 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:51.330 weight of the metal. You are paying for the artistry, 00:09:51.929 --> 00:09:55.519 the brand name, the marketing campaign. The retail 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.360 markup. The store's expensive rent on Fifth Avenue. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.960 The labor of the artisan who made it. Exactly. 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:04.440 The premium over the gold spot price on retail 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.840 jewelry is massive. We're talking sometimes 200 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.259 or 300 percent over the actual value of the gold. 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:13.090 Young points out that jewelry value is intrinsically 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:15.250 tied to fashion trends and craftsmanship. Right. 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:17.269 But if you try to sell that necklace later as 00:10:17.269 --> 00:10:19.549 a financial investment, the buyer, say a standard 00:10:19.549 --> 00:10:22.070 gold bullion dealer, doesn't care about the luxury 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:24.210 brand or how pretty the clasp is. They don't 00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:26.450 care that it's a designer piece. Unless it's 00:10:26.450 --> 00:10:29.950 a breathless historical antique. Generally, no, 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:32.389 they do not care. They only care about the melt 00:10:32.389 --> 00:10:34.710 value. They're buying it to toss it in a crucible 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:37.549 and scrap it. So all that extra money you paid 00:10:37.549 --> 00:10:40.500 for the art. It evaporates the second you walk 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:42.480 out the store doors. So you paid for the art, 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:45.019 but you're only selling the metal. And that creates 00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:47.259 a mathematically terrible return on investment, 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.419 a terrible ROI. You effectively lose all that 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:53.440 craftsmanship value instantly. It's just not 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.259 an efficient vehicle for wealth preservation. 00:10:56.059 --> 00:10:58.559 His advice is to buy jewelry because you love 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:00.620 it and want to wear it, not because you think 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:03.440 it's your retirement fund. OK, so jewelry is 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.429 a dead end for investing. But what about coins? 00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:08.169 And I mean just standard coins. I mean the rare 00:11:08.169 --> 00:11:10.889 ones, the old ones. Numismatics. I see ads for 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:14.029 these constantly. You know, rare Civil War era 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:16.669 gold discovered in a shipwreck. It feels like 00:11:16.669 --> 00:11:19.230 you're getting the gold plus this amazing historical 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:21.669 value. It doesn't rarity equal higher value. 00:11:21.830 --> 00:11:23.710 In the high -end antique world, sure. But in 00:11:23.710 --> 00:11:25.590 the investment world, for the average everyday 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:28.690 person, it's an absolute minefield. Young explicitly 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:31.940 calls this sector the domain of bandits. Bandits. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.620 That is really strong language for financial 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.600 analysis. It is strong, but he completely justifies 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:40.360 it. The source warns that the rare coin market 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:44.220 is absolutely rife with fakes, forgeries and 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.519 vastly overpriced items. The core problem here 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.519 is something called information asymmetry. Meaning 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.039 the dealer simply knows more than I do. Much, 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:56.259 much more. The dealer knows exactly what that 00:11:56.259 --> 00:11:59.230 coin is really worth. how it's graded, and what 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:02.610 the true liquid market for it is. You as the 00:12:02.610 --> 00:12:05.009 learner probably do not. You see a shiny old 00:12:05.009 --> 00:12:07.190 coin and hear a cool dramatic story about the 00:12:07.190 --> 00:12:09.769 Civil War. Right. I wouldn't know how to accurately 00:12:09.769 --> 00:12:12.669 grade a coin from 1890. I can't tell the difference 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:14.990 under microscope between a Mint State 65 and 00:12:14.990 --> 00:12:18.389 a Mint State 63. Exactly. But the price difference 00:12:18.389 --> 00:12:20.690 between those two tiny grades could be thousands 00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:23.070 and thousands of dollars. And because you don't 00:12:23.070 --> 00:12:26.259 know that, you are a prime target. Young warns 00:12:26.259 --> 00:12:28.659 that scammers love numismatics because the value 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:30.720 is highly subjective. They can tell you, hey, 00:12:30.779 --> 00:12:32.879 this is worth double the gold price because it's 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:35.879 super rare. And you have no easy, quick way to 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.039 verify that claim. You might end up buying a 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:41.440 coin for $5 ,000 that contains only $1 ,500 worth 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.899 of actual gold, just hoping the rarity holds 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:47.240 its value. And often, it simply doesn't. There's 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:49.769 another specific tactic Young mentions with these 00:12:49.769 --> 00:12:52.629 rare coins to the confiscation script. I've actually 00:12:52.629 --> 00:12:54.750 heard this one before on late night radio. Oh, 00:12:54.750 --> 00:12:57.230 this is the classic fear tactic in the industry. 00:12:57.950 --> 00:13:00.210 The shady dealer will get you on the phone and 00:13:00.210 --> 00:13:01.929 tell you the government is going to seize all 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:04.049 the standard bullion bars just like they did 00:13:04.049 --> 00:13:08.769 back in 1933. But wait, these rare collectible 00:13:08.769 --> 00:13:11.149 coins are exempt. They are safe from the government. 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:13.889 Is there any actual truth to that? It's marketing 00:13:13.889 --> 00:13:16.700 nonsense explicitly designed to upsell you. They 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:19.000 push the rare coins because the profit margins 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.779 for the dealer are absolutely huge compared to 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:24.299 standard plain bullion. They're using historical 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:26.840 fear to push you into a product that makes them 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:30.120 rich, not you. So if jewelry is bad because of 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.440 the retail markup and rare coins are bad because 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:34.679 of the massive fraud risk and the bandits, what 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:36.519 on earth are we supposed to buy? What is the 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.179 Goldilocks option here? The source is very specific 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:41.779 on this exact point. You need to stick strictly 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:44.539 to standard government issued bullion coins. 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.299 OK, give us the specific examples. What should 00:13:47.299 --> 00:13:50.879 we actually be looking for? Young lists the absolute 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.980 classics, the American eagle and the Canadian 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:56.820 maple leaf. And why are these two the safer bet? 00:13:57.100 --> 00:13:59.820 Because they are pure commodities. A one ounce 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.080 American eagle is a one ounce American eagle 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.200 anywhere on the planet. It's recognized globally. 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:06.860 You don't need an expert historian with a magnifying 00:14:06.860 --> 00:14:10.019 glass to appraise it. Right. The pricing is completely 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:13.240 transparent. It's just the daily spot price of 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.720 gold. plus a very small standard manufacturing 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.259 premium. You know exactly what you're buying. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:21.940 And more importantly, when you eventually go 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.419 to sell it, the dealer knows exactly what they're 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:26.840 buying. It's highly liquid. It's extremely liquid. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.200 You can sell an American Eagle in New York, London, 00:14:29.379 --> 00:14:32.500 or Tokyo almost instantly. Try doing that with 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:35.460 some obscure commemorative coin from the 1800s. 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:37.860 You'll spend weeks just trying to find a buyer 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:41.139 who cares. So boring is actually good. In investing, 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.169 boring is usually very, very good. You want the 00:14:44.169 --> 00:14:46.629 raw asset, not the dramatic story attached to 00:14:46.629 --> 00:14:49.370 it. This leads us right into the darker side 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:51.470 of the industry that the source touches on at 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:53.909 the end. We talked about bandits and where coins, 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:55.990 but there's a broader issue of just straight 00:14:55.990 --> 00:14:58.429 up scams. The too good to be true rule. Yes. 00:14:58.690 --> 00:15:01.090 As gold has become more popular during these 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.990 turbulent economic times, it has attracted a 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:08.049 massive swarm of predatory actors. Young highlights 00:15:08.049 --> 00:15:09.889 the aggressive marketing tactics we're seeing 00:15:09.889 --> 00:15:13.580 right now, specifically cold calling. Yeah, I 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.200 think we've all gotten those random calls or 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:17.440 seen those late night commercials. Buy gold now, 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:19.980 guaranteed 50 % return. Or the one that always 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:22.480 gets me is get gold at below market rates. And 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.620 that right there is the ultimate trap. The source 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:26.919 explicitly mentions that if someone is cold calling 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:29.580 you, offering a deal that sounds wildly lucrative 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:32.279 like selling you gold below the spot price, it 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:34.919 is almost certainly a scam. There is simply no 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.500 free lunch in global commodities. Right. Gold 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:40.259 has a highly publicized daily market price. Why 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.580 on earth would anyone sell it to you for less 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:44.720 than they could instantly sell it for on the 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.200 open global market? That's such a great point. 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:49.340 If gold is trading at two thousand dollars and 00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:51.360 a guy on the phone offers it to you for fifteen 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.309 hundred. He isn't just being a generous guy. 00:15:54.509 --> 00:15:56.950 No. They are likely stealing your credit card 00:15:56.950 --> 00:15:59.929 number, or they are running a classic Ponzi scheme 00:15:59.929 --> 00:16:02.669 where they use your new investor money to pay 00:16:02.669 --> 00:16:05.629 off the old investors, or worse, they're literally 00:16:05.629 --> 00:16:09.690 selling you gold -plated lead. The scam economy 00:16:09.690 --> 00:16:12.289 in precious metals relies entirely on the investor 00:16:12.289 --> 00:16:14.809 not doing their homework. They rely on you getting 00:16:14.809 --> 00:16:17.809 overly excited or overly scared and making a 00:16:17.809 --> 00:16:20.740 rapid snap decision. So how do we actually defend 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:22.899 against this? Because the source mentions that 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.159 even legitimate gold companies are worried about 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:26.919 this stuff because it gives the whole industry 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.460 a terrible name. Verification. It sounds boring, 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.659 but it's the only real shield you have. Young 00:16:33.659 --> 00:16:36.960 emphasizes intense due diligence. You need to 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:40.100 buy from reliable, verified, recommended sources. 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:42.659 He mentions that reputable companies actually 00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:45.620 actively try to expose these fraudsters to protect 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:47.820 their own industry's reputation. So if you're 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:49.639 looking at a new company, you should be checking 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:51.460 how long they've been around, their independent 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:53.779 reviews, their ratings, all that basic stuff. 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:57.919 Absolutely. You want a company with a long, verifiable 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.200 track record. You want total transparency on 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.980 fees. If a company is aggressively pushing you 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:07.500 into weird, rare collectibles or promising returns 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:09.819 that easily beat the stock market, just hang 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:12.569 up and run the other way. The source makes it 00:17:12.569 --> 00:17:15.109 crystal clear that diligence isn't just nice 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:18.309 to have. It is literally the only thing standing 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:21.210 between you and counterfeit metals or your money 00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:23.910 just vanishing. It really seems like the overarching 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.410 theme of Doug Young's entire bulletin is stripping 00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:28.130 away the noise. I think that's a perfect way 00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:30.230 to put it. Let's try to synthesize all this for 00:17:30.230 --> 00:17:32.069 the listener. We started with this primitive 00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:33.990 idea that gold is super simple. You buy a rock, 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:36.369 you hold a rock. But we've learned today it's 00:17:36.369 --> 00:17:38.210 actually quite complex if you aren't careful. 00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:40.990 To invest successfully based on this analysis, 00:17:41.069 --> 00:17:43.490 you actually have to actively ignore a lot of 00:17:43.490 --> 00:17:45.910 things. You have to ignore the beautiful jewelry 00:17:45.910 --> 00:17:48.210 store window. You have to ignore the digital 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:50.950 convenience of the paper ETF. You have to ignore 00:17:50.950 --> 00:17:53.190 the high pressure sales pitch for the rare exclusive 00:17:53.190 --> 00:17:56.309 coins. And you absolutely have to ignore the 00:17:56.309 --> 00:17:58.529 short term panic buying or selling mentality. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.960 It's almost like a philosophy of pure investing. 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:04.059 It really is. The core philosophy here is truly 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:07.119 understanding ownership. If you are buying gold 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:09.319 to protect your hard earned wealth, you need 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:12.359 to actually own the wealth. Physical standard 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:15.299 long term holdings are the absolute only path 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:18.019 the source recommends to truly mitigate your 00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:20.779 risk. Everything else we talked about today just 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:23.720 introduces a middleman. a massive markup, or 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.619 a gamble that totally dilutes the very safety 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:28.380 you were looking for in the first place. And 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:31.319 I think that distinction between mere price exposure 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.960 and true physical ownership is the biggest takeaway 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:36.240 for me. I can play the gold market on my phone 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.500 app, but that's not the same thing as having 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:41.059 a true safe haven. Not at all. And if we connect 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:43.160 this back to the much bigger picture, think about 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:45.940 exactly why people buy gold. They buy it as ultimate 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:48.279 insurance against systemic failure. They buy 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:50.460 it for the absolute worst case scenario. Right. 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:52.680 the zombie apocalypse fund or maybe just the 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:56.160 hyperinflation fund. Exactly. So here's a really 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.259 provocative thought to mull over based on everything 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:01.140 we've discussed today. If that financial system 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:04.220 actually breaks down, if the big banks falter 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:07.279 or the national currency collapses, which is 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.319 the very fear driving this investment and your 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:13.519 gold is just a digital line item in an ETF prospectus 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.000 or it's stored in some distant trust vault you 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.240 legally don't have access to. Do you actually 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.180 own anything at all? Wow. That is a truly chilling 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:24.440 thought. You're essentially using the very system 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.319 you don't trust to bet against the system. Precisely. 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:29.759 And if the system fails, your bet just fails 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:31.779 right alongside it. That's exactly why physical 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:33.839 possession of standard boring bullion is the 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.240 ultimate recommendation. It's the only financial 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.720 asset on earth that doesn't fundamentally rely 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:41.210 on someone else's promise to pay you. Well, on 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:43.970 that slightly terrifying but incredibly illuminating 00:19:43.970 --> 00:19:46.250 note, we are going to wrap up this deep dive. 00:19:46.589 --> 00:19:49.069 It's been a lot to process, but I feel much better 00:19:49.069 --> 00:19:50.829 equipped to spot the sharks in the water now. 00:19:50.970 --> 00:19:52.809 It's always a pleasure to dig into the complex 00:19:52.809 --> 00:19:54.630 details and look under the hood of these markets. 00:19:55.089 --> 00:19:57.089 For those of you listening who want to verify 00:19:57.089 --> 00:19:59.470 the sources we use today, compare legitimate 00:19:59.470 --> 00:20:02.470 companies, and actively avoid the scams and bandits 00:20:02.470 --> 00:20:05.470 we talked about, the source material directs 00:20:05.470 --> 00:20:09.049 you to a very specific resource. You can find 00:20:09.049 --> 00:20:12.049 all the deep comparisons and read the full bulletin 00:20:12.049 --> 00:20:15.109 over at goldaircompanyscompared .com. It's definitely 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:16.869 worth a look to make sure you're finally on the 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:19.490 right side of the trade. Absolutely. Stay curious, 00:20:19.910 --> 00:20:22.049 keep digging for the objective truth in your 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:23.950 investments, and we will catch you on the next 00:20:23.950 --> 00:20:24.430 deep dive.