Gold has always been synonymous with the word wealth, capital is also stability and reliability, at least in the economic interpretation. Thousands of years ago, gold was not only a means of payment, but also a means of accumulating and preserving one’s own wealth.

Thousands of years have passed, but the situation has not changed fundamentally, and today gold is actively used for saving and storing capital. Moreover, a lot of examples can be given from ordinary women in India who buy gold items to create their own “financial parachute”. According to their laws, all the gold on a woman is her property and she leaves her husband’s house with it; it is interesting that a similar practice is widespread in the Muslim world. Without exception, all the central banks of the world that store part of their reserves in gold, not virtual, but physical.

It is interesting that most of the physical gold of the EU countries is stored in the United States, and last year there was a fairly big scandal (in narrow circles) when some European countries decided to take their gold from the United States. The process, as far as the press reported, has already begun, but in reality the transportation of gold will take at least 5 years.

If everything is more or less clear with Indians and central banks, then Was it worth investing in gold for an ordinary person?

How to invest money in gold, available options

There is a fairly small set of tools for investing in gold for ordinary citizens; to work with the same sand and nuggets, permission from the Assay Chamber of the Russian Federation will be required. The available list includes the purchase of coins, bank bars, and the purchase of jewelry. A separate line is the opening of special metal accounts - compulsory medical insurance (anonymized metal account).

Each of the options has its own pros and cons, but in all options except bank accounts, investing makes sense only in the long term of 5 years. It is worth noting that in addition to quite large disadvantages, there is also a huge advantage.

The big advantage of investing in physical gold is its high liquidity; gold can be converted into “live” rubles at almost any time. At the same time, the correct selection of instruments allows such conversion to be carried out with minimal losses, of course, compared to most other instruments suitable for investment (more details here).

Ingots

Bank bars are marked bars with documents containing 999.95 fine gold. Typically sold in hermetically sealed packaging, jars require identification upon purchase.

When purchasing a bank bullion, be sure to check that you have all the documents for the gold, plus keep the receipt.

Disadvantages of Investing in Bullion

• — the need to pay VAT (18% on the cost of gold, which will not be returned in the future);
• - difficulties with selling. they buy the bullion with reluctance, while very carefully checking not only the documents of the gold itself, but also its physical safety. The presence of scratches or abrasions gives an almost 100% guarantee that the bank will not buy the bullion.
• - high discount on sale. Banks buy with a spread of at least 20% to the market price.

Pros of investing in gold bars

• — high liquidity;
• — 100% protection from inflation, crises and devaluation, not only of the ruble but also of the dollar.
• — in the next 5-6 years, at least 30%, with a profitability of 70%

Where is the best place to buy bullion?

The optimal option is to purchase outside Russia; in most countries such a purchase is not taxed, which will save 18%, plus in Russian banks the difference between the market price and the sale price of bank gold differs by 20-25% (this is especially noticeable on small bars). The spread is much lower abroad. True, you can only buy within a certain limit (check with customs before purchasing), everything above is subject to an additional customs duty.

Coins

The minting of gold coins is mainly carried out by the Central Bank and there are two fundamentally different categories:

Investment coins– they are the ones of greatest interest to the buyer. So, when purchasing them, you do not need to pay 18% VAT; in most cases, the spread between the market price and the sale price is relatively small. And most importantly, such coins are bought with pleasure not only by banks, but also by jewelers.

It is worth noting that transactions with gold (except for jewelry) between individuals are prohibited, but who is stopping you from finding more interesting options than the banal sale of investment gold coins, for example, exchange.

Commemorative coins– these coins have a price much higher than the denomination of the gold equivalent and are valuable for numismatists and collectors. Investing in this instrument is quite risky without knowledge and appropriate contacts.

Decorations

Gold jewelry has been and will probably remain the main instrument for saving capital in the east for a long time; Arab and Indian women have already been mentioned. The Slavs do not have such a tradition, but this does not prevent our women from investing.

True, configuration

wife - gold - decoration - investment

represents a specific aspect of our life and, by and large, cannot be a standard. In fact, this option of investing in gold is suitable only for the wives of wealthy men who must be prepared for rapid changes in their lives, while not having other tools to create a “financial parachute.”

In fact, investing in gold jewelry is only profitable if the jewelry is very old or is a work of art (which is hypothetically capable of increasing in value). In all other cases, such investments are not profitable since the sale of such jewelry is made by weight, and the purchase is made by weight, plus work and store margin. That is, in any case, the conversion of gold back into money will be negative.

Metal accounts, deposits in gold

Unallocated metal accounts (OMA) are opened in banks and have a more virtual basis; in most cases, we are not talking about physical metal (it can be in gold, platinum, silver). In fact, virtual metal is purchased at the market price, and when withdrawing money, it is sold at the same market price (set by the bank).

This tool is very convenient and here's why:

Advantages of metal accounts in gold and silver

• — high reliability. De facto, such investments completely protect capital from inflation and devaluation.
• — high liquidity. You can convert your savings back into cash very quickly.
• - lack of additional . All transfers are carried out at the current gold rate at the bank.

Minuses

• — the money is in the bank, that is, all risks associated with the bankruptcy of a financial institution fall on the shoulders of the depositor.
• - you can only earn money if the price increases. Unlike, there are practically no accruals for OSM, and if there are, they are meager.
• — OSM does not fall under deposit guarantee.

Conclusion, OSM is a very convenient and practical tool if you need to “wait it out,” but you won’t be able to make money on it. You also need to choose banks very carefully, my advice or the large state-owned Sberbank of Russia and its gold account or large foreign banks

Is it worth investing in gold in 2016?

It is impossible to find a more reliable instrument for saving your own money; gold exists and will remain the main savings instrument for many years to come, but this option will not allow you to earn money and get big profits. By and large, even after 10 years, having converted gold into money, you will simply receive the nominal value of your capital, taking into account past inflation and the depreciation of paper money.

And now a little video with the opinion of experts on investing in gold.

A person who has decided to invest his savings in gold bars, whether he wants it or not, always has a question regarding the safety of storing the purchased precious metal. As you know, there are more and more people wanting to steal such a tasty morsel every day. Therefore, the requirements for the safety of storing gold bars, coins and other products made of precious metals are increasing every year. When thinking about where it is best to store gold bars, you end up with two options - either in your own home or in a special safe deposit box. Let's take a closer look at both of these options.

Storing gold bars in your own home

Considering that gold bars are not subject to corrosion, they can be stored in any secluded place. If we are talking about your own home, then the best places to store gold are caches and safes. It is also possible to combine the safe, that is, to locate the safe in a hard-to-reach place where it will be difficult for uninvited guests to detect it.

In principle, the rules for storing gold bars are no different from the rules for storing money and other valuables from criminals. However, there are a number of nuances that must be remembered when storing gold bars and gold commemorative coins. Such valuables should be placed and removed from a safe or cache very carefully so as not to accidentally scratch their surface or damage the integrity of their packaging. The fact is that if the packaging, which is a certificate for a gold bar, is damaged, a number of problems may arise in the future when it is necessary to sell the value to a bank or a new owner. If the surface of a commemorative coin, which, in addition to the cost of gold, also has artistic value, is damaged, it can be sold at the price of ordinary scrap, at a much lower price. There is no need to mention the reliability of a safe or hiding place once again. Here every owner of gold bars must use his ingenuity and resourcefulness.

Storing gold bars in a safe deposit box

This is perhaps a safer way to store gold and other precious metals, but there are also some nuances that should not be forgotten.

Storing gold bars in a safe deposit box is somewhat reminiscent of storing things in an automatic locker. The owner of such a safe deposit box is provided with a key in a banking institution, and he can access his valuables at any convenient time. This service is paid, and the amount of rent for such a cell will depend on its size. Therefore, you should not rent a safe deposit box that is too large unless you plan to store additional gold, silver, platinum bars, coins or other valuables in it in the near future.

How much does it cost to rent a locker for storing gold bars? This question is difficult to answer, since each bank has its own set tariffs. In addition, during times of crisis and currency instability, the cost of renting a safe deposit box may constantly change. It is best to find out the answer from the bank itself where the gold bars are supposed to be stored.

Storing gold bars in a bank is different from regular deposits. The fact is that even in the event of bankruptcy of an institution, when it becomes practically impossible to withdraw the cash deposit, the gold bars from the cell are in any case returned to their owner, since they are private property.

What if the bank gets robbed?

This possibility also cannot be completely excluded as an option. True, it is unlikely that it will be possible to steal gold bars from a safe deposit box, even if they penetrate a financial institution, because opening bank safes is very, very difficult. If criminals do manage to steal gold bars from the cell, then a number of problems may arise.

A safe deposit box is an undesirable place of storage for those citizens who have large debts. If the property of such a debtor is suddenly seized, it will not be difficult to find out about the existence of a safe deposit box. This may result in the seizure of gold bars in the bank.

Another benefit of storing gold bars in safe deposit boxes is that it will be quite easy to sell them if necessary, because you will not need to move them anywhere. The bank will buy them, and the money will be transferred to one of the accounts of the owner of the cell. There is also no need to carry out an examination of gold bars, since they were purchased at this institution and bank employees are confident in their quality.

High-value metals, particularly gold, are a profitable asset to store and increase profits. Most citizens of our homeland are familiar with only one method of investment - purchasing bars of various weights with subsequent storage and sale.

But there are other methods of making money on the values ​​of the subsoil of the earth, and in each listed operation there are pitfalls that can reduce the profitability of the transaction to zero. Let's look at how to avoid getting into trouble below.

The most profitable types of investments in metals are the purchase of valuable coins and compulsory medical insurance.

Coins, in turn, are differentiated into two more types:

Gold of historical value

They consist of 50-70% aurum, which significantly increases their liquidity, and also become more ancient and more expensive every year. Avid numismatists are willing to pay fortunes for the opportunity to own rare collectibles.

Investment banking

This is a type of money created specifically to simplify the system of storing banknotes. As an example, we can take the coin of St. George the Victorious. Its face value is only 50 rubles, but its true value is much higher. The percentage of gold content in it is 65 units, which in weight equivalent is 7 grams. On stock exchanges, pawn shops and banks, the price of aurum varies widely, but on average it is 1,300 rubles per gram. Consequently, one coin will cost the owner 9-10 tr.

This type of investment has many advantages. First of all, they are not subject to tax costs, which saves up to 20% of capital upon purchase, but selling valuables will have to take into account VAT, which will be 13%. Financing in coins is long-term since their purchase and sale is carried out strictly at the bank’s internal rate. To avoid losing in reverse trading, keep an eye on the condition of your coins. If chewed by a cat, with blackening or other defects, they will sharply drop in price.

An impersonal metal account frees the depositor from the need to store both money and gold - everything is stored in a special cell under 24-hour state protection. Replenishing such an investment is possible by depositing cash, transferring metal from another account, or adding your own gold to the cell. The whole process is reminiscent of ordinary manipulations with a cash deposit, only without withdrawing interest.

Is it worth it, is it profitable to invest in gold at Sberbank?

Sberbank carries out more than half of all assignment transactions in the country, which indicates its reliability and development. The institution offers the most favorable conditions for storing metals compared to small financial institutions. Over the past 16 years, gold has strengthened by 244% against the ruble. On average, it brings from 6 to 14% of annual income to the investor. The specific figure depends on the situation in the state and on the general market.

If the investment in gold has already been made and you keep it at home, then the bank is ready to accept minerals weighing from 1 gram from you. up to 1 kg. After an expert assessment of the sample and condition, you will be told the transaction amount. The same weight can be invested in compulsory medical insurance. Details are provided above.

Should you keep your money in gold? Storage specifics

Unlike stock exchanges with their options, gold is a real and tangible investment and a win-win option for enrichment.

It does not depend on currency fluctuations and is difficult to destroy during global catastrophes. This type of investment is also covered by insurance (except compulsory medical insurance), which makes it attractive.

Is there any problem in exchanging gold for money later?

The liquidity of gold in any form has always been at its best and continues to do so. The cash equivalent of an ingot or coin can be paid to you at a pawnshop, jewelry store, bank, or ordinary individuals wishing to purchase metal.

How to use gold as money?

It is best to use gold as a way to store banknotes, and use money as money.

Storing gold in a jar will come in handy if you decide (or another metal). Remember, to avoid paying VAT, it is better to immediately open a metal safekeeping account.

It opens as a bank for storing precious metal while preserving all its individual characteristics: name, sample, serial number, manufacturer. In other words, you give your bullion to the bank for safekeeping and that’s exactly what you get back.

How to open a metal safekeeping account? An account is opened in the following cases:

• when purchasing precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium), if the client does not want to store gold bullion at home. You buy gold from a bank, but you don’t take it with you, you leave it in the bank’s vault;
• the gold was first kept at home or in another bank, but is now deposited in the bank for safekeeping.

When registering an account, you will only need your passport. When opening a metal account, the client fills out an application, must enter into a storage agreement and draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of bullion, which details the individual characteristics of each bullion.

When you pick up bullion from the bank, the bank will have to return exactly the metal that you deposited.

Some banks do not accept bullion that was not purchased from them into metal custody accounts.

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros of storing gold in a bank:

• safe storage in a special storage facility;
• no need to think about transportation;
• you do not need to pay VAT if you bought gold and immediately signed a storage agreement for it, that is, you do not take the gold with you from the bank;
• The bank performs the service of storing bullion; it does not become their owner and is obliged to return the gold to the client upon request.

• You have to pay a commission to store gold in a bank.

An alternative to a metal safekeeping account

It is not necessary to purchase gold in bullion; bullion coins are a good alternative. Gold bullion coins are not subject to VAT, and the procedure for buying and selling them is much faster and simpler. In addition to gold coins, you can purchase

Purchasing precious metals has long become common in Russia. Fearing inflation, the collapse of the real estate market and the instability of foreign exchange rates, people began to trust more “eternal values” - gold, platinum, etc. How profitable is investing in bullion of precious metals, where to store your purchase and, most importantly, how complicated is the procedure for purchasing precious metals? We will try to answer these and other questions in this article.

Precious metal bars: main characteristics and workmanship

According to the Federal Law “On Precious Metals and Stones”, the group of precious metals includes: gold, silver, platinum, palladium, as well as platinum group metals (rhodium, iridium, osmium). However, in Russia you can only purchase the first 4 types of precious metals in bullion. The cans contain bullion produced at Russian refineries that comply with Russian GOST standards, as well as foreign-produced metals that meet the international quality standards of The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and the London Platinum and Palladium Market (The London Platinum and Palladium Market). Palladium Market, LPPM).

Precious metal bars are divided into 2 groups:

1. Measured ingots produced in accordance with GOST of the Russian Federation with the manufacturer's marking and metal purity not lower than 999 for gold and silver, and 950 for palladium and platinum. Their weight varies in the range: from 1 to 1000 grams for gold, from 50 to 1000 grams for silver, from 5 to 100 grams for palladium and platinum. On the front side of the measuring ingot the following is indicated: the inscription “Russia”, nominal weight, name of the metal, hallmark and mark of the manufacturing plant, as well as an individual number (each plant uses its own numbering). Each product has its own individual manufacturer's certificate.
2. Standard bullion is a precious metal, the ligature (actual) weight of which is: for gold 99.95% purity - from 11,000 to 13,300 grams, for silver (99.90% purity) - from 28,000 to 32,000 grams, for platinum ( 99.90%) - up to 5,500 grams, for palladium (99.90%) - up to 3,500 grams. The requirements for the characteristics of ingots of this type are established by interstate standards, however, upon agreement with the manufacturing plant, their weight may differ from the established one. On the large base of the ingot the following is indicated: symbols of the producing state, individual number (code), brand of precious metal, fineness, ligature mass, factory mark, year of manufacture.

Depending on the production technology, ingots are divided into cast, stamped and powdered (the latter are not common in Russia and are found in the form of Chinese counterfeits, which investors should beware of). Depending on the condition of the metal and certificates, the ingots can be of excellent or satisfactory quality (the cost depends on this parameter).

The most valuable are stamped bars, which are awarded the “London Good Delivery” status, confirming their excellent quality. The London Good Delivery list includes 55 gold producers, 68 silver producers, 30 platinum producers and 23 palladium producers. Among the Russian factories, the list included the Yekaterinburg Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant, the Novosibirsk Refinery, the Prioksky and Krasnoyarsk Non-Ferrous Metals Plants and some other enterprises.

Having chosen the bullion in which you would like to invest, you should decide where you will store it. You can take a valuable purchase home and worry about its safety without receiving any income; you can pay for the rental of a safe deposit box and store the precious metal in a bank; Or you can place the bullion on the compulsory medical insurance. Let's consider the last option in more detail.

Features of storing bullion in impersonal metal accounts

Transactions for the purchase and sale of bullion and the procedure for their further placement on the compulsory medical insurance are regulated by the “Rules for banks to carry out transactions for the purchase and sale of bullion bars of precious metals with individuals”, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 772 of June 30, 1997, and the Regulation of the Central Bank No. 50 “On transactions with precious metals by credit institutions and the procedure for conducting banking transactions with precious metals” dated November 1, 1996.

When purchasing an ingot, the client must be provided with supporting cash documents. The documents indicate the name and purity of the metal, number, price and quantity of ingots, and the amount to be paid. Further, the purchased metal can be withdrawn from the bank, placed in a rented safe deposit box, or an unallocated metal account (UMA) can be opened in your name. Please note that when investing precious metals in compulsory medical insurance, some banks charge additional interest income - up to 3-5% per year. However, when choosing such a bank, compare the exchange rate of the metal - it may not be favorable enough.

Important: if you do not want to pay VAT, all transactions with precious metals should be carried out without removing it from a certified storage facility (in other words, from a bank). According to paragraphs. "c" clause 1 art. 5 of the Federal Law “On Value Added Tax” dated December 6, 1991 No. 1992-1, “The turnover of commercial banks for the sale of precious metals in bullion is exempt from VAT if the bullion is not taken out of certified storage facilities.” In other words, you must place precious metals on compulsory medical insurance in the same bank branch where you purchased them. Note that income received from the sale of bullion that was owned by the investor for more than 3 years is also not subject to taxation. When receiving income from the sale of precious metals, individuals must pay the tax themselves (the bank in this case does not act as an agent).

Important: When carrying out compulsory medical insurance operations (depositing and withdrawing precious metals in physical form), the profitability of the deposit decreases, since banks charge a number of commissions from the client:

• for crediting metal to the account;
• for issuing metal from the account;
• for checking the size, availability of all necessary documents (certificate, manufacturer’s passport), etc.

For example, at Sberbank, crediting gold to an account in standard bars of excellent quality weighing from 11 to 13.3 kg is not subject to commission. However, if you decide to invest precious metal weighing up to 1 kg, the bank commission will range from 15 to 400 rubles per bar (depending on the weight). When issuing gold, a commission is charged from compulsory medical insurance - 0.25% of the cost of the precious metal (for measured bullion, the commission ranges from 500 to 4,600 rubles per unit of goods).

In addition to commissions, when investing in precious metals, a bank client runs the risk of encountering other problems. Difficulties in selling metals, lack of profit and a number of restrictions make investing in measured and standard bars unattractive for most citizens.

Problems encountered when investing in precious metal bullion

The first and most serious problem with this type of investment is the difficulty of buying and selling bullion, since not all large banks sell them. Even those financial institutions that open compulsory medical insurance do not always sell precious metals in physical form. For example, VTB 24 Bank, which specializes in working with this type of account, does not sell or buy precious metals in bullion. In Sberbank you can sell gold only in some branches (you need to call the call center and find out where exactly). NOMOS-Bank buys bullion only from domestic producers, and Promsvyazbank buys only the precious metal that it purchased from it. Most often, bullion is purchased at the price of the precious metal quote according to compulsory medical insurance.

The second problem is the reduction in the value of the bullion, which is not stored in an account or in a cell. Scratches, fingerprints, abrasions and other “marks of time” lead to the fact that the quality of the precious metal (gold) changes from excellent to satisfactory and its price decreases.

To summarize, we can say that the feasibility of investing in physical precious metals (gold) under the current policy of the state and banks can only be considered in the long term. To confirm this conclusion, one can cite the significant difference in the rates of purchase and sale of metal, the need to pay VAT when storing gold outside the bank for less than 3 years, and the relatively low interest income on compulsory medical insurance.

For example: by purchasing a 999 gold bar of excellent quality weighing 500 grams from Sberbank for 793,786.00 rubles, and placing it on compulsory medical insurance in the same bank branch, the client gets rid of the need to pay commissions and VAT. However, if the account is closed within the next month and the gold is sold, the investor will receive about 648,870.00 rubles (quotes change slightly every day). The loss – 144,916 rubles – is almost equal to the cost of a hundred-gram gold bar.