Investing in Silver

Since man first discovered silver, it has been an object of desire for both its value and its use as a form of money. This usually means that investing in silver gives a good long-term return to the investment.  Not too long ago, I wrote about buying silver in Singapore, how I was buying more silver (for collection purposes) and also some of my broader investment thoughts for 2012.  Of course, I warn readers not to take what I write as any form of personal finance advice.

[Picture credits to digitalmoneyworld]

The Silver Market

The market for silver is not as big as the gold market, but is still worth an estimated $15 billion annually. Traditionally, the price of silver tracks the price of gold. The ratio was set by United States law at 1:15 in 1792, but price increases in both metals meant that the gold/silver ratio rose to over 1:60 in 2009. The price of silver has continued to rise and reached record levels in 2011, with the average price reaching $41.20 for one troy ounce.

Like most commodities, silver trades on a market with traders buying and selling the metal to make a profit. The London silver bullion market is one of the main places where it trades. Another is iShares.

Silver in Banks

In some countries investors can walk into a bank and buy silver bullion over the counter. This can then be taken home and stored in a safe or kept in a safe deposit box in the bank. It is even possible to store your silver in allocated or unallocated storage with a bank or dealer to keep it safe.

Silver comes in a variety of bars, including:
* 1000 oz troy bars (31 kg)
* 100 oz troy bars (3.11 kg)
* 1 kg bars
* 10 oz try bars (311 g)
* 1 oz troy bars (31.1 g)
* Odd weight bars

The most popular bars are the 100 oz troy, with popular brands including Engelhard and Johnson Matthey. The branded bars are usually worth more than unbranded or odd weight bars.

Investing in Silver

Silver can be both a long-term and short-term investment. In the short-term, investors can trade silver for a profit in the same way as any other commodity by always aiming to buy low and sell high. Market fluctuations can give profits on each trade, but also losses meaning that this can be a risky investment as one needs to know how to time the market (something I admit I am totally not good at!)

Over the longer term, the price of silver has generally risen, with a sharp rise over the last few years. This is great news for anyone that owned silver before 2005, but not so good for anyone thinking of investing now. Of course the market price could continue to rise, but nobody knows for sure and it could fall back down to earlier levels.

Over the past few years, investing in silver has been a great way to make money. The price has increased by eight times in 11 years and doubled since last year, but that does not mean that it is guaranteed to continue that way so never risk any money that you cannot afford to lose.

You might also be interested in reading the recent article on Investing in Gold.

Investing In Gold

Gold is one of the most valuable and desirable substances known to man. For many years it has been a status symbol as well as a form of currency since the days before money. It is also the most popular material for making jewellery, with roughly half of all gold being used in this way.

Gold Price


For many years, the price of gold was a relative standard for currencies around the world. This started to change in the 1970s when the value of the US dollar stopped being linked to the price of gold and finished in 2000 when the Swiss Franc was the last currency to remove the link.

Like all commodities, it is possible to treat gold as a short-term and long-term investment. Over hours, days or weeks, the fluctuation in the price of gold on an exchange allows traders to buy and sell for hopefully a profit. With luck or skill, a gold trader can buy some gold at a low price, sell it at a higher price and buy more when the price drops. Repeating the process allows an investor to make a lot of money, but if it goes wrong they could make a loss on each trade.

Historically, the price of gold has risen at a steady rate making it a great safe investment. In fact, during the recent financial crisis many people turned to gold as an alternative way of saving. This is a relatively safe way of investing in gold, but still leaves you with the problem of finding somewhere to keep it safe. Most experts recommend that gold is a rainy day investment, like an insurance policy that should be kept until you absolutely need to sell.

Gold Coins/ Bullion


Another way to invest in gold is gold bullion coins. These cost slightly more than the spot price of gold, but are easier to buy, trade and store than larger pieces. Typical sizes include 1/10oz, 1/4oz, 1/2oz and 1oz. The governments of the UK, USA, Canada, China and most other major world powers mint these coins, so they are very reputable.

Mining Stocks or Close Ended Funds


Apart from investing in physical gold itself, one can also invest in the mining companies that are involved in gold production.  There are also certain funds that invest in various mining stocks.  One of these close ended funds is Gamco Global Gold & Natural Resources Trust which pays out a monthly dividend.  If you have been reading and following this blog, you probably know that I have loaded up on GGN just recently..


Storing Gold

Many major banks will store gold for customers, as will specialized gold exchanges and trading houses. You can even walk in to some banks and hand over your money in exchange for a gold ingot. Once you have carried this heavy bar home, you need somewhere secure to store it. If you do not have anywhere secure enough then most banks will have a vault that you can use for a fee.

Every major bank and most of the governments in the world store gold. Since the start of the economic woes in 2007, the world banks have become net buyers of gold which shows just how great an investment it really is.

This desire for gold and its scarcity and it being difficult to obtain means that it should continue to keep its value, but like anything the price of gold is not immune to market fluctuations and could even crash.

Retire in Philippines

7107 islands of heaven; that is what you’ll find if you go to the Philippines.

Expat’s from all over the world are taking their hard earned money to the beautiful island paradise of Philippines to enjoy an early retirement at a place where they can afford to live and be treated like Kings and Queens. Talk about retirement planning!

The long, golden sand beaches stretch for miles and miles around island after island. Cruising between them with your own boat for a week or two to explore a new hidden place in paradise along with your spouse, partner or entire family that you brought with you when you made what most likely will be the best decision of your life.

The South China Sea is home to the Philippines, a tropical paradise that can boast hot and humid weather 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year. Along with the amazing weather, the quality of life when you have a normal retirement payout every month is excellent. Before making this life changing decision there are several things you have to consider.

First of all, you have to think about where you’re going to live and how much you want to pay for it. The most expensive place in the Philippines by far is Manila. If you go to some of the regions outside or to remote islands you can find houses, apartments and bungalows for a lot less than in the large city of Manila. You can get accommodation from P10,000 per month all the way up to P50,000. 10,000 Philippine Pesos is around 220 USD.

The second biggest expense you’ll have is your utilities. That means water, electricity, phone etc. All of the things that will keep your house up and running and that will keep you nice and comfortable in your own little paradise. Your average cost for all your utilities will end up on average around P8,000.

Food and groceries is essential for anyone’s living and it is exactly the same in the Philippines. Now you can go down two roads, you either go for locally and nationally produced food or you go for imported food. Now the imported food will be at a higher cost, still, nowhere near the amounts you were paying at home. If you go for the local food you can save even more money. Budget about P30,000 for a single month if you’re not living by yourself.

Now we’re going to get to the luxuries that you can afford to have when you move to the Philippines if you have a decent budget. Two major ones are a personal driver and a maid. You can get a personal driver for between P3.000 and P5.000 a month, so under 100 USD! All you have to do is make sure you provide food during the day and a vehicle for them to drive in if they don’t have one. A maid is even cheaper than that. For about P2.000 every month you can have a maid doing all the work around the house that you never felt like doing or downright hated.

Taking all these things in to account, the Philippines is an amazing please to settle down after your hard years of working. Spend your money wisely and live the rest of your life being treated as a King or Queen.

Only in the Philippines.

[This article was written by a resident of the Phillipines.]

210,000 Pageviews and Counting

Well, they say the first 200,000 is the easiest part (or at least I made that up).  But anyway, after a roller coaster ride through the year, I checked my stats recently to discover that this blog has garnered over 200,000 pageviews.  It is 210,000 today and I can only say that it is exciting to know that people are coming back for more.  At least, it is a sort of comfort, that somebody is actually reading what I am writing.

I will like to thank all readers for their continuous support.  This is also to readers who hail from outside Singapore like the United States, Malaysia, Slovenia, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Japan, Phillipines, India, etc..  Perhaps you just stumbled upon this blog but I do hope that you find something useful that you can takeaway with you.  Feel free to drop a comment and say "hi" too!

Bought more Gamco Global Gold, Natural Resources and Income Trust

After reflecting on some of my investment thoughts for 2012, I entered into another position to buy GGN which currently gives a monthly dividend of $0.14 per month.  The fund's investment objective is to provide a high level of current income. Overall, I think I am pretty bullish on commodities and thought that this might make a good investment since it is a close-ended fund which invests primarily in the equity securities of gold and natural resource companies.

My entering into a position in this stock was also partially influenced by Bryan Perry (who wrote the book about 25% Cash Machine) was bullish on this stock. This purchase makes it my first stock purchase for the year 2012 and I thought I better log it down so that I do not lose track of my investments.

Poly Graduates Gross Monthly Pay Rises

According to the latest graduate employment survey conducted by the 5 polytechnics, the median gross monthly salary of poly graduates have gone up by 2.8 per cent or $50 compared to 2010 figures.  That means poly graduates who completed their studies in 2011 and not liable for National Service could command a salary of S$1,850.  Those with National Service earned a median gross monthly salary of S$2,100 compared to S$2,000.

The overall employment rate was also relatively high at 94.7% though it was down from 2010 figures of 95.4%

Poly graduates who commanded the higher salaries studied Health Science and Built Environment, and Engineering & Maritime.

If you look at the starting pay for university graduates, the difference in starting pay between a university graduate and poly graduate is probably greater than $600.

Investment Thoughts for 2012

Today is the 10th day into 2012 and I realised that I have not thought out my investment plan, made any resolutions or done anything fruitful in the past 10 days!  And there has been this constant nagging in my head that tells me that I ought to focus my attention on a few things and try not to spread out my efforts too thinly.  So perhaps now is a good time to update on what are some of my thoughts for 2012.  This includes some of my personal reflections and does not constitute any investment advice.

Passive Income - Monthly Dividend Stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

High on my list is perhaps creating a passive flow of income for myself either through stocks that provide monthly dividends or REITs which either provide quarterly or half-yearly distributions. For monthly dividend stocks, one has to turn to the US market.  One of the monthly dividend stocks that I have bought into is Gamco Global Gold (GGN).  REITs on the other hand are easily available on the Singapore Stock Exchange or SGX.  I am looking at diversifying my REITs holding as I am currently heavily invested in Ascott REIT.

Gold is Money and Nothing Else


For those of you who have been following me, you are perhaps aware that I have been looking towards silver both as a means to hedge against inflation as well as just for collecting purposes.  Buying silver in Singapore is still limited to only a few shops but hopefully this certain industry/sector will slowly develop.

Investing in this Site


I have also decided that I ought to invest a bit more time and money on this site.  This includes some facebook advertising as well as my plan to work on a eBook.

These are all still works in progress but I certainly hope that the perfectionist in me does not cause me to procrastinate or be paralysed such that I do nothing at the end of the year.  It has been my longest desire to write a book and an eBook might just serve that purpose.