A few quick questions about silver rounds.

[Fatty]

Alright, I've almost saved up for my first 20 round purchase from ampex on 1 oz silver and was curious-


Is the difference between "rounds" and "coins", in value, that big of a difference if they're both .999?

Which is a better way to organize them? As in sheets or rolls.

I noticed that they have an assortment option of carrying mints for a little cheaper and it appears to be the best bang for the buck. Opinions welcome.

[The Stig]

If by "coins" you mean the silver rounds that have some sort of design that sorta looks like money, but isn't a monetary unit then no. There's no actual difference other than perhaps someone else's perception.

If by "coins" you mean actual monetary units that happen to contain silver then yes, there's a difference. You have to consider the value of the silver and the value of the coin itself. The value of the coin can be driven by collectors, rareness, condition, year of mint, etc

[Fatty]

Thanks.

[bacpacker]

Fatty I always kept my coins (I have no rounds) in the sheets or individual holders per coin. I have started transistioning them to the little plastic tubes for all the non collectable coins. It makes it easy to keep values seperate and have a idea at a glance to tell what you have.
What few collectables I have are kept seperated in individual coin holders. Most of my coins have been picked up over the years at antique and coin stores and I always go thru all our change looking for anything old or unusual. I have made a couple purchases from Buy Gold Coins-Silver & Gold Bullion Investment & Market News Weekly: Swiss America Trading Corp (http://www.swissamerica.com/) and have been very pleased with their service. I did make the decision to not buy anything else on line due to having to use plastic or paypal. I don't care for the tracking that allows.

[Fatty]

I've been keeping an eye out for anything pre 1964 when it comes to pocket change. But lately this admin has got me to the point of wanting to turn my 401k into silver, damn the 30% tax penalty. I just read on CNN that our arse in chief has the balls to threaten our social security checks when the government can't even pay up the iou's they still owe for lol.

[AlphaTea]

I've been keeping an eye out for anything pre 1964 when it comes to pocket change. But lately this admin has got me to the point of wanting to turn my 401k into silver, damn the 30% tax penalty. I just read on CNN that our arse in chief has the balls to threaten our social security checks when the government can't even pay up the iou's they still owe for lol.

Just to add some clarity here, and speaking from personal experience, you can transfer some or all of your 401k to a Precious Metals IRA with NO Penalty. You actually buy and sell gold/silver/platinum but you cannot actually take physical possession of the PM's. The PMs are stored in one of a few well insured high security storage facilities. There are specific types of PMs you can buy such as gold/silver/platinum Eagles or bars over a certain weight and purity.

Now if you want to cash in some of your 401k to buy PMs its a different story.
Your 401k fund handler must take out a mandatory minimum of 20% for federal taxes. Any amount that you take out (if you are less than 57 1/2 I think) will be treated as income. If you make 50K/yr and you take out 25K from your 401k, your next years taxes will be on 75K. Unless you have a butt load of deductions, the 20% will not be enough. Better take out more depending on your tax rate.
Oh yea, there is also that pesky 10% penalty that you have to pay too.
So if your normal tax bill was say $10,000 , your next return would be for $17,500+
$10,000 + $5,000(20% of 25k) + $2500(penalty) = $17,500. But guess what, you are now in a higher tax bracket.
When all said and done, Uncle Sam will get about 35-40% of what you take out. They want this to be as painful as possible.
And another thing. While the penalty is only paid to federal, you will still have an increase in you state taxes, if applicable.
So now that $25k is down to a whopping $12k
It truly is all about risk too.
If you leave it in your 401k, will the gov't try to get at it?
Your 401k is nothing more than numbers on paper.
If you cash it in, How long will it take to recoup the loss?
I got lucky and am very glad I did both. When I did this gold was about $900/oz and silver was $12/oz
YMMV

[AlphaTea]

I have had many good dealings with
APMEX.com (http://www.apmex.com/) for IRA purchase/transfer/sales and smaller personal purchases
TULVING.com (http://www.tulving.com/) for personal bulk purchases
Sterling Trust Company (http://www.sterling-trust.com/) for setting up a PM IRA

[bacpacker]

Good Links Alpha.
One other option that I'm considering. Take out a loan on the 401K. It's what I plan to do when I pull out. You can't take it all, but no penalties, no taxes, and the intrest you pay if any goes to your account not the holding co.
Really depends on how much your wanting to take, some or all. I've not been at my current place long enough to be fully vested, so I can't get but about 25-30% out right now going this route.

[AlphaTea]

Yea but if you take the loan you are limited to 50% of the 401k or $50,000, which ever is lower
Also, if you take out $50K, the re-payment will be about $500ish a month for 10 years if they will let you take that long to pay it back, AND you will be missing out on the dividends and interest on the funds you had to sell originally.
Gotta weigh the risk.
Cant say I never took a loan on my 401k either

[bacpacker]

Agreed! the only real benifit of taking a loan to use for PM's would be you don't lose the 30% off the top. And the 50% left in the 401K is still working till things go tits up. If anything bad comes down, a 401K is goinna be a losing proposition. It just the best way to fund a retirment. You just don't have much of any control over it.

[piranha2]

BP, that is the best way. I have done it several times over the years and was satisfied that it was the best deal going.

[bacpacker]

I'm not sure there is a best way. I have used it, and I have casehed out completely, both for different reasons. It really comes down to what you need to cash for at the time. And what kind of time frame you are looking at. Lots of things to think about and make sure you know for sure which way to go, before you jump. Both ways have ramifications to them.

[bobthe]

just my two cents - why would you buy silver NOW, when it is near it's all time high, a full 1000% higher than what it traded for just a handful of years ago, and hundreds of percent higher than what it traded for even more recently.

if you are flush with cash and want to put a few percent of your portfolio into commodities thats one thing, but a better bet for most people would be paying off the mortgage

Granted this advice is coming from a guy who sold off nearly 100 ounces of gold at an average ('sky high') price of about $700 per ounce. :mad:

[jules1966]

Silver coins are and were my best bet during our time in shtf scenario. They are and were easy to carry and easy to trade for cash when needed. Gold was and is a good investment easy to sell when needed too. I am currently recollecting silver and still have a little gold left over from our shtf.