GOTS – “Getting out of the System”

Those of you doing broader research into gold and silver may often come across the GOTS acronym.  For many this is an important part of why they invest in gold and silver.  Another term is ‘counterparty risk’ which is the basis for basically all other investments.  Any paper traded investment is only ever as good as the issuer (counterparty) of the paper certificate.  It is a ‘promise to pay’.  But what about when it all goes wrong?  How good will the “promise” be?  Ask bank deposit holders in Cyprus, ask bond holders in Detroit, ask shareholders in any number of companies that have gone under.  Gold and silver have intrinsic value, they are real money, not printed currency (again just a promise to pay…but at what value after inflation?).  If you own and hold the real physical precious metals, in a secure independent vault (like Reserve Vault in Brisbane) you have no counterparty risk and are ‘out of the system’.  It’s about balancing the risk in your portfolio.