Is anyone still buying?

[bilko]

Hi guys, like a few I lost my job Saturday, now im trying to register for universal credit which I haven't in over a decade and its a nightmare, from November iv been buying mainly gold coins and now for the foreseeable future its going to have to stop as I will have to live on my savings, in fact probably be looking to sell some coins. Am I alone or is this the new norm?

[MancunianStacker]

I’m sorry to hear that mate, I’m self employed so I feel for you.

If it were me I’d use my cash first then sell if I had too. Gold could appreciate very very soon??

[Pete]

2 hours ago, bilko said:

Hi guys, like a few I lost my job Saturday, now im trying to register for universal credit which I haven't in over a decade and its a nightmare, from November iv been buying mainly gold coins and now for the foreseeable future its going to have to stop as I will have to live on my savings, in fact probably be looking to sell some coins. Am I alone or is this the new norm?

This is bad news and sorry to hear you've just lost your job.
There's going to be lots of life changing events for many in the coming weeks and months.

What matters most is health and provided you have shelter and food the rest is a bonus.
It might not seem that way right now but there are thousands of people about to die prematurely to this virus.

If you are going to need cash to pay essential bills then perhaps take advantage of the high gold price and sell.
You should never put yourself into a fire sale position of having to sell an asset that could drop suddenly.
A gold coin isn't going to pay for your grocery shopping and avoid the "we buy any gold" pop-up merchants who may not give you the best prices.

Admittedly the price of gold may continue to rise so where is the peak ?
You have to do what you feel comfortable with and don't listen to others who are not in your position right now and that includes me, but I would sell my gold if I was likely to run out of money in the next 3-6 months.

[adamthetaller]

Still buying here, mainly as a hedge against riskier investments and something more 'fun' than low interest savings and premium bonds.
Though only as I'm in a secure financial position thanks to Mrs The Taller's frugal nature - marrying an accountant does have its advantages.
If my easy access savings were not so healthy I doubt I would risk the potential need to liquidate PMs in an emergency by buying much right now.

[blindguy]

hang in there. try not to sell your gold as the next two years will be interesting in the gold market. here president Trump wanted to send every tax payer in the USA a check for $1300. the democrats in the senate voted it down on sunday. so the politics continues and the so called people in Washington do not care about the people.

[HawkHybrid]

living expenses easily tops many things including savings

via pm's for the future. focus on getting through what is

likely to be tough times for everyone. there is light at the

end of the tunnel but it will take time to get there. once

through, you can pick up where you left off with pm's.

 

HH

[bilko]

Im not desperate yet but I think month or two down the road it going to be difficult tried to do online sign up for universal credit and got no where, tried the phone number can't get anyone there either, complete shambles

[soho]

I am buying... in ETFs. Yep.  Those 50 cent premiums on a face dollar of "junk" silver have become $5+ premiums. WTH.  Not sure i that's greed or fear at the falling prices, but I am buying on the way down, even if it's a falling knife. I kind of expect $8 to be the bottom - my long term charting guess of things.  But I can buy and hold a lot more silver directly from Sprott or some other source if my usual silver bullion dealers want to be greedy/fearful just now. 

This world may be screwed up, but I don't fear zombies.  Glad to hold physical silver in forms other than my wrapped coins at these premiums.

[BrumChris]

I'm buying. All of the money being pumped out by the gov will need to be paid back or inflated away. I'm sure you can guess what the gov will choose. Many businesses will permanently close. We're all going to be poorer as a result of this.

[Melon]

Sad to hear that Bilko, the impacts of this virus are wide reaching. Above all else, try to stay in good spirits - this time will pass. 

[bilko]

thanks @melon trust me I know im luckier than most, I have some savings to fall back on, can't imagine how bad it is for gig economy and zero hour contract employees now

[vand]

Like I have said often, by far the #1 mistake that I see amongst the vast majority of stackers is not having a good amount of liquid CASH on hand to deal with situations that life throws at you.

 

Unfortunately this is much more problematic amongst Gold/silver bugs than it is amongst the wider investing community because of their hatred the fiat system.

 

In the last financial meltdown people who had a strong cash reserve behaved markedly differently and, in hindsight, more rationally than those without. 

[DANIEL999]

[8phwt]

health before wealth

 

[Pipers]

I think your boss is a bastard, if you kept your job you could of received 80% of your wage from the Government, now you have to claim Universal credit £94 a week (the radio said last week ) and there are plenty in the same boat. Your employer could of kept you on until the end of the lockdown then let you go with warning.   What ever you do do not tell the benefits about the coin collection, coins are like any collection you are allowed to have it. 

Use your cash first.  Sell your coins one at time. into a differnt account.  

[Seth]

I'm still buying gold, though a few of the dealers that I buy from have emailed their customers letting them know that there may be some delay in receiving their orders, they have also started to clamp down on who they will sell to, according to the email I received, due to the overwhelming demand for gold and silver they will not be taking on any new customers, and only selling to existing customers that they already have a relationship with.

[Xander]

On 23/03/2020 at 07:20, bilko said:

Hi guys, like a few I lost my job Saturday, now im trying to register for universal credit which I haven't in over a decade and its a nightmare, from November iv been buying mainly gold coins and now for the foreseeable future its going to have to stop as I will have to live on my savings, in fact probably be looking to sell some coins. Am I alone or is this the new norm?

Your not alone. I lost my job last week after 12 years with the same company, The guy lost a massive amount of money and had to wrap-up the business.I worked on a self employed basis. I am attempting to receive the 80% of my income. They are saying you need tax receipts and  bank statements for the last 3 years, maybe you should give that a try. 

All the best.

[Seth]

I'm self employed, in fact I have 3.5 permanent employees, the .5 is one of my employees wife it works out better for their taxes if she is unemployed on paper and I pay her husband both his salary for the job I employ him to do plus her salary for the job that she is employed to do but doesn't have on paper and no she doesn't claim benefits she doesn't qualify for them as firstly none of my employees are British and secondly her husband without her salary earns too much for her to qualify for benefis if she was British.  What I have a hard time understanding is why almost none of the truly self employed people in the U.K. - not like DPD drivers who are only self employed on paper, have income proection insurance, I've had it since I was in my teens, it can be goten for quite cheap, I've seen policies that will pay you your level of income you had when you took out the income protection insurance for as little as £80.00 a month until you either find a new job or retire, granted some of these policies require you to be unemployed or not earning for 6 months before they start to pay out, but those are the policies at the bottom/cheapest side of the price range/coverage scale, obviously the better the income protection insurance cover you have, the more expensive it is, and even then it's not expensive, it's generally around 10% of your monthly income for income protection insurance that starts to pay out the day you lose your income until you either get a new source of income or reach the mandatory retirement age - or the age in which you would start to receive your pension.  I truly don't understand why so few self employed Brittish people don't even think about income protection insurance, afer all you're all very quick to point out that if you're not working, you're not earning, so why not protect your earnings just like you do with your cars, property, belongings, health...... - yes everybody in the U.K. has health insurance, and it's mandatory you guys just call it National Insurance Contributions.

[Xander]

[shawy2510]

15 minutes ago, Seth said:

I'm self employed, in fact I have 3.5 permanent employees, the .5 is one of my employees wife it works out better for their taxes if she is unemployed on paper and I pay her husband both his salary for the job I employ him to do plus her salary for the job that she is employed to do but doesn't have on paper and no she doesn't claim benefits she doesn't qualify for them as firstly none of my employees are British and secondly her husband without her salary earns too much for her to qualify for benefis if she was British.  What I have a hard time understanding is why almost none of the truly self employed people in the U.K. - not like DPD drivers who are only self employed on paper, have income proection insurance, I've had it since I was in my teens, it can be goten for quite cheap, I've seen policies that will pay you your level of income you had when you took out the income protection insurance for as little as £80.00 a month until you either find a new job or retire, granted some of these policies require you to be unemployed or not earning for 6 months before they start to pay out, but those are the policies at the bottom/cheapest side of the price range/coverage scale, obviously the better the income protection insurance cover you have, the more expensive it is, and even then it's not expensive, it's generally around 10% of your monthly income for income protection insurance that starts to pay out the day you lose your income until you either get a new source of income or reach the mandatory retirement age - or the age in which you would start to receive your pension.  I truly don't understand why so few self employed Brittish people don't even think about income protection insurance, afer all you're all very quick to point out that if you're not working, you're not earning, so why not protect your earnings just like you do with your cars, property, belongings, health...... - yes everybody in the U.K. has health insurance, and it's mandatory you guys just call it National Insurance Contributions.

I hope your insurer pays out Seth as I know plenty of people who have it & because the Corona is a Pandemic they are entitled to nothing. Maybe worth checking

[Martlet]

Talk to employer about being put on furlough, that is on payroll without pay, not laid off.  This should allow you to qualify for the government 80% pay cover.  

Then contact the supermarkets who are hiring thousands, see if you can find work. Has to be better, financially and mentally, than negotiating the UC swamp. 

[Xander]

17 minutes ago, Seth said:

yes everybody in the U.K. has health insurance, and it's mandatory you guys just call it National Insurance Contributions.

20 years ago I broke my pelvis. I wasn't too bothered as i had insurance, turns out it only covered my mortgage not my income. I received help from the state, I paid every penny back when I returned to work. Some guys might not be earning enough to pay for insurance. I know plenty of self-employed guys through no fault of their own who are just scraping a living and cant afford insurance. 

Its not always as cut and dried as you think.

[Seth]

On 24/03/2020 at 16:46, shawy2510 said:

I hope your insurer pays out Seth as I know plenty of people who have it & because the Corona is a Pandemic they are entitled to nothing. Maybe worth checking

I know they're paying out, I was informed by my insurance providers - yes I have more than one, that they will be paying out and covering all lost income and all expenses that these cancelled jobs have incured - I was meant to be in London Monday and Tuesday doing studio work so the flights for myself, staff the dog, my overweight baggage costs, the hotel rooms until the 26th will all be payed to me, it's the same with the month long tour of America in April where I was mean to be flying off to tomorrow - the 26th, the studio jobs I had booked bouncing around Europe for May, June and July, the August tour of the U.K.  In fact he only issue I'm having with my insurance providers is when they are going to pay me, they want to pay me before he end of the financial year, I want them to pay me after this financial year at the start of next years financial year so that I don't get taxed on it this year and on paper it looks like I/my company earned less money than it did this year, so I'm dragging my feet when it comes to replying to their emails and phone calls.