Yeah, I'm a both/and kind of guy when it comes to prepping & savings. I try to do what I can to maintain a preparedness minded stack, but at the same time, I recognize that a systemic collapse of the system is possible but not the most likely scenario. And in either case, my Silver is first and foremost a savings held outside of the banking system, a wealth insurance system for myself, and it is a retirement supplement or possible retirement replacement, depending upon how things go in the future. I do not use capsules of any kind. This just adds cost and adds space for very little benefit. It can be a benefit for certain kinds of coins, but you have to be both knowledgeable and heavily experienced to get right, just what kind of coins deserve an air-tight capsule or a slab that you pay for. I don't care enough about the details for that to matter in my case. Granted, I've been stacking for 17+ years, but I've either made the mistakes or watched other people make the mistakes of going down roads that aren't long-term helpful to them. Almost every single one of them ended up taking a bath on their extra investment, so I've tried to stay away and follow the K.I.S.S. method. My stack is simple, but it is also strategic. It's not fancy, but it includes quite a few things. I have it divided evenly between .999 (99.9%) bullion and .900 (90%) Constitutional or Junk. The 50% Silver bullion is divided into thirds or 3 evenly divided groups. It is 1/3 government minted Silver bullion ASEs (85%), and Maples, Philharmonics, Britannias, Libertads, and Krugerrands make up the remaining 15% of that 1/3 category. The second 1/3 is made up of privately minted 1 ounce Silver bullion rounds, and the third 1/3 is made up of privately minted 1 ounce Silver bullion bars. The other 50% is entirely U.S. pre-64 coinage. It consists of even numbers of Morgan & Peace dollars. It also consists of '64 Kennedy, Franklin and Walking Liberty half dollars that are as evenly divided as possible and are proportionate to the number of Morgans and Peace dollars within the stack. The rest if pre'-65 Washington quarters and evenly divided groupings of pre'-65 Roosevelt dimes and Mercury dimes. The quarters and dimes are also kept proportionate to the number of Morgan and Peace dollars I possess. What I mean by that is that if I have 100 Morgans dollars, I have 100 Peace dollars. That would also mean that I have 400 half dollars divided as evenly as possible between the 3 types. Then I have 800 Washington quarters and 2,000 dimes evenly divided between Rosies & Mercs. I do have other Silver that I do not include in my core position. So that Silver is kept in what I call my sellable or ancillary Silver stacks that I build slowly in order to insulate my core position in Silver from ever having to be sold off in all but the most dire of emergencies or for retirement purposes. So for example, I have a stack of 40% Kennedys that I add a little to every year. I have a stack of 35% War nickels that I had to every year. I have a stack of odds & ends like 2 ounce bullets that I add to every year. I have foreign Silver that I had to every year. I also the older and more worn or slicked out Barbers, Seateds, Standing Libertys, etc... that I keep separate but add to every year. In addition, I have a variety of small stacks of Eagles that I add to every year. These stacks are stacks that I'm very slowly building for other people who don't stack but who I know I would have extended contact with during any kind of emergency or disaster type event. If I never need to give them these stacks, they will just be used to insulate my core stack from having to be used. All of these purchases have a place and a purpose for them. Some of them have multiple purposes, but they all fall within the categories of preparedness, non-system savings, and/or retirement supplement or replacement. In addition, I try to keep between 3 to 6 months of living expenses held somewhere outside of the system in cash, which further insulates my stack(s) from having to be used for any purpose. I keep track of my Silver every 90 days, and I usually do a full inventory on an annual basis. When you buy Silver or Gold but especially Silver, a person needs to think in 30 to 50 year time-frames when they are considering its hedging potential against inflation. Anything less than 30 years, it'll be increasingly hit or miss as to whether it does a good job of hedging inflation. I started stacking with $10 to $40 in any given month to buy with. Since I started stacking nearly 2 decades ago, I've gotten out of debt, and now I typically have between $120 to $200 in any given month to buy with. I buy Silver every single pay period, and I always put back at least $40 for a fractional 22k Gold purchase. I don't buy things like Platinum or Palladium, but I might do that someday, after I reach my goals in Gold & Silver. We'll see. I could go on and talk more about Platinum, Gold, the nature of money, etc... but I think I've written a long enough comment. The only thing I will say is that Platinum can't be money because it is too rare for that use. However, it is a rare commodity that can store value long-term. Welcome back! Keep stacking!
Yeah, I'm a both/and kind of guy when it comes to prepping & savings. I try to do what I can to maintain a preparedness minded stack, but at the same time, I recognize that a systemic collapse of the system is possible but not the most likely scenario. And in either case, my Silver is first and foremost a savings held outside of the banking system, a wealth insurance system for myself, and it is a retirement supplement or possible retirement replacement, depending upon how things go in the future. I do not use capsules of any kind. This just adds cost and adds space for very little benefit. It can be a benefit for certain kinds of coins, but you have to be both knowledgeable and heavily experienced to get right, just what kind of coins deserve an air-tight capsule or a slab that you pay for. I don't care enough about the details for that to matter in my case. Granted, I've been stacking for 17+ years, but I've either made the mistakes or watched other people make the mistakes of going down roads that aren't long-term helpful to them. Almost every single one of them ended up taking a bath on their extra investment, so I've tried to stay away and follow the K.I.S.S. method. My stack is simple, but it is also strategic. It's not fancy, but it includes quite a few things. I have it divided evenly between .999 (99.9%) bullion and .900 (90%) Constitutional or Junk. The 50% Silver bullion is divided into thirds or 3 evenly divided groups. It is 1/3 government minted Silver bullion ASEs (85%), and Maples, Philharmonics, Britannias, Libertads, and Krugerrands make up the remaining 15% of that 1/3 category. The second 1/3 is made up of privately minted 1 ounce Silver bullion rounds, and the third 1/3 is made up of privately minted 1 ounce Silver bullion bars. The other 50% is entirely U.S. pre-64 coinage. It consists of even numbers of Morgan & Peace dollars. It also consists of '64 Kennedy, Franklin and Walking Liberty half dollars that are as evenly divided as possible and are proportionate to the number of Morgans and Peace dollars within the stack. The rest if pre'-65 Washington quarters and evenly divided groupings of pre'-65 Roosevelt dimes and Mercury dimes. The quarters and dimes are also kept proportionate to the number of Morgan and Peace dollars I possess. What I mean by that is that if I have 100 Morgans dollars, I have 100 Peace dollars. That would also mean that I have 400 half dollars divided as evenly as possible between the 3 types. Then I have 800 Washington quarters and 2,000 dimes evenly divided between Rosies & Mercs. I do have other Silver that I do not include in my core position. So that Silver is kept in what I call my sellable or ancillary Silver stacks that I build slowly in order to insulate my core position in Silver from ever having to be sold off in all but the most dire of emergencies or for retirement purposes. So for example, I have a stack of 40% Kennedys that I add a little to every year. I have a stack of 35% War nickels that I had to every year. I have a stack of odds & ends like 2 ounce bullets that I add to every year. I have foreign Silver that I had to every year. I also the older and more worn or slicked out Barbers, Seateds, Standing Libertys, etc... that I keep separate but add to every year. In addition, I have a variety of small stacks of Eagles that I add to every year. These stacks are stacks that I'm very slowly building for other people who don't stack but who I know I would have extended contact with during any kind of emergency or disaster type event. If I never need to give them these stacks, they will just be used to insulate my core stack from having to be used. All of these purchases have a place and a purpose for them. Some of them have multiple purposes, but they all fall within the categories of preparedness, non-system savings, and/or retirement supplement or replacement. In addition, I try to keep between 3 to 6 months of living expenses held somewhere outside of the system in cash, which further insulates my stack(s) from having to be used for any purpose. I keep track of my Silver every 90 days, and I usually do a full inventory on an annual basis. When you buy Silver or Gold but especially Silver, a person needs to think in 30 to 50 year time-frames when they are considering its hedging potential against inflation. Anything less than 30 years, it'll be increasingly hit or miss as to whether it does a good job of hedging inflation. I started stacking with $10 to $40 in any given month to buy with. Since I started stacking nearly 2 decades ago, I've gotten out of debt, and now I typically have between $120 to $200 in any given month to buy with. I buy Silver every single pay period, and I always put back at least $40 for a fractional 22k Gold purchase. I don't buy things like Platinum or Palladium, but I might do that someday, after I reach my goals in Gold & Silver. We'll see. I could go on and talk more about Platinum, Gold, the nature of money, etc... but I think I've written a long enough comment. The only thing I will say is that Platinum can't be money because it is too rare for that use. However, it is a rare commodity that can store value long-term. Welcome back! Keep stacking!