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Access the complete “Work Hard. Save Smart.” video series and learn alongside Mike.
Access the complete “Work Hard. Save Smart.” video series and learn alongside Mike.
I’ve learned a lot of things over the years, talking to all sorts of experts in all sorts of fields. But one of the most important lessons I learned was from two former Directors of the U.S. Mint, who taught me everything I needed to know about the importance of protecting my savings with precious metals such as physical gold and silver.
In 25 years of working dirty jobs, the thought of portfolio diversification really didn’t cross my mind—but the more I learn, the better I feel about buying gold and silver from U.S. Money Reserve.
Is gold right for you? That’s not for me to say. You’ve got to do your own due diligence. All I know is that today, it’s not enough to simply work hard—you also have to save smart. So, call the number below. The folks at U.S. Money Reserve are standing by to help.
Mike sits down with the experts to find answers to his questions about owning gold and other precious metals.
Mike visits a vault with over a billion dollars in precious metals for a chat with two former U.S. Mint Directors.
Mike tours a world-class mint and gets hands-on to learn how gold and silver coins are made from start to finish.
Mike Rowe has spent the last thirty years working hard. But lately he’s been thinking less about what his next dirty job might be, and more about finding the best way to secure his financial future and protect the money he’s earned along the way.
Mike’s quest for knowledge led him to U.S. Money Reserve—the only precious metals distributor guided by two former Directors of the United States Mint.
In this exclusive series, Mike seeks the answers to his questions about owning physical gold, both at home and within a precious metals-backed IRA.
Mike Learns How Coins are Minted Mike joins former U.S. Mint Directors Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy at a world-renowned gold and silver coin-minting facility for some hands-on learning.
Mike Visits a Secure Vault to Learn About Gold IRAs Mike joins former U.S. Mint Directors Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy at a secure undisclosed location precious metals depository to learn about precious metal IRAs.
Mike Asks: Why Gold? Mike sits down with U.S. Money Reserve’s thought leadership team, including former U.S. Mint Directors Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy and Director of Education Brad Chastain, to find answers to his questions about owning gold and other precious metals.
Mike Asks About Gold's Growth Potential Mike sits down with U.S. Money Reserve’s thought leadership team, including former U.S. Mint Directors Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy and Director of Education Brad Chastain, to learn more about the growth opportunities provided by gold.
Mike Learns How to Own Gold Mike sits down with U.S. Money Reserve’s thought leadership team, including former U.S. Mint Directors Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy, to learn about the two paths of physical gold ownership: owning gold at home and holding gold in an IRA.
Mike Speaks to a Financial Advisor Mike Rowe sits down with a financial advisor to discuss the role gold can play in a diversified portfolio and why many financial advisors don’t suggest physical gold to their clients.
Mike Visits U.S. Money Reserve Mike Rowe visits U.S. Money Reserve to learn about our unique approach to the precious metals ownership experience: creating long-term relationships with our clients that continue long after the first sale while remaining dedicated to their long-term success.
Mike Rowe is an Emmy award-winning TV host, producer, narrator, podcaster, spokesman, bestselling author, recording artist, and America’s leading advocate for the skilled trades. As the CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, he’s awarded nearly seven million dollars in work-ethic scholarships and led a national effort to reintroduce shop class into high schools.
Mike may be best known for his work on Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe,” where he traveled to every state multiple times and worked alongside hundreds of Americans in more than 350 different vocations. You might also recognize him from the many other television shows he’s hosted or narrated including “The Most,” “How the Universe Works,” “American Chopper,” “Deadliest Catch,” and “Wicked Tuna.”
Mike is embarking on a learning journey into physical gold ownership. He knew nothing about gold and decided to learn from U.S. Money Reserve. We documented his experience, and we are now releasing a new video series to help customers learn what he learned.
Just like you, Mike is interested in learning more about gold and how it can help protect the money he’s saved over the years. He had questions, and his search for answers led him to U.S. Money Reserve. We were allowed to document his learning journey.
No, Mike Rowe is not a company spokesperson. He has no role or financial stake whatsoever in the company, and does not endorse any products or services of U.S. Money Reserve. He is simply a client looking to learn more about owning physical gold before making a decision.
Mike has pointed out that among the multiple precious metals providers he considered in his search for more information, U.S. Money Reserve stood out because of the presence of Philip N. Diehl and Edmund C. Moy, two former Directors of the United States Mint. Mike also said he was impressed by our extensive library of educational materials and resources at U.S. Money Reserve, and was particularly drawn to the fact that we make them available to anyone—completely free-of-charge—regardless of whether they’ve previously made a purchase.
If your portfolio is overexposed to stocks or other paper-based assets that share the same set of risk factors, a major market downturn could deplete all or part of your hard-earned savings.
A well-balanced and diversified portfolio can help minimize overall risk exposure while maximizing growth potential. This is why experts often recommend allocating anywhere between 10% and 25% of a portfolio toward tangible assets like gold and other precious metals: Gold is considered insurance against major financial downturns, and is often utilized as a hedge against factors like inflation, deflation, market volatility, and economic chaos.
More than a “bad news” asset, gold also has a long history of providing positive returns in good economic times.
Gold is considered a good way to diversify a portfolio. The term portfolio diversification refers to a financial strategy that’s used to stabilize a portfolio and safeguard it from major losses.
A diversified portfolio will contain different types of assets and asset classes. Having a mix of assets helps to mitigate the risk associated with a particular asset class.
Because gold is not tied to the performance of the stock markets, real estate, or currency, it can be an effective way to improve diversification.
How much gold and silver you should consider owning is going to depend on several factors. First, you’ll need to decide if owning gold as an asset supports your financial goals. Your acceptable level of risk, time horizon, and desired level of portfolio diversity can all influence how much gold you may want to consider owning.
After reviewing historical data, many experts have stated 10-20% of a portfolio should be comprised of gold and other precious metals.
As with the price of any asset, gold prices fluctuate. Factors that may affect the price of gold include, but are not limited to, the following:
Like any market, the gold market can experience ups and downs, though prices have greatly increased over the long term. Specifically, gold has seen great increases in both demand and price when financial market and economic conditions are turbulent because it’s often considered a “safe haven” with a lower level of risk than paper-based assets like stock.
There is no “one size fits all” portfolio of physical precious metals; just as everyone's financial situation and goals are unique, the ideal precious metals portfolio to help them achieve those goals will also be unique. This is why the “gold bars vs. gold coins” debate will never have a clear winner. Both forms of gold can help protect your hard-earned savings.
That said, gold bars and coins do have some defining features that may lead you to choose one over the other. You can read more about the difference between gold bars and gold coins here.
Gold coins tend to fall into one of three categories: gold bullion coins, gold proof coins and collectible gold coins.
Gold bullion coins are the most popular and numerous of the three types of gold coins. Though they are issued by governments bearing legal-tender denominations, these coins are produced with portfolio holders in mind.
Typically, gold bullion coins are produced with a purity of at least .9167 (22 karat), though some are produced with purities as high as .9999 (24 karat).
The price of a bullion coin is based primarily on the market or “spot” price of it's gold content. This makes bullion coins the most liquid of the three types of gold coins.
Bullion coins typically range in weight from 1/10 oz. to 1 kilo, and are issued by governments around the world.
Gold Proof Coins
Gold proof coins are produced with enhanced designs featuring frosted devices over mirror-like fields. To achieve this, highly polished blanks are hand-fed into coin presses and struck multiple times with specially treated dies.
This time-consuming process is one reason proof coins are almost always minted in smaller amounts than their bullion counterparts, and why proof coins are often priced based on factors beyond their gold weight, including mintage and condition.
Many proof coins are graded and certified by professional grading services, which then seal the coins in protective cases to preserve their graded condition. Coins are graded on a 70-point scale, with a 70 representing flawless museum quality.
Collectible Gold Coins
While any coin can be collected, the term “collectible gold coins” tends to refer to coins with additional numismatic appeal, meaning they can experience greater demand (and prices) based on their age or rarity.
Rare coins, certified coins, and vintage circulating gold coins may all qualify as collectible gold coins.
Though these coins tend to see far higher market prices than bullion coins, as collectibles they are not authorized for inclusion in gold IRAs.
There are two primary paths to physical gold ownership: you can purchase gold and have it shipped to your home, bank, or other location for storage, or you can own physical gold as part of a gold IRA. This self-directed retirement account allows you to include physical gold as a retirement asset along with more conventional assets like stocks and bonds.
With a Gold IRA you get tax advantages as long as you follow the IRA guidelines for storing the precious metals, making contributions and withdrawing from the account.
Because the IRS does not allow you to store assets in your home while considering them part of an IRA, your precious metals must be held in an IRS-approved depository. Then, once it's time to take distributions from your account, you have the options of liquidating some of your gold and receiving a check or having some of your physical precious metals sent to you as an “in-kind distribution.”
Many consumers new to precious metals will ask, “should I own gold or silver?” While gold may get more attention and appear in more financial headlines, silver is another asset worth considering.
Because silver has its own industrial applications and other sources of demand, it will not necessarily rise and fall in tandem with gold. This makes silver (as well as other precious metals like platinum and palladium) a powerful way to further diversify your portfolio within the precious metals asset class.
Certain silver products qualify for inclusion in precious metals IRAs, and because silver has a lower price point per ounce than gold, it is considered a good entrance point for those who are new to precious metals.
These are all reasons why, for many Americans, it isn’t a question of gold vs silver, but a question of how much of each precious metal is required for a well-balanced portfolio that meets their needs.