Storage
Physical Precious Metals are financial insurance. As such you need to be able to put your hands on them regardless of extenuating circumstances. For that reason, our number one storage recommendation is a ‘don’t’ rather than a ‘do’…
Don't Store Your Precious Metals In A Bank...Where Then?
1. On your own property. You have many more places to store valuables than you probably realize. We do not publish specific location suggestions online but are happy to discuss them with you over the phone. Shortly, though, if you plan to store metals yourself, you need to understand your primary objectives – protection from fire and theft.
a. Fire – You want a box (fireproof or a safe) that gives you a minimum 30 minute fire rating. Ideally you want an hour, especially if you live in a rural area where fire department response times are longer. If you buy a safe, make sure you get one with a manual, not electronic, lock.
b. Theft – We recommend a safe. How much you spend on a safe should, of course, be proportional to what you put into metals. For instance, it would be overkill to spend 10k on a safe to protect 10k of metals.
All safes come with a rating and knowing a bit about ratings is a good place to start. The ratings range from TR60x6 all the way to RSC. TR60x6 is really not something anyone will need and RSC ratings are those found on most safes.
If you’re spending 50k or more in metals, look for a safe with a TL-15 or TL-30 rating. Companies like Inkas, ISM and AMSEC make these safes. They are very secure and very heavy. Be warned. These safes will need to be installed on a concrete floor. They start around $3k, maybe $4k.
If you’re spending less, Gardall makes some great UL rated safes.
We are very lucky and know a fella that owns three safe companies (Nashville, Knoxville, and Atlanta). His name is Mark Brasfield (thesafehouse.com). You can call Mark at 615.255.0500.
His #1 recommendation when buying a safe?
Get something bigger than you think you’ll need. You won’t just be storing metals. You’ll want to protect family pictures, your children’s kindergarten drawings, your grandfather’s military medals, etc.
His #2 recommendation?
Don’t buy what he calls a ‘fake safe’. These are the ’safes’ sold at places like Costco, Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight and Home Depot. They can be cracked in under 2 minutes by someone with the right tools.
But that’s not all. We have other suggestions to help protect your valuables that we will only discuss on the phone. Give us a ring at 888.661.4093 for those details.
2. In a secure non-bank facility. Many such facilities exist all across the country. A google search for “private vault storage” followed by your city and state usually bring up several choices. We recommend such facilities over banks because they are not tied to our monetary system.
3. In a depository. Depositories are certainly secure locations where you can open an account and store your valuables. If you do so, make sure you select “segregated” storage, not “allocated”. They are third on the list because they have a loose connection to our financial system, as they are often used as storage facilities for IRAs, which fall under many government regulations. In times of crises, such regulations could limit access to the facility.
