Robert Kiyosaki on the Silver Market: Now is the right time in 2012!

Robert Kiyosaki: Silver is the best play right now

Hedge against financial stress

Silver, like all precious metals, may be used as a hedge against inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. Robert Kiyosaki has been talking about this issue for several years now. As Joe Foster, portfolio manager of the New York-based Van Eck International Gold Fund, explained way back in September 2010: The currencies of all the major countries, including ours, are under severe pressure because of massive government deficits. The more money that is pumped into these economies — the printing of money basically — then the less valuable the currencies become.

How to Invest in Silver

A traditional way of investing in silver is by buying actual bullion bars. In some countries, like Switzerland and Liechtenstein, bullion bars can be bought or sold over the counter at major banks.

Physical silver, such as bars or coins, may be stored in a home safe, a safe deposit box at a bank, or placed in allocated (also known as non-fungible) or unallocated (fungible or pooled) storage with a bank or dealer. Silver is traded in the spot market with the code “XAG”. When settled in USD, the code is “XAGUSD”.

Various sizes of silver bars:

1000 oz troy bars — These bars weigh about 68 pounds avoirdupois (31 kg) and vary about 10% as to weight, as bars range from 900 ozt to about 1,100 ozt (28 to 34 kg). These are COMEX and LBMA good delivery bars.

100 oz troy bars — These bars weigh 6.8 pounds (3.11 kg) and are among the most popular with retail investors. Popular brands are Engelhard and Johnson Matthey. Those brands cost a bit more, usually about 40 cents to 2.00 dollars per troy ounce above the spot price, but that price may vary with market conditions.

Odd weight retail bars — These bars cost less and generally have a wider spread, due to the extra work it takes to calculate their value and the extra risk due to the lack of a good brand name.

1 kilogram bars (32.15 oz troy)

10 oz troy bars and 1 oz troy bars (311 and 31.1 g)