I took a photo of the invoice to share with any reader who might be interested:
Silver is retreating from a high. Let's see if it would retreat further to lower levels before I add to my long position.
"...no less than 1.696 million silver coins were sold by the U.S. Mint on the first 2011 trading day - suggesting that interest in silver bullion in particular remains at an extremely high level." Read full article here.
35 comments:
Hi,
Don't you think the charges for holding silver in the savings account is too high?
I personally invested in the gold savings account. Half year and my charges was 5% of my investment (small sum of capital).
Hi Anonymous,
If your investment is smallish, the annual service charge would be a larger percentage as there is a minimum service charge imposed. I believe this is the same for Gold and Silver Savings Accounts.
For silver, if we are holding 400oz and the annual service charge is 2oz, it works out to be only 0.5% per annum. You might want to consider a Silver Savings Account to ride on the continuing strength of precious metals.
Could you include your name or initials in future comments? Thanks. :)
Hi AK71
Instead of buying into UOB's gold and silver acct and wait for capital gains, isn't it better to buy into Gold/Silver ETF? You get dividends + opp for capital gains. Your comments appreciated.
Hi fishcrazy,
I prefer buying physical gold and silver as a Gold or Silver Savings Account is still a paper investment. ETFs are also paper investments.
However, buying physical silver at a reasonable price (close to spot) is impossible in Singapore. UOB only trades physical gold. So, I started a Silver Savings Account early last year.
I wouldn't say that ETF is better or worse as an option. It is just another option for the investor. I have always wondered how Gold and Silver ETFs could pay dividends since precious metals do not generate cash flow. I came to the conclusion that investors must be getting payouts from some form of capital reduction (i.e. getting back their own money).
With expectations that precious metals would continue to do well in 2011, any form of legitimate exposure to these metals would be beneficial to one's portfolio. Of course, buy on pull backs.
If you are already investing in Gold and Silver ETFs, please feel free to share your experience here. Thanks. :)
Hi AK71,
Just wondering is there a minimum amount of purchase when opening the oub silver account.
Hi Anonymous,
Yes, I remember there is. I cannot remember the exact figure though. 20 oz?
Best to visit UOB's website and find out. :)
Hi AK71,
I would like to invest in silver and was wondering if it is advisable to open a online silver trading account with Saxo Capital Market compared to a uob silver savings account?
Hi kling9,
I have no experience with Saxo but the attraction would be the ability to trade online which I am not able to do with UOB Silver Savings account. :)
Hi
Is the fee of 2 ounces you posted a monthly fee or yearly fee? I read that the minimum fee for the account is 0.2 ounces per month or 0.375% p.a.
Is there a passbook or a statement per month? Thanks.
silverking
Hi silverking,
It is an annual fee and we are given a passbook which we have to bring to the bank each time we buy or sell silver.
Where can i get physical silver here?
Is there any rules or limitation if i bought silver from overseas and bring it back to SG?
Hi Anonymous,
I buy physical gold from UOB. As they do not sell physical silver, I have an UOB Silver Savings Account.
There are places in Singapore you can buy physical silver from. Just Google and you will find some.
Buying physical gold and silver in Singapore is subject to a 7% GST. So, if you were to bring silver back from another country, you would have to declare it at the customs checkpoint in Singapore and pay the GST. Otherwise, you would be smuggling silver into the country.
Could you include your name or initials in future comments? Thank you. :)
Hi,
I am wondering if setting up a silver or gold savings account and just leaving is as it is, helps to guard against inflation? Thanks
- Nurul
Hi Nurul,
I would say that nothing is certain in this world and we should hedge against risks.
If most of our wealth is in paper currency, it would certainly make sense to hedge against the risks of fiat currencies. Investing in precious metals is one such possible hedge. :)
Hi AK71
Would like to know if there is any additional fees or GST applied when buying / selling silver?
Having the silver savings account opened for close to a year, what would be your feedback on silver savings account?
I've recently taken interest in investing in silver after reading Mike Maloney's book , but honestly, silver savings don't look very attractive because of its high fees (esp when start up capital is small)
Your comments are appreciated (: thanks
-fiatisbad-
Hi fiatisbad,
Like your nick. ;)
There is GST to be paid if we are buying physical silver or gold in Singapore because our government think of these precious metals as goods and not money.
Maintaining a silver account with UOB might be costly if your investment is relatively small but we don't have to pay 7% GST when buying silver this way.
I think an investment of about 400 oz is probably a good number to go with as the 2 oz minimum that is charged by UOB annually works out to be only 0.5%.
hi AK,
Many thanks for the sharing in your blogs, i have enjoyed and gain new perspectives reading them for the past couple of months.
Silver has recently been on a retreat/correction, prompting me to want to re-evalaute my options in the metal. Like other stuff from the ground, silver is imho a real tangible hedge in an ever resource-hungry and fiat-driven world. i have these questions for u:
- What are the exit strategies for the UOB silver account? E.g. Do they buy back at or close to their own published bid/ask values?
- for silver coins, what / where are the sell options?
Regards,
IP67
Hi IP67,
UOB does not sell physical silver at the moment. So, if you want exposure to silver through UOB, you want to consider starting a silver savings account.
You can check out their daily prices here which are, of course, in S$:
UOB Gold and Silver prices.
As for buying physical silver in Singapore, I do not have any experience here although I have heard of companies which are doing it. So, I shall avoid commenting. ;)
Friend, I have done a preliminary analysis of UOB Gold/silver in my post here. Basically, if UOB is not really buying physical gold/silver with the money we give them, I am a bit nervous. Would appreciate any comments you might have. My analysis is here
http://masculineffort.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/the-very-strange-case-of-uob-silver-and-uob-gold/
Thanks in advance
Hi masculineffort,
Thanks for sharing the link here. :)
You should direct any pressing questions you might have to UOB and I would be interested to know of any further findings, of course. :)
Hi AK71, I talked to UOB and it seems they do not share information on how the Gold/Silver accounts are funded with their customers. They will not provide any details as to how this works. This is what they told me. As for people in the front desk, they themselves have no idea.
Hi masculineffort,
Not very transparent, are they? Hmmm.. Best to avoid if you are uncomfortable with the idea. :)
Hi
I am in the midst of wondering which bank to go for for precious metals: stanchart XAu, Bank of China or UOB.
Which is the most credible?
My sister holds a silver savings account and we are looking at it with question marks floating around our head when we saw the picture copy of your account with UOB. She only places 20 oz of silver for a start and UOB charges her 2.57 punches for the service charge and GST for the year. She called in and asked but was told it was correct. But it looks like she was overcharged??
Hi Anonymous,
I have a silver savings account with UOB. I cannot comment on the rest but UOB is pretty decent. :)
Hi Anonymous,
20 oz is too small a number to maintain a UOB silver savings account, I feel. The annual fee as a percentage is just too costly.
For example, if you should have 400 oz in the account, the annual fee charge is still 2+ oz a year. As a percentage, the cost of maintaining the account is more acceptable at 0.5% per annum.
hello,
i'm thinking of investing a very small amount of money on silver. however, im not sure which is better should i buy in terms of stock or physical silver? and if its the latter, where do i buy them?
Hi Anonymous,
I do not know what is a very small amount to you but if it is going to be less than 100 oz, you are probably better off just buying physicals.
I would do a search online for "Silver Bullion Coins in Singapore" and a list of shops should be generated. Send them enquiries. :)
Since the uob silver price is dropping, is it advisable to open n buy in small amount like 20oz or big quantity such as 100oz?
If buying physical silver, where can i sell them in singapore?
Hi,
For starters who want to invest in silver, should he open uob silver savings account or buy silver bullion coins? He tends to invest between S$200 - S$500.
Adviseable to open up uob silver account with just 20oz and increase the amount by 10oz every two months?
Hi Anonymous,
I am not in a position to advise you on what to do, unfortunately.
As for physical silver, if you do a Google, you will see many companies which are buying/selling physical silver in Singapore. :)
Hi Hafiz,
For me, I buy silver and gold more as a hedge against the flaws of fiat currencies. So, to be meaningful as an insurance, it has to be about 5% of my total wealth.
Singapore removed the GST for investment precious metals with effect from 1 October 2012.
Hi, i logged in my uob mobile app, it says my Avail bal is exactly 10oz lower than Current bal. Why is that so may i ask? I opened this SSA less than 1 yr.
Thx in advance!
Hi Steven,
Oh, there is a minimum of 10oz that has to be held in the account. These 10oz cannot be sold unless the account is closed. They are still there but just not available for you to sell.
I don't work for UOB and it is just what I remember. You might want to check with them to be sure. :)
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