Big Fortunes In Gold & Silver

This is the book that tells you where the real money is and how to get. If you do not think this is a book for the Main Street people (us), then you are going to loose all your assets with the wise men (Wall Street). This is the middle class license to print money book that tells like it is. Be smart, be creative, do not follow the masses, because Wall Street want you broke. If you do not help yourself, nobody will.
It is a must read book for people who is looking for financial independence.

A good beginner's guide

From my point of view, this book is generally good but the contents are too brief.

Printing money

This is a very informative book for those who don't understand the system or conformation for those that do. It confirmed what I thought I had known for 35 years. I highly recommend it.

"RIGHT ON THE MONEY!"

Mr. Ruff is right on the money (or gold). In a short and succinct volume he lays out the rationale for owning gold investments ( physical as well as gold stocks) In these perilous times, his book is a veritable 'Bible" on owning precious metals. His "down home" style of writing adds to the enjoyment as well. The book is not for the professorial type and academic but for the middle class American who simply wants to know WHY he should have gold and silver in his portfolio. I would like to recommend a wonderful website for gold investments that will add to the information in his book: WWW.GOLD-ULTIMATESAFETY.NET. Highly recommended!

Good read for the gold and silver investor

The book is mostly, though not at all exclusively, about silver investing. The first half of the book makes the case for owning the precious metals. While interesting, it has little to do with investing.

I did find some valuable information about silver.

I found a few problems with what Ruff says. He, and many authors on this topic, make the same mistakes. He suggests the investor use ETFs if they want to. ETFs that specialize in gold and sliver and the like, are great. But what so many people do not know and fail to report is that they are not treated like investments by the IRS. So when you sell, you pay 28% because the IRS treats gold and silver as collectibles. With cap gains, they charge the regular lower cap gains rate if you hold an asset over one year.

So when an author makes a glaring mistake like this, I question some of the other things he says. For example, he says that ALL GOLD COIN sales are reportable to the IRS unless they're semi-numismatic. That's not true.

While I'd want you to verify what I say, it's my understanding that you can own gold or silver American Eagles without any reporting being done when you buy or sell (unless the amount you sell meets certain criteria.)

The California Numismatic Investments has a report on its site, which says in part:

First: You can place any size order and pay with a check. No one cares, not even the government. The only time they want to hear from us is if you invest more than $10,000 in cash. Then you must fill out I.R.S. Form 8300. There is nothing wrong with large cash transactions, but the government wants to know about them. And, by the way, you can't spend $5000 today and $6000 tomorrow, for Uncle Sam does not like to be fooled.

Second: There are rules which apply only to bullion and only when you sell. They have nothing to do with your purchases, and do not apply to rare coins. Kilo bars are 32.15 troy ounces of gold and are subject to reporting. We are also required to report any gold bar sale totaling 32.15 ounces are more. Concerning 1 troy oz. gold coin transactions: If you sell 25 coins or more of the Krugerrand, Maple Leaf or Mexican Gold Onza we are required to report them on I.R.S. Form 1099B. Such reporting is not required on transactions involving the U.S. Gold Eagle the Australian Kangaroo or the Austrian Philharmonic. There is also no reporting on any small gold bullion coins.

Third: We are required to report $1000 face 90% silver bags and 1000 ounce silver bar transactions only when you sell to us. We are not asked to report the sale of 40% bags or less than $1000 face in 90% silver coin. The 10 and 1 ounce silver bar is exempt as long as the sale does not exceed 1000 ounces."

Another gold company says, "Totally Private Gold, Non-Reportable - We keep all American Eagle transactions strictly private and do not report your the purchase or sales of American Eagle gold coins to the IRS or any government agency."

I bring these issues in only to point out that the author may not be totally correct in his information and that the reader should study other material. When you start investing in gold or anything, you enter legal areas that can complicate your life. You also meet up with unsavory sorts who tell you numerous lies. I've run into several. So you should know the real truth and not what a few ill-informed people say.

Ruff doesn't really go into what to buy to a large degree. But for the person just getting into gold or silver investing, I recommend this book as a good starting point.