The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets

The title and subtitle of this book really should be swapped. However, the choice is understandable - gold has a stigma unmatched by any other investment. Gold has been a money pit for longer than most people can remember. If you want a definition of a bear market, look at the price of gold over the last 25 years. As such, there has not been one single good book on investing in gold. Until now. The book is in two parts. The first part makes the case for a weaker US dollar. Although Mr. Turk and Mr. Rubino hit all the important points, it is far from thorough. Those who do not know that the US dollar has been declining for four years will be in for quite a shock in these chapters as this information has been glossed over by every major financial publication in the US. Those who do know and understand why will want to skip forward or read Richard Duncan's "The Dollar Crisis" which is much more thorough but also much more dry. The natural hedge against a declining US dollar is gold. This leads to the second part which is far more valuable. They thoroughly discuss all possible ways to invest in gold and its cousins. This is not a theoretical treatise. For example, the authors describe how to buy gold and even name places where you can go to buy gold. They cover gold stocks, both big and small, naming specific companies. They even cover a new breed of options for gold stocks. Model portfolios are provided. Websites for gold related news are cited. Gold related newsletters are listed. No other book that I know of provides this type of specificity and thoroughness. Controversially, Mr. Turk and Mr. Rubino see no problem in putting 100% of your assets in gold and gold related investments. In fact, they make the argument that anything other than gold is imprudent. It should be noted that even those who agree with their premise will dispute this assertion. But as I mentioned, the subtitle of the book is the more appropriate title - this is a book about gold, plain and simple. One may not agree with the authors' narrow recommendation, but this book still provides an excellent guide to the portion of your assets that you do choose to invest in gold. This is a timely and unique book.

I bought the book before it first published. I am fully convinced that twin deficits in America will drive down the dollar. Follow through the idea, I have a fruitful 2005 and can see 2006 will do the same for precious metal. With the interest cycle ending, more paper money will be printed. And I do not see goverment spending to slow either. For people do not believe dollar's dominent position is challenged, please read "The world is flat". The globalization is driving the manufacturing industry to cheap labor countries. Until dollar devalued to the level that America can compete, there is no ending on dollar devaluation and precious metal appreciating. Ok, here is the book review: The book provides sound reasons why gold will rise. The investment methodologies are simple. I personally do not believe digital money is better alternatives than physically hold the gold. The book also highlighted the government seize the gold in 1930's and saying it will happen again. With so much money flooded the financial market like mutual fund and especially in 401k, I do not believe government needs to repeat the gold seizure. Simple dollar devaluation will do the trick to whipe out the national debts and of course, people's savings and retirements. This is a must read book for people need to have insurances against dollar devaluations and global catastrophic events.

First, it should be noted that the author sells gold. That said, this book is not a promotion for his business entities. But he does have a vested interest in seeing that gold is sold --- especially physical gold. The author gives a very riveting history of gold, which explains why the handsome metal is so important and why it is not related to any stock or bond or currency. The author predicts the housing problems we now have --- to a large extent. Remember, this book was written in 2004, well before our current crises. He does a superb job of looking into the future. In addition, he predicts, correctly, the spurt that gold will take in the "near future" and that future is here. He suggests how much gold to buy and what kind to buy. This is very useful because there are a ton of options out there. Believe me! You can get all confused. And dealers are of little help in that they're trying to make as much money as they can. You need to be careful in who you buy gold from and learn to ask lots of questions before you buy. Determine first why you want to own gold and then make your purchases based on that. This is a very useful book and the historical value alone is worth reading. But, if you're thinking of investing in gold, you should read this book. It does offer advice in other areas. But very little. I was slightly disappointed that more advice wasn't given in other areas but, since the author is a specialist in gold, that should be expected. He also explains that investing in Gold ETFs is not the same as physical gold. For example, when you sell in a year, you pay 28% tax! With physical gold, this is not the case. To that, I would add that if a national emergency happens (such as happened 9/11) the exchanges will close and you can't sell anything on paper. You could, however, sell or use physical gold. Here is some useful information on this subject from [...] "In the last two months, the largest bullion ETF netted $[...] million in new assets, bringing the total to $7.8 billion at the end of July, according to State Street Global Advisors, the firm that runs the fund. But those eager investors may have a less-than-enthusiastic response to future tax bills if they haven't been reading the ETF's prospectus carefully. That's because unlike stocks, which receive a maximum 15% tax rate on long-term gains, profits from trading bullion (bars or coins made of gold) are treated as "collectibles" by the Internal Revenue Service and get taxed at almost double the rate. And although the GLD trades like a stock, it gets caught in the tax trap because it is backed up by holdings of gold bars, along with gold coins such as the American Eagle and the internationally popular South African krugerrand. "If we are talking about collectibles, that's a maximum 28% tax rate," says Steven Melnik, director of graduate tax programs at City University of New York's Baruch College. "An unsophisticated investor could easily get lost in the shuffle, as they often do." He notes that short-term gains, which are generated from assets held less than a year, are taxed as ordinary income. Even some professionals actively involved in the bullion market aren't familiar with this aspect of the tax code." Finally, I appreciated the part where he explains that buying pre-1933 gold coins may or may not be the best route for most investors in gold. He tells us that when Roosevelt called in the gold in that year, only a tiny percentage of the gold was actually returned to the government vaults and banks. In other words, people kept their gold. (Good for them!) Just something you might consider. Gold coins with low premiums include the American Gold Eagle, the South African Krugerrand and a few others. Lots of great information here. Highly recommended.

An excellent analysis of how the current Central Banking cartel has completely destroyed the economic system and pushed everyone in to debt serfdom and war. A must read if you really wish to come out intact from the coming financial reset. Moreover, it has practical suggestions on how to invest in bullion ans its storage etc. A must read for the average Joe who wants to understand the cause of the dollar crisis and what actions to take to protect his wealth, without getting too technical.

Other reviews here cover the book's content very well, so I don't need to go over it again. What i would do is urge everyone to read this even if you are generally sceptical of (supposed) doom and gloom financial texts (this book actually offers very practical positive solutions and strategies). This is a very well written, readable, well argued and constructive book covering one particular view of the future outcome for the US dollar which will affect us all. To date, it has been amazingly prescient and it's not over yet. Whether you agree with it or not, you should at least read it to challenge your faith in the current financial system's sustainability. I personally find that, so infrequent, or rather underreported (it's not in many peoples vested interest), are other examples of these types of crises, many are prepared to stay in their status quo bubble and believe that what's existed for decades will still be there tomorrow and forever more. This book gives a lot of historical examples and reasons for why you should question that ASAP.

Excellent book with a general prescription of how to minimize its impact.

Very interesting book which was written back in 2007 just befor the 2008 recession and man they were right and thats one reason why i think what they predict for the future is going to be right also. Very useful But i don't believe in the paper gold and silver investing part because it's common sense that if you don't hold it you don't own it.

I really enjoyed this book. The authors stick to the facts and present some disturbing conclusions about the state of the world economy and how Gold has always stood in the background as the world's reserve currency. The book is a bit short overall, but in some ways it is a blessing that they did not bulk it out with unnecessary padding like so many other financial books seem to do. I also recommend "How to Invest in Gold and Silver" by A Dunwiddie, and "Empire of Debt" by Bill Bonner.