GoldMoney Explained

 This was the brainchild of highly-respected gold watcher James Turk.  Goldmoney was structured with a cast iron guarantee that there will always be 100% gold backing of every unit of currency (called “goldgrams” in this case) in circulation, and they claim that some others do not have the same cast-iron guarantees in their small print.  Whether this is true or not is hard to say, as for an ordinary investor the small-print is difficult to understand, but the discussions and articles available make interesting reading when deciding on the safety of providers you are considering.

Goldmoney, like e-Gold did, also tries to offer the use of Goldmoney as a medium of payment.  This however is not very heavily used right now, and the majority of investors are gold bugs simply buying gold and silver and holding it.

What could appeal to British or EU citizens about Goldmoney is that it is Jersey-based.  You may trust and understand the rules of Jersey more than those of the Caribbean or Panama.  This is not to say that other organisations are unsafe.  A US-citizen may just as easily understand Panama and believe it to be much safer than Jersey.

As time went by, Goldmoney has opened a variety of vaults to cater for the requirements of international buyers, including London, New York, Zurich, Singapore and Hong Kong.

GoldMoney also has a Silver option, and this represents an excellent opportunity for European Union buyers to buy Silver bullion without legally paying any VAT.  More latterly they also introduced the ability to hold the national currencies of Dollars, Pounds or Euros in your Goldmoney account and receive interest on it.  You can then switch your holding between any of the five denominations (including the two metals), as you see fit.

Knowing that it’s the fees that make investors poor and brokers rich, you are probably best off not utilising this feature.  The fees will quickly eat into your returns, and a buy-and-hold strategy is probably best.

Payment into GoldMoney is by bank transfer.  Payment out can be made by direct bank transfer.

One other aspect of GoldMoney worthy of mention is that at one point the terms and conditions said that if your account is not logged into for 12 years the ownership of your gold reverted to Goldmoney.  Okay,  it sounds unlikely, but consider what would happen if you died and never told anybody about your holding or even if you were unable to use the internet for 12 years due to some kind of accident or national crisis.

Overall, a highly respected organisation with the reputation of a known “gold-watcher” behind it.  Even if you don’t buy Goldmoney then there are articles available for free on the website that make interesting reading.

How to Shop Online and Get the Best Prices Delivered to Your Door!

Living in Britain, I'd become used to logging on to the net and ordering whatever I fancied from sites like Amazon, VAT-free and no delivery costs, but two years ago, life took me to Denmark (or rather the missus did!), and boy, was I in for a shock! Get this...a 25% sales tax, or MOMs, as it's called here on everything you buy, including food! Even so, after I'd been here a few months, I naively logged onto Amazon to buy a few English books I fancied. Everything looked fine as I added to my basket, but once at the checkout, the price of all the items more than DOUBLED, simply as a result of where they were being sent to.
So, get this, Amazon is selling the same goods to you, from the same warehouse, but you have to pay twice the price? Why? Well, turns out it isn't Amazons fault at all. You can blame the EU for this one, and this after all those years of cheek we were sold the EU with the excuse that it was going to be a free trade bloc of one big European Nation. Just because your books are going to be delivered to Denmark instead of the UK you have to pay delivery (okay, that one you can cope with) and an extra 25% sales tax. Ha ha, how I laughed as I gave up on my attempted purchase and prepared myself for a life of no reading ever again.
But then I discovered, completely by chance, a rather nifty outfit called Play, who based themselves in a small island off the coast of France, called Jersey that has zero sales tax. Better still, these guys even do free delivery to Denmark, and best of all to buy from them (or anywhere else in the world for that matter), is 100% legal, subject to certain limits. Wow, I was like a pig in.....err excuse me. Anyhow, to say the least I was a very happy man and logging on every other night from thereon buying all of the books I could possibly get my hands on to make up for lost time.
After this I really got into buying a lot of things I wanted elsewhere in the EU, and once you start getting into this buying abroad off the internet lark you'll realise that Amazon is the exception in charging Sales Taxes at the buyers' rate. Most EU based companies will only charge their local rate, 100% legal again. Well, this little bit of info opened up another new horizon! Blimey, I even found a little-used, SECRET way of buying from Amazon and avoiding the Sales tax. 100% LEGAL again, and you can read about it here as I'm happy to give you this secret for free.
Then I started thinking...how many other websites or shopping opportunities are there out there like this? Completely legal opportunities to beat the taxman and keep more of your own money in your own pocket, while buying exactly what you want. Hell, half this stuff isn't even available here! The same probably applies to whatever European country you happen to be living in right now. Am I right?
Now, just think about all those people out there who know nothing about these sites. Maybe this even includes you? You come back from the UK with a holdall full of English books or decent underwear (my partner does!) simply because you think you'll never get the chance to stock up again. Well, forget it! Now you can buy from the comfort of your own home with delivery to your door!
There is now a site of my favourite online shops! These are personally tested and recommended shops with great prices, a fantastic range, and best of all, free or low delivery costs to Denmark and most of the rest of Europe. You can visit it right now at www.expatshop.eu.