MONEY: What to hold and in what form?

Thursday, October 9, 2025
<<PRICES ARE AS OF 2025-10Oct-03>>
 
In my mind, what form of “gold” should I be buying?  
  • Dollar cost averaging into ₿ at Swan.com has been an easy winner.  
  • GOLDBACKs despite a significant seigniorage  —  now with 1 oz gold spot $3,892.75; then 1000 GOLDBACKS is about $7,820 per ounce equals about 100%  —  makes it unsuitable for holding any significant amount of gold in GOLDBACKs. But one can have extremely small (i.e., ½ GOLDBACK = 1/2000 T Oz. for $3.91 for 0.0005 of an Oz) amount of gold that can’t be replicated in a physical form at any price.  Smallest physical gold product is 1 gram = 0.0176 of an ounce for about 90$ which equates to 15K$ per oz.
  • SILVERBACKs have even a worse ratio.
  • SILVER can be held in 1 ounce rounds or pre-1964 US Coins aka junk silver.  One ounce rounds can be bought at about $50 per oz which is about $2 over the spot price.  Seigniorage is about 4.25%
  • GOLD can be bought in 1 ounce generic rounds for $4,002.85; spot is 3,893.85. Seigniorage is about 2.79%
It’s a hard call because of the high cost barrier to entry.  To be practical, 20 oz of gold (one sleeve) is 80k$ and a sleeve of silver is $1k.
 
Feels like silver is the way to go.
 
YMMV
 
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MONEY: The Federal Reserve has been unable to “provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system”

Thursday, September 25, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates

The Federal Reserve announced a quarter-percentage-point cut in benchmark rates yesterday, bringing the range to between 4% and 4.25%—the lowest level in almost three years. The bank signaled the possibility of two additional cuts this year.

The decision saw the Federal Reserve prioritizing a hiring slowdown over inflation. A sluggish 22,000 jobs were added last month; weekly jobless claims reached their highest level in four years last week. The US has also downwardly revised job growth by 911,000 for the one-year period ending in March. Those concerns trumped sticky inflation, with consumer prices rising 2.9% annually last month.

The bank voted 11-1 in yesterday’s decision, with the only dissenter being newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran, who preferred a half-point cut. Governor Lisa Cook participated in the meeting after an appeals court ruled the White House lacked authority to fire her. The White House plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

*** end quote ***

“Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.” — Milton Friedman

"Paper money eventually returns to it's intrinsic value, zero ...

Why do we have a “Federal Reserve Bank”?

The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians.

Why do we need them to “set” interest rates?

We don’t,  In essence, they are “price fixers”.  And, as we know, no one can know the correct “price” of anything.  The free market allows buyers and sellers to set a price where they are both “satisfied”.  Otherwise, it “win-win” or “no deal”.  

Why is there one “prime rate” of interest?

Because that allows the Gooferment to manipulate the market.  By hiding the “true cost” of money (i.e., the interest rate), buyers and sellers are making decision based on a fiction.  Everyone loses.

Why do we have “inflation”?

Milton Friedman: ‘Inflation is taxation without legislation.’  The FED “prints” money and the market reacts to the change in “the supply of dollars”.  It’s a silent thief that steals wealth from everyone who has an “old dollar” especially the poor, those on fixed incomes, and savers. 

# – # – # – # – #

As gun-owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, the market for money should be free from Gooferment.  The Federal Reserve has been unable to “provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system” which is its intended purpose.  So let’s follow Andrew Jackson’s lead and end the Federal Reserve Bank.

FYI, he was the last President to have zero debt.

Argh!

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MONEY: Why can’t I have cheap gas?

Saturday, September 20, 2025

I can hope!  I remember 25¢ a gallon with full service, trading stamps, glassware, and a clean windshield.  Then Gooferment “counterfeited” more dollars.  That quarter translates to $5 today. Argh! 

———- Forwarded message ————

From: New Jersey 101.5 <nj1015@trenton.mail.townsquarenewsletters.com>

Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 6:31 AM

Subject: The truth about NJ gas prices

 New Jersey top news… View in browser Don’t expect $2 gas in New Jersey — expert calls it ‘a fantasy’Gas prices in New Jersey have jumped 11 cents since Labor Day, driven by rising oil costs and refinery maintenance with hopes for lower prices as winter blends roll out.

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MONEY: Walmart and Amazon are going to “mint” Stablecoins

Thursday, June 19, 2025

https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/walmart-amazon-stablecoin-07de2fdd?st=Uj2rA8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink&utm_source=tldrnewsletter

Walmart and Amazon Are Exploring Issuing Their Own Stablecoins

  • Corporate coins could take payments activity away from banks and the traditional financial system

By Gina Heeb, AnnaMaria Andriotis, Josh Dawsey
Updated June 13, 2025 4:51 pm ET

# – # – # – # – # 

FROM TLDR 2025-06-16

*** begin quote ***

Walmart and Amazon Are Exploring Issuing Their Own Stablecoins

Several multinational giants, including Walmart and Amazon, are discussing potential efforts to issue stablecoins. Whether these initiatives will go ahead depends on a bill still yet to clear the Senate and House called the Genius Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins could allow merchants to bypass traditional payment rails, which cost them billions of dollars in fees each year. A regulatory framework for stablecoins would enable an alternative payment type for merchants that could significantly lower their expenses and create competition against Visa and Mastercard. 

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

To me this is BIG (<synonym for the act of procreation in real time>) deal.

I never understood why Walmart was allowed to establish its own bank.  The politicians and bureaucrats are always whining about the “poor unbanked”.  But Walmart could solve that problem quickly, cheaply, and easily.  So could Amazon.

Stablecoins by either of them could serve the same purpose as a bank without the regulatory hassle.

Let’s wait and see.  Competition in the “traditional financial system” for JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Visa, and Mastercard could certainly be good for the consumers.

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MONEY: ZELLE’s use case doesn’t fit me at all

Monday, June 9, 2025

https://www.zellepay.com/

What’s Zelle®?

Zelle® is a great way to send money to friends and family, even if they bank somewhere different than you do1. That means it’s super easy to get paid back, or split the costs of things like dinner. With Zelle®, the money goes directly into your bank account. And when money goes into your bank account directly, you can live delightfully. Zelle® is already in lots of banking apps, so look for it in yours today.

# – # – # – # – # 

So, it all works great  —  sort of — if you have one bank, one cell phone, and one email account.

What happens when you have Bank#1, Bank#2, Bank#3, and one cell phone?

Chaos!

I’ve had to enroll in Zelle three times.  Bank#1 and email#1, Bank#2 and email#2, and Bank#3 and email#3. Good luck keeping that all straight.

Argh!

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MONEY: A surveillance masquerading as currency?

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

https://www.theadvocates.org/beware-the-ecb-digital-currency-is-coming/https://www.theadvocates.org/beware-the-ecb-digital-currency-is-coming/

Beware: The ECB Digital Currency Is Coming
By Daniel Lacalle
Published in Economics – 5 mins – Apr 25

*** begin quote ***

The digital euro, which Lagarde described in 2022 as “a digital banknote with a little less anonymity than the paper banknote because it is issued and guaranteed by the central bank,” is an unnecessary and dangerous tool.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have been gaining attention as the technology of the future for monetary systems, but beneath their promise of efficiency and innovation lies a more pessimistic reality: they can serve as tools for surveillance, eroding personal privacy and financial freedom.

In the European Union, where limits to freedom of expression and the cancellation of elections are already a concern, a CBDC can be seen as surveillance masquerading as currency.

*** end quote ***

From the people who made the stereotype Nazi “Vere Is UR Pa-pers!”, they want to know and control the every actions of the people under their thumb.

Even the movies made a issue of it.

https://www.artofmanliness.com/odds-ends/odds-ends-april-25-2025/

*** begin quote ***

… … movies from our teenage years: Swing Kids. Set in pre-WWII Hamburg, it follows a group of German youth who rebel against Nazi conformity through their passion for forbidden American swing music.

*** end quote ***

Coming soon to a country near you?

Argh!

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MONEY: Nagging everyone about “three silver dimes” again and agian

Friday, April 11, 2025

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2025/04/05/gold-price-forecasts-inching-toward-4000/

Gold Price Forecasts Inching Toward $4,000
Guest Post by Peter Reagan

*** begin quote ***

Already off to a breathtaking start this year, gold’s price continues to climb. Amid fears of a trade war and the global dedollarization drive, here’s how much higher analysts think it will go…

  •     $4,000 gold hints from big institutions are here
  •     Why faith in the U.S. dollar is going on all sides
  •     Gold vs the greenback: who will win?
  •     Bosnia’s central bank now owns the most gold it has since year of establishment

Gold’s unpredictable trend toward $4,000

Axel Merk, CEO of Merk Investments, said a lot in a recent (brief) segment on the relationship between the price of gold and the U.S. dollar.

Merk says we are now seeing perhaps the biggest shift since the end of World War II, one where the U.S. will no longer be the world’s police force. (The turning point was the invasion of Ukraine, when the greatest weapon in our economic arsenal, weaponizing the dollar against Russia, failed spectacularly.)

*** end quote ***

​A silver quarter is worth $6!!! (That’s 24 times face value.)

So my three silver dimes for a 70’s gallon of gas is ~$7.20 today or ~2½ gallons of much “better” gas.

Minimum wage was 5 quarters in the 70’s so that means it’s 30$ in today’s “valueless” money.

When do “We, The Sheeple” wake up?

I’ve been on this since 2009!

Just to refresh your memory:

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2014/07/07/money-those-same-three-silver-dimes/

*** and ***

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2023/02/17/goldbug-when-priced-in-gold-beer-was-3-a-litre-in-301ad/

*** and ***

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2009/10/20/money-dont-save-your-wealth-in-fiat-money/

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MONEY: ₿itcoin as opposed to 529?

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-01/bitcoin-btc-college-savings-plan-parents-ditch-529-funds-for-crypto?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Parents Ditch 529 Plans and Embrace Bitcoin for College Savings

  • Despite the risks and volatility, some families are investing in cryptocurrency to build wealth for their children. 

By Charlie Wells and Claire Ballentine
February 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM EST

*** begin quote ***

Most parents typically worry about funding 529 college savings plans, brokerage accounts or high-yield savings vehicles for their kids. Now, a subset are eschewing the old ways, pushing instead to pile up enough Bitcoin to help their children in the years ahead.

Some say it’s because stock gains aren’t good enough. Others view it as reasonable diversification. Plenty are true believers — convinced that, despite a more than 500% gain since the depths of the last “crypto winter,” Bitcoin’s climb has only just begun. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time in December, having changed hands for less than $16,000 in November 2022.

Still, these parents argue their children have long enough time horizons to stomach Bitcoin’s intense volatility.

*** end quote ***

Anytime I blog on financial topics, I always disclose faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?) and I have no hidden interests.  I am willing to buy and sell ₿, goldbacks, and bullion.

Before jumping into this topic, you must be absolutely sure that you won’t lose the keys to the kingdom.  Your wallet should be backed up and secure.  

And, remember you may not be around to extract the value.  Everyone dies  —  sooner or later.  Remember the guy in the UK who threw away his back up hard drive with his ₿itcoin keys on it.  Millions of dollars in a landfill.

It also should NOT be an exchange wallet since “not your keys; not your coins”.

So you are going to have to have a young person to understand and hold keys.

A hardware walled that multi signature is essential.

Remember the Ukrainian tech guy who escaped Ukraine with nothing but his clothes and his twelve word pass phrase?

YMMV

That being said: (1) ₿ is an inflation proof asset; (2) it avoids the Gooferment; and (3) might be a hidden “lottery ticket”.

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MONEY: What about “where’s george” and political messages in the margins or stamped

Friday, November 22, 2024

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/dollar-bill-wont-be-accepted/8835/

This dollar bill won’t be accepted as of November: This will happen if you try to pay with it
by Sarah I.
11/20/2024

*** begin quote ***

Dollar bills have consistently gone through updates to increase security. As of October this year, new parameters were introduced stipulating what cash will be accepted at major retailors, banks, and ATMS. As we head into the final month of November and families begin preparing for the upcoming festive season, you may need to ensure that your cash is up to scratch with new standards set by the U.S. government.

*** and ***

As we enter into the final few weeks of 2024, certain dollar bills will no longer be accepted. These new regulations are tightening stricter measures with regards to damaged bills. Walmart, Target, and Dollar Tree have already begun implementing these new measures. The following damage to cash will not be accepted or exchanged at major retailers, banks, and ATMS:

  •     Mutilated banks notes with tears or missing corners
  •     Bills which have become significantly distorted or damaged where it become difficult to determine their authenticity. This could be from through water damage or from being burnt as an example.

*** and ***

If you find yourself with a mutilated bill which will not be accepted or exchanged, you will need to contact the Bureau of Engraving and Printing directly. From there, you will need to file a mutilated currency claim. “The BEP will evaluate the note. They have special tools to examine the authenticity and assess the full value of the note. After they do that, they can issue a check back to the consumer,” a Fed currency representative explains.

*** end quote ***

Well, what happens to those bills with political messages stamped on them or written along the edge?

Will those be declared “mutilated”?

That’ll be “yet another way” “they” take away or First Amendment rights.

What happened to only gold and silver would be money?

 

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MONEY: Why are “savings” taxed at all?

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

https://www.cato.org/blog/penalty-american-savers-how-usas-fix-it

September 26, 2024 9:44AM
The Penalty on American Savers and How USAs Fix It
By Adam N. Michel and Joshua Loucks

*** begin quote ***

For many young and low-income Americans, the limits discourage them from using the accounts at all. Americans who use these accounts and then have to access their money early for a family emergency or job loss face new layers of taxes. Many low-income workers are automatically enrolled in these programs by their employers, following government incentives or mandates.

Money deposited in qualified accounts cannot be used flexibly based on an individual’s or their family’s immediate needs. If someone cannot confidently commit to leaving their savings untouched until the government-designated time, it may be wiser for them to avoid using a qualified account altogether.

IRS data show that for the lowest-income taxpayers, penalties for improper use of retirement savings make up a significant portion of their tax liability. Using an average from tax years 2017–2019, Figure 1 shows that 43 percent of all taxes paid by taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) below $5,000 went to penalties for accessing their own money. About 19 percent of income taxes paid by taxpayers with AGI less than $25,000 went to penalties on qualified accounts.

*** end quote ***

Why not let Walmart offer “banking services”?  Why not allow Credit Unions offer tax free savings?  Why aren’t Treasuries (i.e., Bills, Notes, Bonds) tax free like Municipal Bonds?

It doesn’t take a degree in Economics to figure out that America has a “savings problem”.  “We, The Sheeple”, responding to incentives, is deeply in debt.  No taxes on debt; taxes galore on any kind of savings/

Argh!

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