What denomination do you think is the best to hold savings in? To spread the risk, given $100, how will you split it between a basket of currencies?
The main risks I believe are: inflation, national debt, hyperinflation to pay off said debt, political instability and how easy it is to get the money out now and in the future (i.e. no history of currency controls). Also the stability of the currency with respect to changing to/from other currencies, including NT$, and the economic prospects of the country should be considered.
are you worried about war and needing to escape? if so, USD is probably the go to for bribes getting out. wont be cheap given how rich taiwanese are so bring loads of 100s and maybe some 20s.
If things go real bad, gold coins in smaller denominations seem more logical. Minted in a trustworthy country with excellent reputation.
Would recommend trying to set up Line Pay and Jiekou and getting one of those compatible local credit cards. It will be annoying to get a good Cashback card as a foreigner but of you can, it will lead to 2-3% cashback and not requiring cash in convenience stores and quite a few local shops.
Gold. It’s light. You can buy it at spot value. It’s easy to conceal. You don’t have to be worried about banks failing or the swift system collapsing. An ounce of gold is 28g and worth over $1700 right now.
Silver. Much the same but you need larger quantities.
Special edition minted coins. You can also get these in gold or combinations. They usually cost spot price with some mark up and retain their value. Lots of countries around the world have specially minted coin programs.
Art but at lower levels it’s purely speculative. To buy into that stuff you need to follow university art programs and get stuff from younger people at galleries while hoping it will increase in value. Or follow dads and hope to get something from someone that becomes the next big thing (even if only for a minute).
Precious metals and gems/stones. Obvious really.
I agree precious metals are a great store of value.
A couple of gold coins on you are OK when you travel. Start carrying a bag of it and questions start getting asked at airports.
If you store them in any significant quantity somewhere, it needs to be secure storage, and if you move countries, you can’t take any more than a few coins at once.
Also I believe Taiwan has some gold export controls.
Depends on the country. There are numerous options available for import permits. Certain countries allow you to enter with gold bullion (of which coins or bars usually qualify under) that have zero limits unless they suspect you’ll make jewelry out of it (then taxes are applied). Gold and silver usually falls outside of currency entry restrictions as well. And even with currency exit/entry restrictions there are forms that can be filled out in advance that allow you to take more than the standard maximum (although explanation is usually required).
In any case it’s much simpler to to use a cashiers cheque to take your money with you in one hit. Bonds can also be good value although not recommended in the current economic environment. Interest rates might be rising because of inflationary pressures however they’re external inflationary pressures due to war and resource restrictions rather than demand driven. This means those interest rate increases will have zero or next to zero impact to the inflation that is happening.
The good thing about bonds is that they’re guaranteed to be replaced. If you have savings in a bank and the bank collapses you’re only insured for a relatively small amount.
Problem with diamonds is that their price is based on the cartels keeping supply artificially low in relation to demand.
There are already synthetic processes to make diamond, which means that their prices may one day fall if someone decides to make diamonds en masse without disclosing they are synthetic.
There was a time when aluminium metal more expensive than gold in the 19th century. This changed after an inexpensive way to make aluminium was discovered.
There’s a (possibly apocryphal) story about some 19th-century lord or baron who had a fancy dinner service made of aluminium to impress his guests. When the boffins discovered the electrolytic process he must have been like
Imagine spending a crapload of money on something like that and then finding out that you basically bought prison flatware.
That is true, but in some places like Japan land remains cheap (compared to Taiwan), and in some places in the USA and EU some for almost free if live and take care or fix the house.
