Consider the following tale.

You are on a romantic cruise in the Caribbean with your wife of 40 years.  For the past year you had been saving up your money to be able to present her with a very special anniversary gift.

Half way through the Cruise, on the night of your anniversary, the cruise ship anchored off the Island of Martinique, at the dinner table, the time is right for you to hand her this exquisite gift.

Slightly nervous yourself, you reach into your pocket to present your wife with this perfect, up until now, secret gift, and you notice another couple, about the same age as you and your wife involved in a similar ritual but this gentleman is already handing the gift to his wife when...

Just as the wife is about to take the gift, a man dressed in partial scuba gear steps in between them and snatches the box and promptly walks away as though this is perfectly normal behavior.

In the few seconds that it takes the husband to realize what has happened, the interloper is gone, and not to be found.
Instinctively, you put your tiny, yet extremely valuable, secret parcel, back in your dinner jacket.

Later that evening, when you are back in your honeymoon cabin, safe from the outside world, you have overcome your fears, thinking what you had seen was an isolated incident, that could never happen to you,  so you take out your wife´s gift again, and begin to hand it to her.  Her eyes light up as she has been waiting for this moment, wondering why you have taken so long when...

An urgent knocking on the cabin door disturbs your mutual bliss.

Your first thought is that it is the champagne and caviar you had planned, but why the urgent pounding on the door?
  Before you can open the door, the door is jimmied and opens for you, and two men in partial scuba gear carrying spear guns enter the room, and snatch the gift out of your hands.

Furthermore, one of the divers cuffs your hands with plastic ties and they take you away for questioning, as they want to know more about any other secrets you may have been keeping.

Your wife is left alone in the cabin, in shock, and momentarily not sure what to do next.  She finally runs out of the cabin and makes it to the safety rail of the ship only to see the high powered cigar-shaped speed boat zip away into the dark.  She sees you, soaking wet, staring wide-eyed back at the cruise ship as you are whisked away into the night.

This in a way, reminds me of certain executive orders that allow governments to legally abscond with the hard earned assets of law-abiding families all over the world.

Did you also know that it is illegal to own gold in many countries without reporting it to the government?  It is true!
*There is a way you can own pure precious metals, in a way that makes it non reportable and not even considered as a precious metal at all.  More on this later in the article.

I do not think that anyone knows whether there will actually be another government precious metal grab like in the past, but I do know, that just about anything is possible these days.

It is also true that there is now a new class of metals that you can own, legally and privately, that have outperformed gold over the last few years.

A New Asset Class

This asset class of metals, like precious metals, can replace your vulnerable digital or paper currency and capital market investments or retirement plans.  It works just like precious metals but without the inherent risks of speculation, manipulation and confiscation.

These are the metals used in 80% of all products today.  From clothing to your automobile, and everything in between.  National Geographic in a 2011 article referred to them as"  The Secret Ingredient of almost Everything".

They are as important to any industry as water and air is to humans.

To see a short video on how the world will look like without these metals, please click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXawf9OBOyw

They are called technical metals, industrial metals, rare metals, and we think more accurately, strategic metals.  Why strategic?  Because they are essential to the start up and completion of strategic economic plans for countries and corporations, in the present and for years into the future.

Gallium, hafnium, indium, tantalum, tellurium, rhenium, molybdenum, to name just a few.

These metals are not household names but they are a part of almost everything in and around your house.  They are part of flat screens, tablets, smart phones, medicine, clothing, computers, kitchen appliances and cutlery, leather, energy production, furniture, home construction, and the list goes on and on.

To see a video showing some of these metals and what they are used for, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZAtqjDReCs

Currently, there is a worldwide shortage of many of these strategic metals as industrial powers around the world scramble for whatever they can get their hands on to meet their strategic economic and even military plan goals.

Since 2005, China has been placing increasingly stringent limits on exports, citing demand from its own burgeoning manufacturing industries.

Before we go into more details about rare and strategic metals and the supply and demand issues driving up the values of the metals, let’s back up for a moment and think about some more reasons why you should consider physical ownership of valuable metals.

Regardless of whether the government prevents the impending fiscal cliff situation from occurring, you can bet that even a compromise will significantly reduce your accumulated wealth.  This, to go along with the fact that hard working citizens like yourself have already seen their retirement plans lose as much as 30% of their value, and they are still 5% below peak 2007 levels.  Yes, stocks have generally been rising as of late but only because of the creation of digital dollars and intervention from the Fed.  There is also a fear of a “forced” government exchange to change parts of your retirement savings into government bonds to help pay for failing social programs.

Statistics show that 9 out of 10 commodities traders lose money and that holding on to cash can be even worse.  Every year the US and Canadian dollar and other fiat currencies lose value.  I am not talking about one currency compared to another.  Rather, I am talking about the actual purchasing power of all currencies.  It has been falling faster every year. In the US, it took 18 years between 1984 and 2002 to drop 35%.  From 2002 to 2007 it dropped another 40%.  The rate of declining value is increasing.  In 1957 a gallon of milk cost 57c.  Today it costs about $4.

If you have been following what is going on in the past few years, and you have the means, then you probably already own physical precious metals in one form or another.  Other than that, you have had no choice but to hold on to your retirement funds and watch them dwindle in value or put your future in cash and watch it fade away thru inflation.

Now you have another option.

The rare and strategic metal opportunity accounts for 5% of the world´s economy. Yes, the world´s economy! It is responsible for $4.6 trillion in commerce each year.  Still, most people have never heard of it!

Here are some cold hard facts that are driving up the values of these metals now and in the future and reasons why, if you have the opportunity, you should physically own these rare and strategic metals rather than gamble on mining stocks or mining ventures with your hard earned cash:

Rare Metals in the Age of Technology

- Rare Metal (metallurgy) Metal that is difficult to extract from ore and is rare and expensive commercially.  Most accessible areas and reasonable depths have been explored, leaving the undiscovered deposits likely in inaccessible areas, under the seas or poles.

- Our technological society is totally dependent on these byproduct metals.  80% of all products today contain these metals.

- We may have already reached the technical limits of our ability to recover metals economically.

- China which currently controls 90% of exports for these metals, by 2014, will need to import them from remaining sources just to meet their own manufacturing and industrial needs.

- The probability of success for 95% of the new mining ventures in rare earth metals is zero.

With millions of people emerging from poverty outside of western civilization in places like India and China and Latin America in the next few years, there is an incredible amount of demand ahead for metals that are already in a tight supply and demand situation.

This a perfect storm for people looking to protect themselves against capital market downturns and inflation.

The Reason?

Only small trace amounts of these valuable metals are used in all the products that this new emerging lower and middle class will be looking to buy.  So, in this way, manufacturing has not, and will not need to raise the prices on things like cell phones and flat screens or computers as the metals go up in value.  They will simply absorb the increased cost of the metals in their margins, rather than raise the prices of products.  This keeps demand high.

It is important to note that if a person has a small income they may buy a used car or take the bus, buy clothes in discount shops, go to public health care, buy Chinese knock-off mobile phones.

A middle income person, might buy a new Toyota, buy clothes in normal retails shops, use a Samsung or Nokia or Apple I Phone,  and if needed choose a private doctor.

If you are relatively wealthy, you may buy an expensive high-performance car, or own a yacht or private jet, wear expensive clothing from elite designers and have a number of doctors and specialists preventative medicine clinics taking care of your health.

Regardless of your quality of life, the same metals in relatively the same amounts are used in the all the products and services, regardless of the quality of the products or services.

Furthermore, rare and strategic metals production, within a few hundred tons per year cannot be significantly increased, to say, flood the market with any of these metals as mentioned above in the Rare Metals in the Age of Technology excerpt. This keeps supply constant and inherently low against demand, driving up the metal values.

This is not good news per say, if you are a country or corporation trying to get a good deal on acquiring these metals for production, but, it is good news if you are one of the fortunate people participating in the creation of private, rare and strategic metal stockpiles outside of China, as in a few short years, these stockpiles will be some of just a few that will be able to make these metals available to the highest bidder.

Why Owning Rare Metals and Storing them Offshore is a Brilliant Strategy

As someone concerned about future financial stability, you may have considered offshore investing. Even the wealthiest are becoming more and more worried about protecting their investments and wealth under governments that are going further into debt every single day.  Protecting your future and that of your family is one of your biggest concerns, so how can you ensure that your investments and assets are protected, and won’t be worthless a decade from now due to inflation and/or other factors?

Ownership of precious, rare and strategic metals is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure your financial future. Storing them offshore is one of the smartest decisions you will make.  Unfortunately, the term “offshore investing” strikes many individuals as something almost illegal, not quite above board.  While the media does tend to paint a shade, dark picture of it, the fact is the majority of these investments are perfectly legal, and the advantages over investing in the U.S. many.

If you’re reading this, chances are you are approaching retirement or simply giving it some thought if it’s still a few years away.  Can you trust the government? It’s hard to know for certain just what your future holds, even when you have sound investments and are fairly well off.

Purchasing rare and strategic metals and storing them offshore is a way to build your assets and wealth in a way that is private and protected.  The government has their fingers in every other aspect of your life; through offshore investing, you will enjoy a safe alternative to the risk of main stream investing.

The fact is, there are numerous advantages in owning precious and rare or strategic metals in an offshore “safe harbor,” so to speak.  When you purchase strategic metals, you are not investing in paper backed securities, but valuable rare metals which are fully vested with you once purchased, and that will continue to increase in value year after year.  Why not “stockpile” the most valuable assets in the world, something that has shown historically to rarely decrease in value, to ensure the financial security of your future?

Owning physical commodities is the best way to protect yourself from inflation, because if inflation goes up, so does the market value of the commodities.  You are also not tied to a specific currency anymore.

*If you like precious metals, and want to own them in the only safe and secure way, physically allocated and segregated, but want it to be safe from reporting and possible confiscation, you can own them in granulated form.  All precious metals start out this way before they are sold to industry or coin and bullion or jewelry manufacturers.  In this form it is not technically considered  a precious metal at all, it is classified as just another industrial metal.

What is the purpose of offshore investing? Simply stated, your assets are protected, you can invest privately and enjoy the confidence of knowing you will never “lose your butt” when the market takes a nose dive again, and your wealth will never be eaten away by domestic taxes as is the case with many other types of investments.

Those who are looking for medium to long term opportunities that offer growth potential and want to expand their portfolios in terms of the actual assets in them, and add geographical diversification  in order to enjoy a fulfilling retirement, should consider offshore investing with rare and strategic and precious metals in private, safe, fully insured vault facilities. This is one way (and perhaps the only real way) to ensure that you are financially comfortable in the years to come.