Buying physical gold (bars) for long term savings?

It's like any other commodity You can make or lose money.

I think silver is good also(probably safer) .

That's what a good broker is for

Sure you could do this, but understand that there are some downsides to think about. Storage fees are one. Additionally, you are going to have to pay to get the gold sent to you etc. Then there is the issue of selling it one day. You are going to have to prove that the gold is real and then try to find someone that wants to buy it from you. It would be a lot easier to just buy an ETF gold fund. That way you don't have to worry about any of these issues. The price of the ETF will rise/fall with the value of gold, just like your gold bars.

there are worse ays to invest, but buying sblue-chip stocks in a consistent manner would probably be a better return overall. besides, safe deposit rental fees can add up over 30 years.

I used to do various kinds of precious metals but now do krugerrands and silver eagles exclusively.

If you've been bitten by the gold bug, & have become interested in buying gold and putting it in a safe deposit box and slowly adding to it, year after year, then obviously you haven't really thought it through very thoroughly, or bothered to research what gold prices have done "over the longer term"....

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/images/600ye...

Gold does not "do" anything to generate value; http://pragcap.com/warren-buffett-why-gold-is-a-lo...

http://pragcap.com/warren-buffett-why-gold-is-a-lo...

Why not? Check price and availibility of safe deposit. Otherwise keep it under the floorboards or somewhere safe. Criminals will target your house if they get to know you have large stash of gold so keep it quiet.

Most people would go for gold, i recommend silver because everyone is looking for gold so people with silver can make more