We who understand that gold and silver are money have all probably used the concept of gold and silver as wealth insurance to help explain to others why they should own some. I personally have used this concept to explain to neophytes for decades. Something that just occurred to me is a distinction that I probably have used in some of those discussions but more often only as an implication and not usually as a specific feature. When you use the argument comparing all other forms of insurance to protect from loss of life, a fire, a car accident or need for healthcare, one understands that you pay a premium for that protection  but that is a cost that is not recovered and one incurred annually to maintain that protection. Wealth insurance, in the form of gold and silver, has no premium cost. Since your premium is in the form of actual real money, you not only don’t incur a cost, you actually have an asset that is appreciating over time. Even whole life insurance that puts a small portion of your premium into accumulated savings doesn’t recover the full value of your premiums, especially when considering the constant decline in value the purchasing power of those dollars your accumulated savings represent. So the next time you explain to someone why they should have gold and silver as wealth insurance, be sure to stress that it is the only insurance where in fact, there are no premiums, and the insurance pays them a premium, instead of the other way around.