I am looking for anyone that can guide me based on there own personal experience or the experience they've heard from others.

I live in the US and am considering using e-gold as it appears to be very fast to fund and withdraw funds from overseas brokers. However, I would like to know any gotchas or things to be aware of.

1. Is it safer to do a bank wire transfer?
2. Is it more costly to a bank transfer vs. e-gold?
3. What kind of administrative charges are there with e-gold that I might avoid by doing a bank transfer?
4. Are the charges that I might experience so small that it's worth the time I save waiting for the broker to receive the transfer and also the time to wait for withdrawing?
5. What about when the price of gold flutuates. If it drops like a rock, do I lose a bunch of money?

I can also ask these same questions to e-gold, but I like to ask people that have used them first. I am looking at opening with North Finance. The IB from NF said the service interruption was the first they've experienced in years and they are addressing the problem.