Gold As An Investment

Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment. Investors generally buy gold as a hedge or safe haven against any economic, political, social or currency-based crises. These crises include investment market declines, burgeoning national debt, currency failure, inflation, war and social unrest.When you buy gold coins or bars you are purchasing the metal. A futures contract of any kind is an agreement that you will pay the current price at some point in the future, regardless of the price at the time.

We often hear how important it is to properly diversify our investment portfolios. Diversification strengthens our investments — maximizing returns while reducing risk. Since gold is not affected by the same factors that might drive let's say the price of GE stock down, investing in this commodity helps stabilize your portfolio.


Gold stocks are actually stocks in a gold mining company. So when you buy gold stocks, you don't exactly buy gold. Your risks are different with stocks than when you buy gold coins or bars for example, but there are certainly still risks to this gold investment. There is an increasingly wide range of methods available to investors wanting to buy gold, or gain exposure to gold price movements. From gold coins to complex structured financial products, the most appropriate way will depend on the requirements and outlook of the individual investor.

Gold can be bought in various forms and the decision should be based on the reason you need gold. If you see this purely as an investment, you can either buy it in the form of physical gold bars, biscuits and or coins or even in a dematerialized form. With gold an increasingly popular investment in an uncertain economic climate.


Gold should do well in extreme bear markets. Silver more than doubled in value from 1932 to 1936 during the Great Depression (the price of gold was fixed by the government). Investors can buy or sell gold bullion at all hours, as the market for physical gold is global.

Demand is surging. Markets such as India and China, where gold ownership has largely been confined to jewelry, are easing barriers against investing in bullion. Oil-rich nations are beginning to shift reserves from U.S. dollars to the euro, which is bumping up against a record value versus the greenback.



Gold, as a store of value, has been around for thousands of years and still has value today.One major reason investors look to gold as an asset class is because it will always maintain an intrinsic value. Gold will not get lost in an accounting scandal or a market collapse.