Nowadays, many people buy gold as an investment. Here we will have a detailed introduction for how to buy gold.
The first question we need to figure out is why we should buy gold. As people with investments know, there is a possibility that all of our assets will lose value. Hence, investment diversification is important. Buying gold is one of the ways to diversify your portfolio. Generally, gold is regarded as a safe kind of asset since it has had value in some form for millennia. People who are less confident in paper currency and the stock market may be more interested in the safety of gold. What’s more, the supply of gold is unlikely to fluctuate over a short period since the process of finding and extracting gold is long. But everyone should keep in mind that gold won’t earn you any kind of lucrative return. The price of gold can move up and down like any asset. Gold should be a part of your investment plan, not the whole thing.
The second question about gold is how to buy it. The first step of buying gold is to decide what kind of gold you want to buy. Do you want to buy scrap gold like old jewelry? Or are you interested in purchasing gold bullion? If the answer is yes, are you looking for coins or bars? Or, maybe gold features and a gold exchange-traded fund are what you are interested in. Selecting the type of gold can be very important since different products have different purchasing processes. If gold bullion is your option and you have already decided the size of gold coin or bar, then you need to find a seller. You can buy American Eagle bullion coins from gold dealers, brokerage houses, and some banks on the list of Authorized Purchases issued by the U.S. Mint. After purchasing gold, the next thing you need to do is decide how to store it. The decision is very crucial because your gold will be of no use to you if it’s stolen. You may put your gold bullion in safety deposit boxes or home safes.
However, buying bullion can make you lose a bit of liquidity since you will physically need to retrieve your gold and sell it to someone for cash. Hence, if you want more safety and liquidity, you can invest in a gold exchange-traded fund.
Investing in a gold exchange-traded fund means that you can purchase shares of a fund that will then purchase gold bullion. In this way, you never own the gold, but the buying and selling process is greatly streamlined.
Bullion or a gold exchange-traded fund, which one to choose? It’s totally up to you. If you want to see and hold the gold for yourself, then the former one may suit you better. But if you prefer moving your assets from gold to something else with ease, then choose the latter one.
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