Gold is a traditional means of retaining wealth as currencies falter. How to buy gold for investment depends upon a number of factors. Some individuals wish to profit from fluctuations in the price of the raw metal, gold bullion. Others wish to use gold strictly as a hedge against inflation. Investing in rare gold coins is a popular means of benefitting from the economic staying power of gold and the tendency for rare objects to gain in value over time. How to buy gold for investment and profit from the experience is to select one means of investment, study it, and follow the investment, just as one does with a stock or real estate portfolio. Learning how to invest in gold can be an excellent way to balance an investment portfolio against the risks of long term inflation as well as periodic chaos in the equity markets. Beside bullion and rare gold coins there are gold index funds as well as gold mining stocks to consider.
Gold bullion first comes to mind when one asks how to buy gold for investment. Gold bullion is available in high degrees of purity as gold bars and gold bullion coins. These can be purchased through a dealer. Prices follow the spot price of gold bullion on the NYMEX or the London Gold Market. In fact, the London gold fixing is followed internationally as the authoritative gold price. Buyers can purchase gold in lots of ten ounces or more from large dealers and will obtain a better price than if they purchase in amount of an ounce or less. It is common for individuals to purchase individual gold bullion coins from the government mints of the USA, Canada, Australia, and other countries. Individuals receive proof perfect coins in sizes of as little as a tenth of an ounce. While these are attractive they are not how to buy gold for investment in a cost effective manner. Thus, is gold a profitable investment? Only if one keeps the cost of buying and selling to a minimum and only if one buys and sells at the most opportune times during the price swings of gold. One serious matter for serious gold bullion investors is where to put the gold. Many choose to pay for secure storage facilities in order to protect their investment. The problem here is that gold does not give dividends like a dividend stock does and it will cost money to store it in large quantities. These things should be considered by anyone expecting to profit from gold bullion.
How to buy gold for investment and not have hold on to the gold is to buy shares of index funds that track the price of gold. These can be an effective means of profiting from periodic fluctuations in the price of gold bullion. An investor and buy and sell shares just like buying and selling shares of their favorite stock. There is no storage fee and no waiting for shipment. Another means of how to buy gold for investment and avoid storing a lot of heavy gold is to buy certified rare gold coins. There are two services in the USA that certify rare gold coins as to authenticity and grade, which is the state of preservation of the coin. An extremely rare single gold coin can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. A few of these can be placed inside of their certification container in a safety deposit box along with stock certificates and other valuables. How to buy gold for investment and do so most effectively will be ask what are safe investments in gold and how can one profit from gold price changes.