The Most Efficient Way to Buy Gold
If you want to add gold to your investment portfolio, physical bullion may be the way to do it. This includes coins, bars and jewelry with high levels of purity that has a government minted mark.
Avoid overpaying by calculating the unit cost (gram or ounce), then visiting multiple dealer websites to compare prices.
Online
Online gold shopping can be one of the easiest and most efficient ways to purchase physical metal. A top online precious metals seller like APMEX provides several payment methods – credit or debit cards, paper checks, bank wire transfers and cryptocurrency – and offers storage at Citadel Global Depository Services at reasonable annual fees.
Although buying physical gold from an online dealer is an option, buyers should carefully research both the seller and product prior to making any decision. Buyers should look out for reports regarding fake or overpriced products as well as high shipping and handling fees with no return/refund policy in place.
Gold’s physical nature makes it an attractive asset that can act as an insurance against inflation, but its liquidity may limit how effectively you use it for this purpose. You will likely take time finding buyers for your gold bars, plus plan ahead for shipping, insurance and storage expenses; all this may lead to higher initial investments and opportunity costs than other investment vehicles.
Physical
If you prefer holding physical gold, it is advisable to shop around for the best prices. Shipping and import fees, storage costs or insurance premiums can add up quickly; additionally it may be difficult to verify the legitimacy of the dealer you choose as well as quality of their investment portfolio.
BullionVault provides the most cost-effective method of purchasing physical gold, providing access to professional market Good Delivery gold at its lowest possible price. This type of bullion sells on world professional markets for about 7% more than coins or small bars and removes counterparty risk as you are purchasing physical bullion that becomes your property instead of becoming part of someone else’s debt portfolio.
As with any investment, saving first is key when considering gold as an investment. Once saved, plan how much of your portfolio to dedicate to it based on your personal goals and risk tolerance; an ideal allocation should not exceed 15% but it doesn’t rule out investing more if diversifying is your goal.
Futures
Speculating on the rising or falling price of gold can be another effective means of investing in this precious metal, although this strategy may be among the riskiest ways of entering the market.
Investors looking to speculate on gold prices can purchase gold futures on the commodities market, which operates like an exchange in that traders agree to trade specific physical assets on certain dates. Though this provides investors with an easy way to speculate on its price, buyers typically seek to sell these contracts before their contracts expire and thus profit from speculating against its price.
Investors looking for safer options than gold futures might prefer investing in companies that mine and refine the metal directly instead. Gold funds and ETFs offer this route, offering exposure to multiple mining companies so as to spread risks between each stake. Alternatively, investors could practice dollar cost averaging by investing a set sum regularly into gold mining stocks.
Stocks
Physical bullion is the fastest and simplest way to purchase gold at an economical price, whether bars or coins – you should aim for purity levels of 99.5% or above when investing. Doing this also eliminates counterparty risk since tangible assets can be liquidated quickly if necessary.
Gold mining shares are more costly, yet more diversified investments. You can do this via mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on gold or including metals as part of their portfolios; however, they may not be easily liquid or tradable like bars are.
When purchasing gold from dealers, be wary of unreliable businesses with unallocated accounts or paper gold products as these pose counterparty risk. Be sure that all purchases can be verified through documentation as well as storage.
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