Are you the type of person who has been looking to create a more robust and diverse investment portfolio as we enter the new year? Perhaps in the past you have focused more on stocks and bonds, but with recent economic trends, you are starting to rethink that strategy. Do not worry – you are far from alone in being in this situation.
Most of us who are here are wondering what we should do next, which is only natural really. Sure, it is pretty early on in 2023, but that does not mean that we should rest on our laurels. Alas that the market in general appears to be experiencing some troubles. It makes the decision making on our end rather difficult.
Today, I would like to discuss with you an asset that goes overlooked to some extent but remains a completely viable choice. This is of course gold, if you could not already tell from the title of the article. You can get an idea of it in more chemical detail here, 0 https://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/au.htm, if you are curious. Otherwise, just keep reading for some details on it for investing!
Precious Metals: A Brief Synopsis
I am a firm believer in becoming an informed consumer who understands most, if not everything, about the products or investments that I purchase. Naturally, this is extended to precious metals and gold, so allow me to help you to get to know them a bit better. If you were not already aware, the “big four” in terms of the buyer’s market are silver, gold, palladium, and platinum.
Why are these the ones that have the most value? There are a few reasons for it, as you can probably imagine. However, for the most part it simply comes down to the fact that they are the rarest and have the most utility for humans.
All throughout history, gold in particular has been a huge draw for pirates, nobles, and royalty alike. It is a status symbol and a way to store any wealth that a person might have without the need to keep a bunch of paper currency around. The fact that it does not lose value over long stretches of time only adds onto the worthwhileness of it as an investment.
If you want to see the comparison between it and other assets, there are plenty of statistics online to check out. It should be pretty easy to figure out what I am talking about in the above paragraph in regard to the worth of it across the years. There are little to no dips when we look at it on a wide scale.
This can be applied to pretty much all of the precious metals. With that out of the way, we can shift our attention to another aspect of this topic that is often overlooked. Namely, we can examine how gold can be used to set up a retirement account and assist us in preparing for our futures.
Retirement Accounts and Precious Metals
For many of us who live here in the United States, retirement is a sensitive subject. It is a period of time that we all yearn for and look forward to, and yet the stresses that finances can bring during it are daunting to say the least. Perhaps that is why the preparation for it has become such a huge industry in this country.
Unfortunately, this does mean that some scams slip through the cracks. It is important to be wary of any promises that seem too good to be true when it comes to preparing for your golden years. Usually, that means that it is not in fact true.
It is for this reason that I always like to emphasize that gold investing is not a “perfect” manner of saving. There are a few notable downfalls, most importantly the fact that you are not going to be able to passively earn interest on something like bullion. Physical gold most often comes in this form, which are simply the bars that most of us are already familiar with.
As this website details, you can find ways to store it that will keep it safe and secure. However, your chance of making a huge profit is not high. Typically, it is a way to store your current wealth rather than a get-rich-quick sort of thing.
What about individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) that are geared specifically towards holding these assets? Well, they can store either the physical bullion itself or stocks of companies that are involved with the industry. Either way, the big change is that there are some tax benefits with them that are different from normal custodians that hold bullion.
Should You Invest in Gold?
At the end of the day, you are the only one who can truly have the answer to this query. Sure, I can tell you that you should or that you should not, but your circumstances are probably quite different than my own. Personally, I have my own retirement account set up with some bullion in it. However, it will not be an optimal solution for everyone.
Purchasing large amounts of any precious metal to establish an account like this can be expensive. There are also typically fees involved in opening the IRA in the first place. These are just a few of the things that you will likely want to keep in mind as you think about whether or not you will go this route.
Remember that physical gold can work just as well (minus those tax benefits I mentioned) if you would prefer to invest in that way. In fact, you do not have to limit yourself to just one or the other! Explore the choices and figure out what might be optimal for you. Hopefully, this article can serve as a guide of sorts for you as you proceed with that process, since I know that it can be quite taxing (and frustrating).
Barry Lachey is a Professional Editor at Zobuz. Previously He has also worked for Moxly Sports and Network Resources “Joe Joe.” He is a graduate of the Kings College at the University of Thames Valley London. You can reach Barry via email or by phone.
