| Well, we certainly live in interesting times, which I guess | | | | coins fluctuate in price based not on their gold content |
| is a pretty good thing! On the other hand, we also live | | | | but instead on the collectors value of the coin itself. |
| in inflationary times which can be devastating to those | | | | Those sorts of things are okay to invest in, but not as |
| of us who are responsible savers. Why is that? | | | | a hedge against inflation. |
| Because all of the hard earned money that we have | | | | Another way to invest in gold is to purchase stock in |
| scrupulously saved year after year is suddenly not | | | | companies that mine for gold or companies that sell |
| worth as much as it used to be because of the (some | | | | equipment to companies that mine for gold. There are |
| might say) irresponsible government policies that have | | | | many different companies located in many different |
| led to massive printing of new money... which always | | | | parts of the world including America and South |
| has and always will create massive inflation. | | | | America and South Africa and even China. These |
| But, being the responsible investors that we are, there | | | | stocks are more risky than gold in that their value is |
| are steps that we can take to save ourselves from | | | | tied to the performance of the company. Not all mining |
| the ravages of the monster that is inflation. Historically | | | | companies strike gold and sometimes even when they |
| speaking, one of the best hedges against inflation is to | | | | do strike gold it becomes prohibitively expensive to dig |
| purchase gold. | | | | the gold out. So you really want to do your homework |
| But then the question becomes... how do you purchase | | | | when it comes to investing in these companies. |
| gold? There are many different ways to do it some | | | | Another way to own the benefits of gold is to buy |
| are complicated and some are not so complicated, so | | | | shares of a gold index fund that attempts to simulate |
| which ones are the best? That's exactly what I'm | | | | the price of gold and is often backed by gold. Many |
| going to talk about in this article today. | | | | investors like this sort of thing because it's so easy and |
| Like I said, there are several ways to buy Gold; you | | | | because you don't have to physically store the gold |
| can buy gold coins, you can buy Gold certificates, you | | | | yourself and thus incur the cost of storage. But the |
| can buy gold mining stocks, and you can buy mutual | | | | fact of the matter is; you own shares that mimic gold, |
| funds that invest in almost unlimited different mixes of | | | | not the gold itself. |
| each of those methods. | | | | Finally you can invest in mutual funds that themselves |
| First let's talk about coins. Many people like to own gold | | | | focus on gold in various forms. Some mutual funds |
| coins because they are physical, you can hold them in | | | | own gold outright, some invest in mining stocks, some |
| your hand, and you can stash them and be sure that | | | | invest in index funds, and some invest in a variety of all |
| you can get your hands on them in times of need... in | | | | three simultaneously. Again these may be good |
| short, they make you feel good. Some of the best | | | | investments but they aren't the same as physically |
| gold coins to buy are the Mexican Gold Peso and the | | | | owning gold as a hedge. |
| Austrian gold crown because the prices of those coins | | | | So there you have several ways to own gold to |
| closely reflect their gold content. | | | | hedge against inflation. The sooner you add some gold |
| What you want to stay away from are collectors | | | | to your portfolio the easier you will sleep at night! |
| coins such as the American eagle because those | | | | Though it is fun to live in interesting times... |