Where Can I Invest In Gold And Silver

Gold Certificates As An Investment

You can also opt to buy gold certificates. These are certificates that you own certain pieces of gold that are stored at a company. You dont need to worry about storing the gold and still have a gold investment. When buying gold certificates you need to be very careful to buy from a reliable backer. The number of companies that offer gold certificates is very limited.

Why Invest In Precious Metals

Gold and silver bullion and coins have been used as currency around the world for thousands of years and continue to retain value as a store of wealth.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, various countries used either gold or silver standards, pegging their currencies to a fixed amount of metals or to other currencies such as the British pound or US dollar that used the standards. The gold standard was abandoned by the US in 1971. However, the yellow metal continues to be viewed as a de-facto currency, even more so than silver, which also has industrial applications.

Only around 10 per cent of gold is consumed by industrial applications such as electronics and aerospace, compared with more than 50 per cent of silver, which is used in electronics, glass coatings, medicine and water purification among other applications.

The entrenched use of gold and silver in the financial markets keeps them highly liquid, making the assets easy for investors to buy and sell. Besides, there are far more benefits of investing in gold and silver.

Both metals provide a hedge against inflation as they are outside the control of individual governments and central banks. Quantitative easing and record-low interest rates around the world have made investing in gold and silver 2020s preferred means of protection against the impact of policies to tackle the effect of Covid-19 on the global economy.

Etfs That Own Silver Miners

If youre not looking to do a lot of analysis on silver miners but still want the advantages of owning a mining company, you can turn to an ETF that owns silver miners. Youll get diversified exposure to miners and lower risk than owning one or two individual mining stocks.

Three ETFs are classified as silver miners, according to ETF Database: Global X Silver Miners ETF , iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF and ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF .

Risks: A sector ETF reduces the costs of any single miner doing poorly, but anything that hits the whole industry, such as a falling price of silver, will likely ding the fund significantly. And pay close attention to whats in those funds, since theyre not all created equal. Some may offer more exposure to higher-quality companies, while others focus more on riskier junior miners.

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Industrial Use Is Growing

Believe it or not, you dont go one day without using a product that contains silver.

Its used in nearly every major industry, from electronics and medical applications to batteries and solar panels. Silver is everywhere, whether you see it or not.

As Mike says in his book, Of all the elements, silver is the indispensable metal. It is the most electronically conducive, thermally conductive, and reflective. Modern life, as we know it, would not exist without silver.

Due to these rare characteristics, the number of industrial applications for silver has skyrocketed. In fact, industry now gobbles up more than half of all silver demand.

Silver is used in a wide number of industries and products, and many of those uses are growing. Heres a few examples

The average cell phone contains about one-third of a gram of silver, and cell phone use continues to climb relentlessly worldwide. Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company, estimated 5.75 billion cell phones were purchased between 2017 and 2019. That means 1.916 billion grams of silver, or 57.49 million ounces, were used in this application alone!

Silver use in photovoltaic cells was next to zero in 2006, and now gobbles up more silver than any other application. And since the cost of solar installation has fallen by 90% during that time, it has only gotten more attractive to both governments and consumers.

Its even worse if you look at all the silver ever mined.

Gold Vs Silver Investments: Which Is Better

Commodities trading means you’re buying and selling raw materials rather than finished products or financial assets . Commodities are assets like corn, coffee, lumber and ore. One common form of commodities trading is investing in precious metals, namely gold and silver. As an investment asset, gold and silver have very different properties and uses in your portfolio. For more help with investing in gold or silver, consider getting the help of a financial advisor.

Gold vs. Silver: Utility

The biggest thing that differentiates precious metal investing from other commodity investing is utility. For most other commodities, investors judge value based on supply and consumer demand. If you want to invest in coffee beans, for example, you can judge prices by how much coffee people are currently drinking, how tastes are changing, etc.

Precious metals are different in that they have relatively low commercial utility. Compared with other metals, here are relatively few consumer or industrial uses for assets like gold and silver.

Gold vs. Silver: Cost and Volatility

At time of writing, silver traded at approximately $25.77 per ounce. Gold traded at $1,960 per ounce. While the details vary, the gap is consistent. Gold is historically much more expensive than silver. This is in part because silver deposits are nearly 20 times as common as gold. This leads to two outcomes for investors.

Gold vs. Silver: Relationship to Broader Market

Gold vs. Silver: Which Should You Buy?

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New Supply Is Falling

The silver price crashed after peaking in 2011, and over the next five years it fell a whopping 72.1%. As a result, miners had to scramble to cut costs to turn a profit. One of the areas cut dramatically was exploration and development of new silver mines.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to understand that if you spend less cash looking for silver you will find less silver! That drought in exploration and development is starting to take effect, as this chart shows of the output from the top 10 largest silver producing countries.

This has had an impact on the amount of supply that comes from the mining industry each year. The past four years have never seen a drop like were currently experiencing.

Part of the explanation to the drop is that about two-thirds of silver mine supply comes as a byproduct from base metal operations . But these miners have also spent less on mine developmentwhich means they will produce less silver, too.

Meanwhile, low silver prices have affected how much scrap metal is available, tootheres less incentive to turn in scrap metal if the price is lower.

These realities have set the stage for a peak in silver supply. If demand stays at current levels, it will be difficult for everyone who wants silver to get as much as they need. And dont look now, but

Keep An Eye On Your Investment

An important note is that you should always keep an eye on your portfolio. Investments grow and shrink over time and you may come to a point where your gold investments are a higher percentage of your portfolio than you want it to be. If this point ever arrives it is time to decide whether you want to sell a small portion of your gold or you want to keep it as a continued investment.

Say gold is having a really good year and it is up to 14% of your portfolio and your original goal was to keep it at 10%. You may want to consider selling off around 4% of your gold investment so that gold isnt overwhelming your portfolio. You can always invest the profits elsewhere in your investment portfolio.

Investing in gold is a choice that has to be made by each investor individually. It is a great way to hold money in case of a recession or depression in the financial world but it doesnt come without its risks. You also want to ensure that you have enough money to make your starting investment. Consider all of the factors before making a decision.

It doesnt hurt to go see a financial consultant if you are unsure of how to work gold into your current investment portfolio. They can help you to find a way to diversify your savings with precious metals while not putting too much at risk. Plenty of content on the internet is also available when it comes to investing in gold and other precious metals. Remember, an educated investor is a good investor.

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How To Buy Gold And Silver In Ireland

A PRACTICAL GUIDE ON HOW TO INVEST AND OWN GOLD AND SILVER IN ORDER TO PROTECT AND GROW YOUR WEALTH IN THE UNCERTAIN WORLD OF TODAY

INTRODUCTION

We live in an increasingly uncertain world that appears to be moving from one crisis to another politically, financially, economically and environmentally.Today, investing in traditional assets such as stocks, property and bonds is riskier then it has been before as the economic outlook is fraught with uncertainty. In the turbulent and unpredictable world of today, everyone should own some gold and silver in order to hedge these risks and become financially independent and free.

Why gold? Well, as seen throughout history and in the financial crisis of recent years, gold and silver are the ultimate hedge against inflation, currency devaluation, geopolitical crises and disastrous economic policies. For thousands of years, gold and silver have never lost their value they have inherent and intrinsic value a finite and very limited supply and universal acceptance and demand due to their qualities of being portable, durable, divisible, fungible and limited in supply.

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

This resource will guide you through the intricacies of the gold and silver markets. You will gain a thorough understanding of the different types of gold and silver bars and coins, how and where to purchase them, the safest way to invest in and store precious metals, and when and how to sell them if the need arises.

The First Was The 1970s

During the decade, the U.S. economy, financial markets, and even the whole financial system seemed to be unraveling. From January 1970 to January 1980, the S& P 500 index rose from 90 to 110. That represented an increase of just 22% for the decade. But thats poor performance–and a decline in real terms–during a decade in which general price levels more than doubled.

The story with gold was dramatically different. The price of gold averaged $36 per ounce in 1970. The average price in 1980 was $615. For the decade of the 1970s, the price of gold increased by just over 1,700%. Even if you account for the doubling of general price levels, gold still increased by 850% in real terms. Stocks, on the other hand, went decidedly negative for the entire decade.

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Silver Is Cheaper Than Gold

Silver is less costly than gold much. In the 21st century, its spot price in the financial market has never exceeded $50 an ounce. Gold trades in the four figures. So silver is much more affordable: The same dollar investment buys you a lot more silver than gold, and silver has the potential to offer more profit.

The Gold Mining Sector

The mining sector, which includes companies that extract gold, can experience high volatility. When evaluating the dividend performance of gold stocks, consider the company’s performance over time in regard to dividends. Factors such as the company’s history of paying dividends and the sustainability of its dividend payout ratio are two key elements to examine in the company’s balance sheet and other financial statements.

A company’s ability to sustain healthy dividend payouts is greatly enhanced if it has consistently low debt levels and strong cash flows, and the historical trend of the company’s performance shows steadily improving debt and cash flow figures. Since any company goes through growth and expansion cycles when it takes on more debt and has a lower cash on hand balance, it’s imperative to analyze its long-term figures rather than a shorter financial picture timeframe.

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Why Investors Like Gold

Gold has a proven track record for returns, liquidity, and low correlations, making it a highly effective diversifier, says Juan Carlos Artigas, executive director of research at the World Gold Council.

These qualities are especially important for investors:

• Returns: Gold has outperformed stocks and bonds over certain stretches, though it doesnt always beat them.
• Liquidity: If youre buying certain kinds of gold-based assets, you can readily convert them to cash.
• Low correlations: Gold often performs differently from stocks and bonds, meaning when they go up, gold may go down or vice versa.

In addition, gold offers other potential advantages:

• Diversification: Because gold is generally not highly correlated to other assets, it can help diversify portfolios, meaning the overall portfolio is less volatile.
• Defensive store of value: Investors often retreat to gold when they perceive threats to the economy, making it a defensive investment.

Those are a few of the major benefits of gold, but the investment like all investments is not without risks and drawbacks.

While gold performs well sometimes, its not always clear when to purchase it. Since gold by itself doesnt produce cash flow, its difficult to determine when its cheap. Thats not the case with stocks, where there are clearer signals based on the companys earnings.

Customer Advisory: Beware Of Gold And Silver Schemes Designed To Drain Your Retirement Savings

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission advises the public not to take cash from their retirement plans under relaxed distribution rules provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to speculate or invest in gold, silver, or other precious metals without first consulting licensed or registered financial, tax, or legal advisors.

What to Consider

Bullion, Coins, and IRAs

Leveraged Accounts

Compare Premiums and Fees

Sales price Spot price

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Physical Gold And Silver Coins/bullion

The oldest method for gold and silver investing is just to buy some physical coins or bars.

The advantage to the physical approach is that its the safest, least complex way to invest in gold and silver. You buy some from a reputable vendor, and hold it in a safe place.

However, it quickly starts to get more complex than that. Where do you store it, and how do you keep it safe?

Personally, I think owning some gold coins tucked away in your home is a good idea. Physical bullion is a nice off-the-grid store of value.

Weve all seen areas that are hit by devastation, either economic or weather-related, where its good to have some hard assets on hand. You cant always rely on banks or electronic payment networks to provide required funds during times of crisis.

Im not talking about zombie apocalypses here just your average run-of-the-mill major economic problem or natural catastrophe.

In 2015, during Greeces economic crisis, a run on banks resulted in withdraws being limited to 60 euros per day. Youd have to wait in long lines just to get a trivial amount of cash.

In 2017, when Puerto Rico was devastated by a hurricane and the whole territory was without power, business couldnt accept credit cards and cash was needed for everything. But many banks were closed and others were limiting withdraws to $100/day. Again, there were massive lines at banks and the handful of working ATMs.

A Bad Time To Invest In Gold

In order to ascertain the investment merits of gold, let’s check its performance against that of the S& P 500 for the past year . Gold has outperformed compared to the S& P 500 over this period, with the S& P index generating about 10.4% in total returns compared to gold, which returned 18.9% over the same period.

That said, the period of time that we look at is incredibly important. Looking at longer or shorter timeframes will variously see gold or the broader market outperform, sometimes by a wide margin.

The point here is that gold is not always a good investment. The best time to invest in almost any asset is when there is negative sentiment and the asset is inexpensive, providing substantial upside potential when it returns to favor, as indicated above.

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Final Thoughts On How To Buy Gold And Silver

Now that you understand the benefits of investing in gold and silver, as well as how to buy it, give serious thought to adding a small position in these metals to your portfolio. No, they wont provide the steady returns that interest-bearing assets and stocks do. But they have real potential to perform well when those other investments arent.

Just a small allocation–5% to 10%–could add a significant amount of protection to your portfolio if things get ugly in the financial markets.