Few Reliable Ways to Buy Gold for Investment

Before I go about with the post, a disclaimer. We do not have gold invested in such a variety of ways that I am going to describe here. Our gold is entirely in Jewelry form. As you might have heard by now, India is one of largest gold buying countries in the world. The reason being a social culture, where gold is given by the parents to their daughter on her marriage. It’s a social custom.

There, as soon as a daughter is born, parents start buying gold for her future marriage. No wonder that in our marriage SMB got lots of gold. We had to open a bank safety locker for their safe keeping. Apart from the jewelry, we used to own gold ETFs which we sold off last year, fearing about a gold bubble, after almost doubling my money in 4 years. But, the sad part is gold is even higher now.

I am not complaining for that, I can’t sell at the peak, no matter how hard I try. No one can time the market correctly. We are happy we sold off our position at a fantastic profit. And we have all our jewelry intact which we will probably not sell ever. Let’s now begin with the rest of the article. This may be useful to you if you are looking for gold investing in near future.

Gold is one of the most lucrative and safe investment options, provided we are not in a gold bubble. If it’s in bubble we will only know about it after the burst, that’s the irony. While you are looking at gold, it may be wise to look at if silver is a better investment, or you can compare gold vs. silver as investment option.

Gold is a Wise Investment Choice

What makes gold so valuable that you would want to invest in it?  Gold is the most popular precious metal exchanged on the commodities market.  It is recognized the world over and has been used as a form of currency throughout history, giving it both a solid and respectable reputation and the longevity of being a constant companion to the financial markets of every international community.

John, my personal investment guru explains, “Gold investments offer investors a hedge against tough economic or political times.” Given the current global climate we live in today it stands to reason that gold commodities would be a wise investment for your money.

Various Ways to Invest in Gold

Let’s take a look at some of the reliable sources for investing in gold commodities.

Buy Gold Bullion Bars: Although bullion bars generally offer lower price premiums than other forms of gold commodities, and carry an inherent risk of forgery, when purchased from an approved source such as the US Mint, the bars are weighed, measured, tested and authenticated as being the genuine real deal.

Gold Coins: Gold bullion coins are a common commodities possession among gold investors.  Bullion coins are priced by measuring their fine weight, and adding a premium depending on supply and demand of the current market.  There are several countries that have gold bullion coins for sale or trade on all of the commodities markets.

Purchase ETF’s: Exchange Traded Funds are also golden opportunities of investment.  Buying ETF’s offers the investor the opportunity to own or gain exposure to gold prices without actually having to store physical items like bars or coins.

Gold Certificates: These certificates can be purchased to represent allocated or un-allocated gold purchases.  Allocated certificates are directly associated with a numbered bar kept in a vault of the financial institution of issuance, whereas unallocated certificates pose a higher risk by being issued for pooled resources of gold, the price of which can be affected if there is a run on that institutions reserve of gold.

Jewelry: I am sure women readers wold prefer this route most. But, to me buying jewelry as gold investment in this country (high service and manufacturing fee) is a bad decision compared to other world markets where cheap labor reduces the jewelry making charge. Remember when you buy you pay the price of the gold and cost of manufacturing. And, when you sell, you get only the cost of the gold back.

Fraudulent Gold Scams to be Aware of

Of course, as with anything involving the use of currency there are some cleverly disguised scams out there designed to take your hard-earned cash and leave you with very little in the way of real gold for your purchase.

One of the things I have learned to look out for are the Cash For Gold companies that have sprung up all over the country. These companies offer to buy your gold from you or offer to sell investments in gold bullion or coins. The ownership of these companies is seldom able to be verified and many of them are under investigation for committing securities fraud.

Be on the lookout for High Yield Investment Programs. These are often tied to pyramid schemes and have no realized value to support them. You should also be wary of Advance Fee Fraud techniques, which involve SPAM email that offer unrealistic expectancies for a small investment fee.

Gold dust sellers are another bunch to watch out for. These scam artists offer clients the opportunity to purchase valuable gold dust at a fraction of the current market value, enticing investors to spend their money on a product that ends up being shavings from brass or another similar shiny metal that can be made to look like gold.

One of the hardest things to keep an eye out for is fake gold coins. Man has counterfeited currency ever since we began using coins as a method of making and receiving payments. This problem still occurs today and with more frequency. If you aren’t a numismatist then you should consult one before spending thousands of dollars on a coin.

Where to Purchase Gold from

The most obvious answer is you can do what I did and hire an investment broker to help you make the best decisions for your financial portfolio; however there are ways you can go about investing your money in gold without paying a middleman a percentage for their efforts.

You can contact the London Bullion Market, which offers services for gold investors that allow them to purchase their gold and store it in one of their vaults, maintaining a chain of integrity for future sales or trades.

Purchasing gold bullion coins, like the Kruggerand, which is the most widely held coin in circulation, is also a very wise investment of gold that can be done on your own with a little knowledge on how to identify, weigh and measure the coins value to prevent any counterfeit sales or purchases. They are normally offered through various commodities markets and are not found at your local coin dealer.

Do you own gold? What is your gold buying experience?  And in which form you own gold?