Investing in Gold and Silver
Now that the economy isn't looking so good, storing some money in precious metals seems like a more sound idea than it used to, and investing in gold and silver has skyrocketed since news of the housing bubble started to trickle up so many years ago. In truth, investing in precious metals continues today and remains a good opportunity for financial safety.
But why bother investing at all, these days? And why gold or silver? It's become clear to nearly all of us that investing is not the way to go. Well, yes and no. We've all been a bit fooled into thinking that our house (for mortgage) or your word (for credit) is actually worth anything. But that bubble pops, and you can't melt houses or words down into value. All an investor had was a piece of paper saying that at some point they'd get their money back plus interest. And you cannot understand the US economy until you realize that those yet to be payed debts are treated as money. Gold or silver is always a good choice, because they have always been worth something.
There's only so much gold (or silver) to go around, after all. So if you invested in gold in 2000, by now you'd have made nearly 800 US dollars per ounce. (from around 200 in 2000 to 1000 in '08). These prices have no where to go but up, since our economy is going down: you can't buy today's gold with yesterday's cash, after all.
Looking at past performance does not guarantee positive results in today's global economy, but it is better to be well-informed on market histories rather than trusting blindly to luck.
In the end, investing in gold and silver seems like a genuinely good idea now, albeit it's a bit more pricey than it used to be -- but again, the prices have nowhere to go where but up.
Tim Jameson is an author specializing in "how-to" articles in many fields. His overview on gold investing for new investors can be viewed at http://www.how-to-invest-in-gold.com.