Precious Metals (Gold, Silver) have been a topic lately with the wild US monetary policy —

Here’s a breakdown of all the ways you can invest in precious metals, as well as whether I think it’s good investment (for me).

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There are generally main ways to invest in precious metals:

• Physical metal (coins, stored gold, etc)
• ETFs that track the spot price of the metal (and shares are often backed by physical metal)
• Mining companies — they dig the stuff up and sell it.

First, the physical metal —

Some people love collecting gold and silver coins or bars.

The upside is you physically own it!

Two issues I don’t like: You need to safety store it (get a good safe or pay someone) and they’re hard to move (not very liquid if you want to sell).

I only own silver coin (given to me by @GrowingDividend !).

I may buy more in the future, when prices are better.

If interested in owning, I’ve heard lots of good things about Monument Metals to order coins:

https://monumentmetals.com 

Second, the precious metal ETF —

This can be a good alternative to physical as you don’t have to protect it (because you just own shares) and you can sell it quick (more liquid).

A good example is $SLV iShares Silver Trust - it tracks the current silver spot price per ounce.

Lastly, perhaps my personal favorite, the mining company.

I personal own shares of $GOLD Barrick gold.

The risk with a mining company is that you’re also investing in a company, so if their metrics (besides the metal price) are poor, you won’t see returns.

$GOLD also pays a dividend (although it’s a tiny one!) to reward you for investing with them.

The pros of owning a mining company is you aren’t owning gold someone can steal (like coins), it’s liquid, and if you know the bushes well you can profit on their gain.

However you choose to invest, you need to decide are precious metals right for YOU.

For me, they’re a small part of my portfolio (10% or less) and act as a good counter to inflation.

Gold and silver also tend to go up in times of economic uncertainty.

Am I buying more?

Currently NO. I bought into precious metals around March of this year, and have not bought more in the last few months.

While I consider it a good investment, I personally feel pricing is quite high due to uncertainty.

Should we see market stability, prices likely lower.

I bought shares of Barrick $GOLD at around $17 a share, and they now sit around $29 a share. I’ve been paid dividends to hold the shares, and will likely continue to hold .

Should prices return to previous levels, I’ll likely buy more.

Hope you learned a few things!