The Midas Touch

What’s up with gold? It’s too heavy to carry out of the bank and horde in your closet and it was determined not to be gangsta enough to back our currency in 1971. There are commercials that have popped up suggesting that it’s a guaranteed good time if you invest in it. And there are women all over the United States having ‘gold parties’ where they bring the bling that they are ‘over’ and have an assessor give them cash for the recycling meltdown. Dang. To invest or not to invest that is the question.

Gold has traditionally been considered a safe haven or what the investment world likes to refer to as ‘hedge’ which would protect folks from market destabilization due to political unrest or other unforeseen occurrences (ahem, radical hard-core recession). But don’t be fooled by all the hype. While safer than many other investments, gold does fluctuate. Check the internet for a 2005 study conducted by Rick Munarriz where he compares the value of one share of Google stock to an ounce of gold. While gold won, the study provides a nice profile of the volatility and fluctuation of gold pricing in laymen’s terms that should not be ignored when determining if gold is an appropriate investment for you.

If you decide gold is for you, you don’t actually have to get a police escort and secured armored vehicle to bring it all home. Most gold investments are through bullion or coin ownership, or indirectly through certificates, accounts, spread betting, derivatives or shares. If you want to get started, you can talk with any of the usual suspect financial investment firms, or you can just buy from a gold pusher. Check the links below to start your research:

http://www.gold-investment.info/
http://www.blanchardonline.com/gold_as_investment/new_investors.php
http://www.gold.ie/