Investing in gold stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds is often the best way to gain exposure to gold in your portfolio. To buy a gold stock or fund, you'll need a brokerage account, which you can open with an online broker (here's a step-by-step guide to opening a brokerage account). Gold is available from private merchants, online merchants, jewelry stores, coin stores, private mints, vending machines, and government mints. It's best to buy from a reputable source to make sure you're buying exactly what is represented.
Buying physical gold bars online is a fairly simple process. A common way to buy gold bars is through authorized online retailers. Look for gold bullion products on reputable retail websites, such as American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX), JM Bullion, and Wholesale Coins Direct. Select the gold bars you want to buy by weight, quantity and price.
There are a multitude of ways to invest in gold. You can buy physical gold in the form of jewelry, bars, and coins; buy shares in a gold mining company or other gold-related investment; or buy something that gets its value from gold. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. That can make it overwhelming for novice investors to know how best to gain exposure to this precious metal.
Gold bars are often the most cost-effective way to buy physical gold. They are marketed all over the world in major centers such as London and Hong Kong. Bullion are classified as bullion as long as they are approximately 99.5% pure gold or more. You can read more in our Gold Bullion Buyer's Guide.
By buying professional Good Delivery gold from the marketplace, you will save at least 7% of the cost of small coins or bars. And when you sell, you'll also get the best price, because Good Delivery gold is the only gold you can easily sell in professional markets around the world, where sales prices are higher. This makes gold ETFs and mutual funds the safest option for most investors looking to add some gold stability and shine to their portfolios.
