Understanding why you are choosing to invest in gold is important to maintaining expectations. Gold is typically used to secure wealth as a repository of value and as an investment hedge. While there are many reasons for choosing to invest in gold, the most common ones include:
- Gold remains in high demand. It is a product that can be held in your hands and sold with little concern for its desirability. Contrast this with collectibles or antiques, which are subject to trends in style and fashion.
- Gold can protect you from the woes of inflation or currency fluctuations. Many countries invest in gold when economic growth begins to decline. The more debt in an economy, the more it may pay for gold.
- Gold can be a great to diversify your investment portfolio. Diversification is the cornerstone of secure financial management.
- Gold is stable and has always been an excellent vehicle for protecting wealth over a period of time (provided it is stored securely.)
- During a period of civil unrest, gold is a common way to protect assets. Not only is it portable, but it is easy to hide, and can give you leverage when everything else loses its value.
- Those looking to make an investment in gold or other precious metals can go through a brokerage that sells actual bullion or IRA’s backed by physical metals. Birch Gold Group based out of Burbank, California offers their clients the opportunity to move their IRA’s, or 401K’s into a Precious Metals IRA with their in-house specialists.
Buying Scrap Gold
For the low-key investor or someone just starting in buying precious metals as an investment buying scrap gold is a great starting point.
Risk Management. A popular investment strategy, collecting scrap gold is a great first step into the gold market. With steadily rising gold prices, buying scrap gold is a low-risk for of investment in this valuable resource with low risk. Gold is one of the safest investment options available. The potential reward far outweighs the minor risk.
This type of gold investment is perfect for a first-time gold investor or for someone looking to have something set aside for a rainy day.
Keep it in the family. Ask family and friends if they have gold they are looking to get rid of. Practically everyone has damaged rings, broken necklaces, mismatched earrings and other pieces of scrap gold that they would appreciate making a little cash off. Negotiate a good price while leaving some room for profit for you.
Run an ad in the newspaper. Running an ad in both the classifieds and help wanted is a great strategy for sourcing people who might be looking to offload gold scrap and making some money. Be sure that the cost of the ad doesn’t affect your profit margins.
Place an ad on Craigslist. Craigslist is a great resource for posting online advertisements for free. It has great potential to reach a wide audience. Make your ad stand out from the others to ensure you get the best offers.
Online auctions. Many online auction sites sell scrap gold for far below the market value leaving you the opportunity to make a healthy profit. Don’t forget to factor in shipping and other charges.
Get to know your local pawnshops. Let the local pawnshops know you’re in the market for scrap gold and leave your contact details with the staff. If someone comes in selling gold they’re not interested in buying; you could be the next person the seller calls.