Investors buy gold bars to preserve their hard-earned wealth from inflation and to protect their spending power in times in national financial uncertainty. Gold is unique in that it is the only “liquid” hard asset that has never completely lost value in any of the last 5000 years. Investors buy gold bars not only to profit in the case of US dollar devaluation, but also to privatize their wealth and store it privately. This is preferable for many investors who would rather not leave their financial future in the hands of the FDIC or the monetary policymakers in Washington who control the amount of greenbacks in circulation.
If you buy gold bars, keep in mind that these investments, which vary in weight from one gram to 1000 ounces, are best for holding periods of 1-14 months. If you expect the gold spot price to shoot up substantially overt the next year or so due to inflation before falling again, and you would like to profit from peaking gold prices, gold bullion bars and coins could be a great fit for your portfolio.
Gold bars come from many different manufacturers, but Johnson-Matthey, Engelhard, and Credit-Suisse are the leaders in the gold bullion bar industry. These products carry relative low (2-4%) premiums over the gold spot price, and their respective companies guarantee the bars for their weight and purity. It is important to remember that gold bullion could be confiscated by our government to restore faith in the dollar, so if you believe that US currency will keep losing value then you may not want to buy gold bars. There are physical gold investments that were not historically confiscated, and you can learn more about the wide variety of physical gold investment by browsing our site or requesting some of the free mail-out information below.
Steven Martin
Senior Gold Specialist - Buy-Gold.org
