There’s been a recent surge in the value of precious metals across the globe, and in the last 10 years, gold and silver have been the number one asset to invest in by beating all others out of the water. This is mainly due to the recent economic weakness of the West, as metal goes up as market value goes down. On the other hand, the amount of risk precious metal investment carries is significantly high, and that makes it a little dangerous to get into. But what are those risks?
Any Significant Change in Value Happened Years Ago
Gold discovery and mining in the 19th century meant whole towns were constructed around mountains and deposits, and were usually lawless and consisted entirely on the idea that there was precious metal beneath them. Knowing this kind of behaviour has mined quite a few hillsides dry means there isn’t much chance of people being able to find any substantial new deposits in the modern era.
Finding gold made you a rich man in the past, and that meant you had a high amount of prestige in your community. However, nowadays almost everyone has a bit of gold in their possession, whether it be in the form of coins or jewellery. Gold and silver is now easy to invest in if you want to start up your portfolio.
There’s a (volatile) Limited Market
A limited market is a problem for a variety of reasons, but the main one is the amount of short term investors you can find just looking to make some quick cash. With precious metals, there’s far more market speculation than anywhere else due to the amount of risk involved, and that makes it far more dangerous for anyone else looking to invest seriously.
If you want to buy silver coins, then by all means go ahead! They’re usually IRA approved and can make up a physical element of your savings account. However, whilst they may be novelty and pressed in commemorative designs, they shouldn’t be anymore than that. Don’t let them make up a huge amount of your physical investment, as this market can be extremely volatile as well, and they can instantly lose and gain value. Similarly, whilst you may get a premium on gold bars, these can get pricey just for a small bar.
You Need to be Prepared
As an investor you’re going to of course have some fallbacks, but in precious metals they also have to make up for the losses. When it comes to investing in precious metals, no matter what they are, there’s a finite resource of them in the world. So, you need to be able to counter any losses from this, or from market devaluation, or the price of premiums, with plenty of other investments.
Precious metals carry lots of risk, despite their physicality. Try to get some experience in this kind of market before navigating it completely. Many experts don’t exist, so to become one you’re going to need practice.
