Discover properties, stocks and other investments that will drive global growth in the 21st century. Gold and silver are especially popular commodity investments, largely because of their historical relationship with money. Governments once used gold and silver to make their currency. Although no major economy is using gold or silver as the basis of its currency anymore, investors continue to view these two metals as active deposits of value.
Silver is more volatile, cheaper and more closely linked to the industrial economy. Gold is more expensive and better for diversifying your overall portfolio. One or both of them may have a place in your wallet. Another alternative to buying gold is to invest in metals for electric vehicles such as nickel and cobalt.
Like gold and silver, platinum is traded 24 hours a day on global commodity markets. It tends to reach a higher price (per troy ounce) than gold during routine periods of political and market stability simply because it is much rarer. In fact, much less metal is extracted from the ground every year. And some people still do, but instead of burying gold ingots in their backyard, they buy stocks or mutual funds that invest in gold.
The dollar has not been able to turn into gold since President Richard Nixon ended that practice in 1971. Before that, people bought gold bars as a way to diversify their investment portfolio and give them protection against inflation.
