Gold! Owning it can create confidence as long as you know the Pros and Cons
Throughout history, gold has easily been the most alluring of possessions. For almost ten millenniums, gold has been the standard of all financial wealth. That was also true for nearly 200 years in the United States until President Nixon removed the US from the Gold Standard. Nevertheless, gold is as desirable today as it has ever been. Gold has been the source of temptation for people from all levels of life, and today in India, gold is so sought after that do not have gold can lower your social status.
Many people consider gold as the epitome of assets, the one this to own and hold or is it? Let’s look at both sides of this issue, the pros and cons of investing and owning gold.
Aside from the confidence level of owning gold brings to the individual investor, gold has always been considered a hedge against inflation at least in the older traditional sense. Of course as a currency worldwide, gold, increases and decreases based on the worldwide issue. Gold can still be the stabilizing factor. However, with world markets sowed so closely via the internet, gold as an economic stabilizer doesn’t quite carry the same power as it once did.
The Pros of Owning Gold
- Gold is a physical possession, and you can touch it, feel it and sell it. Gold is a mineral that will not ever tarnish, gold from 10,000 years ago looks like it does today. Think of gold as a “safe haven,” as a sort of alternative currency. Gold can be used as barter and as shown thought-out history, it can be used to buy and sell things.
- Gold has limitations of the physical side; there is not an unlimited supply of gold in our world. There is a finite amount of gold. So theorists say that 95% of all available gold on earth has already been found and processed. Others say just the opposite, that out there somewhere is a lot more gold. Either way, there is a limit to how much gold there is on earth which can make supply and demand have a significant effect on gold prices.
- Love: many people worldwide associate the giving and ownership of gold with “love.” This association between love and gold has to do with demand for gold jewelry in many parts of the world. Gold has especially been in demand in many emerging markets where it is considered a cultural and social expression.
- Fear: gold is a beautiful warm blanket for those who fear any devastating world event such as a meltdown in financial markets. Gold was trendy to own in the months and years following the October 2008 meltdown of the American banking system. Gold prices soared during that time as gold was considered a safe haven.
The Cons of Owning Gold
- Some issues about gold ownership are both Pro and Con. The physical ownership of gold creates a space and storage issue as well as a defining need for security. Gold can be stolen, and in almost any cases it is completely untraceable. Gold is heavy, hard and expensive to transfer or move.
- Gold can be a dead asset just because of its limited commercial use. Unlike silver which has numerous commercial applications, gold doesn’t have the same utility use. Unlike real estate or other physical assets, gold has no earning power, and you cannot rent out gold.
- For many centuries gold was considered a superior asset class. Now, that argument becomes less and less valid because the cost to own gold in today’s market can be expensive. These are charges that the average investor might not be aware of, such as the cost to buy and the cost to sell gold. Then there are storage costs, transportation costs, and insurance costs.
The decision to own gold should be based on your personal situation, those who fear the future are generally more inclined to buy and hold gold, those who have more confidence in the future are opposite, they are less likely to hoard or own gold.
In a time of high inflation time, gold might be an excellent asset, but many other assets can and have accomplished the same objective, real estate is an example. If owning gold is an objective, only work with an established and authenticated source. One easy way to own gold is to acquire gold coins, make sure you know and trust the source.
