Typically, when you think of investing, you first think of the stock market. Stocks and bonds have always been one of the most popular forms of investment, and the ones you hear about the most from the mainstream media.
That is until lately.
Even the mainstream media has grudgingly admitted that investing in gold, silver, and precious metals have outperformed stocks and bonds repeatedly over the last several years. Things are changing.
Silver and precious metals have become very strong investments. Gold is the darling right now, as it has been the “star” for centuries. With the attention on gold, its value has increased sharply and is now at a point where buying physical gold for the middle class is all but out of reach.
This is not the case for investing in silver and precious metals
Investing in silver is still an easy thing to do, even for the small investor. Investing in silver has all of the upsides that investing in gold has. It is a good hedge against inflation; it is easily liquidated when you need to do so. It is a finite resource that must be mined, and cannot just be “printed” as paper money has been and so it cannot be artificially devalued by bankers or governments at a whim. It is necessary for industry and electronics, giving it great industrial value.
When deciding where to put your money; you need to place it side by side with other investments. How have these investments performed over time? Stocks and bonds have had their ups and downs, but as of late have not performed well. Over this same period, gold and precious metals, specifically silver, have shown strong gains. Silver alone, over the past couple of years, has enjoyed a 300% increase in value, which has even outperformed gold.
Silver and precious metals: the ”regular guy’s investment!
The fact that the average person is still able to pull money out of his wallet and buy an ounce or two or three of silver, makes silver a very attractive investment. With the dollar remaining weak, and confidence in the stock market remaining low, silver shows no sign of losing its momentum.
So how do you begin to invest in silver?
It is very easy. In your area, there are many places you can go to buy silver. Pawn shops, coin shops, and jewelers that advertise that they buy and sell gold and precious metals, all would have physical silver for sale. Silver ingots (small silver bars) are possibly the best value. Silver coins are available, but coins often command a higher premium (dealer markup) than do ingots, as they have more workmanship involved in their production. Many times you can also find silver for sale at gun shows, flea markets, etc.
Before setting out to buy silver, take a look at that day’s spot price. The spot price is the term for the amount that silver sold for that day on the commodities market. Use this price to know if you are getting a good deal. Expect to pay a bit more than the spot price, but it should be a reasonable amount. When looking at the silver bar you are considering, know that it should show a mark on it indicating that it is .999 (99.9% pure silver) this lets you know it is as pure as it gets.
Turning a portion of your savings into physical silver is a fantastic way to help manage your money. Silver and precious metal investments should be considered long-term investments, though some of the big traders do day trade just as they do with stocks. My advice is to buy a bit at a time and stash it in a safe place. Then you can periodically check the spot price, and know how you are doing.
That’s the fun part.
The other fun part, as opposed to the stock market, is that you can hold your silver, feel it’s weight, and know that the weight you feel is real value and not just numbers on a piece of paper that seems to go down daily. Silver and precious metals are REAL money, not just numbers on a piece of paper.