Investing in Precious Metals for Beginners

Gold and silver along with other precious metals provide a fantastic long-term investment for those wanting to prepare for a future with economic uncertainty. Both gold and silver can keep their prices fairly even during times of economic depression or when inflation occurs. Having a better grasp of how gold and silver perform in today’s market as well as how the economy impacts their prices will allow you to consider whether expanding your portfolio with precious metals is the right next step for you.

The Global Economy Directly Impacts Silver Prices

Silver is most commonly used in industrial production and technology such as tablets, smartphones, vehicles, and photovoltaic cells along with other commonly used products. As gold is usually only employed in jewelry manufacture, silver as such is more prone to market volatility. As the economy springs back into shape, the price of silver tends to rise.

Silver Offers Better Hedge Against Inflation

During times of inflation in the United States, gold and silver both seem to perform fairly well. Partially because the dollar becomes weaker as the cost of goods rises. This means that purchasing gold and silver using other currencies makes them more affordable for many. Given the industrial applications in which silver is commonly employed, it often does better in a market where inflation is skyrocketing and the value of the dollar is falling.

Silver Has A Higher Market Volatility

The downside of investing in silver is that its market volatility is two or three times that of gold. Traders can often benefit in these instances, but for those investors managing or expanding their portfolio, it becomes risky. Though short-term gains are greater with silver, it often also carries a much larger downside than gold.

Gold Makes It Easy to Diversify a Portfolio

Gold is considered the most powerful investment to diversify a growing portfolio. Though silver still does fairly well, it has a weak correlation when connected to bonds, stocks, and commodities. Gold’s value is not correlated to nor determined by stocks or other common investments. This is simply not the case with silver or other industrial metals as it is widely used in the production of many products, whereas gold has very few applications.

Because investors are rushing to protect their retirement portfolios with gold, many are wondering, “How can I transfer my 401k to gold without penalty?“.  Once you learn how to do this you can save yourself a huge chunk of money by avoiding IRS penalties.

It Is More Affordable to Invest in Silver?

First-time or small-time investors will find that silver is much more affordable an investment than gold. As silver is fairly low priced, it is a good option for those looking to learn the ropes of precious metal investing.

How Do You Invest in Gold or Silver?

The reason gold and silver both remain popular investments is that they’re available in different forms.

Physical Form: Unlike other investments such as stocks or bonds, silver and gold are both available in physical form. This makes it easy to purchase bars or coins to hold in a brokerage account. Investors also have the option of storing the precious metals at home or through a third-party depository.

Many investors find the physicality of gold and silver a plus side as it allows them to hold tangible evidence of their investment.

Of course, there’s also a downside to choosing to invest in coins or bars. For example, investors often have to pay tacked-on premium prices due to markups and distribution costs. Additionally, the price of storage and insurance can also skyrocket the initial investment costs.

ETFs Or Exchange-Traded Funds: This option eliminates the full responsibility of investors of having to safely keep and store their physical assets. It is possible to purchase shares and store them in a brokerage account. An operator is the one that holds the physical gold or silver and charges an expense ratio for their services. ETFs unfortunately deny investors access to underlying precious metals, and what’s more, they are often taxed in the category of collectibles, making them fairly low on capital gains.

Mining Funds or Stocks: There is also the possibility of investing in companies that mine gold and silver.

Gold Futures: Gold futures are a contract that outlines an agreement that highlights a certain date when precious metals are bought or sold. Investors will trade the contract directly on an exchange. Unlike physical gold investments, gold futures have no liquidity or management fees, although trade fees are sometimes charged by brokerage firms. Beginner investors should steer clear of this option as it carries a great deal of risk. It is possible for your losses to greatly exceed your initial startup investment.

5 Tips for Purchasing Physical Gold

Investing in physical gold is a rewarding experience, but here are some things you should keep in mind:

1. Choose A Reputable Dealer

There are a lot of scam artists and unscrupulous sellers out there when it comes to gold. Most commonly employed are pressure tactics that force a sense of urgency to purchase, or sellers will often significantly inflate the price of their gold beyond its value. Do your research and determine if a seller is indeed trustworthy.

**The Background Affiliation Status Information Center offered by the National Futures Association can help you check out any firm’s or individual’s background.

2. Spot Those Fees

Dealers will often charge significantly more than the actual value of the gold. Usually, these tacked-on charges are explained away as a dealer’s fee and distribution costs.

3. Secure Storage Is a Must

Physical gold requires careful storage as many will possibly attempt to steal it or scam you out of your investment. It is recommended that you store your physical asset somewhere safe such as a safety deposit box or a literal safe. Of course, the safe storage of gold can add up in costs as a safety deposit box will start at $30 and run you several hundred dollars for a larger size.

4. Insure Your Gold

As your gold is now a physical asset, consider getting comprehensive insurance coverage to protect your investment. This is an additional cost, but well worth it as long as you read the fine print in the policy.

5. Gold Is Hard to Resell

Reselling physical gold is much harder than selling stocks or funds. In all instances where you find someone to sell your gold, you won’t get a fair price. Pawn shops, for example, will give you a small percentage of what your gold is worth. Likewise, an actual gold dealer will also give you a much lower price than what you initially invested.

Tips on Real Estate Investing

Real estate investing is buying, selling, and managing real estate for profit. Investing always involves some risk in every business. The real estate business is a little bit different as you rarely go in loss. If you want to be a successful investor then you should consider the following points:

It is all about long-term

Don’t expect some quick money. Real estate investment is usually long-term and you can never expect any profit in less than a year. Short-term investment is good but it will pay you a very low profit. It is always recommended to go for a long-term investment to gain maximum profit from the property.

Collect good money before investing

Buying a property that is located in some unpopulated area is just like throwing your money. If you are unable to afford a property that is situated in a good location then wait until you have a good amount of money in your hand. Real estate investment is all about money and patience. If you have enough money in your hand then all you have to do is to be patient until you can find some good property you can purchase.

Gather knowledge

The recession has changed many things. Properties of $500,000 can be purchased for just $100,000 at this time. It is a good time to buy properties as you can sell them once the recession is over. Gather knowledge from the news, experts, and other sources that what step you should take at this time. If you are planning to sell a property then it is better to wait because your property won’t get a good price because of the recession. So before investing in anything you must gather knowledge from all sources otherwise your investment planning won’t work. If you have zero knowledge about real estate or the current ongoing situation of properties then you should start gathering knowledge from the internet and news immediately.

Analyze everything

Never buy or sell anything in hurry. You might get confused by seeing a very nice property with a reasonable price and a good location. But who knows the condition of that building? Go with your professional team to visit the property. Analyze everything including the repairing cost. Good investors never buy or sell properties that are unfinished and need lots of replacement and repair.

Don’t sell the property if it is not ready

You spent a lot of money on buying the property. Now you are surely looking for some good profit from the investment you made. You might be able to double or triple your investment profit by just spending a few thousand dollars on the repairing of the property. Buyer or seller will never pay a handsome amount of money for a property that is not good.

Real estate investment is different from other investments and it is a game of patience and knowledge. Don’t try to sell every property you own. Just be patient and wait until you receive a good offer from someone otherwise you won’t be able to make a good amount of money from your real estate investment.

The Right Time for Real Estate Investing

You might have heard about the recession which is giving a big challenge all over the world. But there is some common business which cannot be destroyed anywhere. Those common businesses are garments, food, and real estate. These three are the general requirements for people all over the world. Particularly, real estate is an important aspect that can be considered a long-run business.

In this modern world, life has changed in the corporate sector. Almost 65% of people in the world are living with their common requirements. As such, a house to live in can also be included in these common requirements. Real estate can be done in two ways. One way is, acting as a real estate agent and the other way is, investing in a particular land first and selling the same after the demand increases.

As this real estate has become very popular all over the world, many have started investing in it. Even the land values are getting appreciated day by day. So, investing in real estate is quite unlike buying stocks. You have to check out the market condition for buying shares or stocks but in the case of real estate, if you would like to owe a house and feel that you can afford it, then just go ahead and do not look up to the market condition whether it is up and down.

From an investor’s point of view, they must know the updates in the market conditions always. Investing in particular land and getting a profit is not an easy job and it requires a lot of conditions that have to be followed before investing. In all aspects, many people are making money through real estate investments.

As the current, recession period is going on, you all might have heard about the job cuts, lay off, salary reductions, prices on each commodity getting reduced, etc. Even the same thing happens in real estate too. Since up and down market conditions are going on, many people hesitate in investing on real estate. This is mainly because of the price reductions on lands and houses in recent times.

Several serious investors realize that this is the best opportunity to pick up homes at bargain prices in decades. After some years, the economy will come to its normal position and the investors who have invested money in real estate will be getting a massive profit for the same. So if you are having a plan on investing in real estate, then this is the right time to invest. But the condition is, you should be able to afford the investment. If you are not confident and sounds good that it doesn’t work out, then it’s the right time to get advice from the experts who are dealing with real estate. So, real estate investing will give you the tool that starts amusing your fortune today.

Investing Money For The Future

Just as one can invest time into a career or family, investments can also extend outward for financial utilization. The process of “Investing Money” entails a person, business, or government spending focused money toward the purchasing of an asset –or assets- with the intention and prospect of making a profit in the near or distant future. Monies made through investments can also increase using the value accrual of an asset, rather than through sheer gained profit.

Investments are initiated both with short-term and long-term aspirations. And as with all monetary movements, risks are involved, as are the possibilities of financial perks and snags; not all investments guarantee positive or satisfying returns.

Saving vs. Investing

A common misconception includes drawing parallels or exact similarities between saving and investing. Most consider saving and investing as one sole action, yet, this is completely false. Rather than being alike to a “T” and working as one, the two monetary actions work in tandem with each other. Consider saving and investing as two separate feet, one leading, or initiating the first step, and the other following.

Saving, the initial step, is a process of putting one’s money away in a secure place simply to save and avoid spending earnings. Saving is commonly practiced by most people through one’s home or bank –the latter being preferred- using opening a savings account.

Investing, on the other hand, and as the trailing step is a process of taking one’s savings and utilizing them toward the purchasing of assets with expected earnings or increased value potential in mind.

“When Should I Start Investing?” – The Time Is Now

Time, as it endlessly ticks away, is an investor’s greatest asset when accruing wealth. To sit on deciding whether or not to invest early is foolish, as investing early on proves quite profitable.

Don’t hesitate on starting to invest, it’s a waste of time and money otherwise. Most importantly, before one begins to invest, consider if a stable financial foundation already exists.

Personal Financial Stability

Investing requires financial stability, as investing is, in essence, adopting a long-term economic commitment. With this in mind, it is crucial to be financially secure, able, and responsible.

Monies allocated solely for investment purposes should be funds that will not be vital or readily accessible for many years; these are meant to not be touched. This knowledge is essential for planning to successfully avoid using long-term investment monies in circumstances where short-term funds are proving insufficient or nonexistent.

Savings and Investing Instruments

Investment aspirations involve both short-term and long-term approaches, each with various investing instruments typically used. See the instruments below:

Short-Term Savings

  1. Savings Accounts
  2. Money Market Funds
  3. Certificate of Deposit (CD)

Long-Term Investing

  1. Bonds
  2. Stocks
  3. Mutual Funds

A Fresh Approach

The development of Patrick Place of Learning by the Sun Tomorrow Educational Trust represents an important milestone for the ambitious Hampton regeneration project in East Chapel Hill. This exciting new provision for the young people of this area is being delivered in partnership with Chapel Hill Council and Chapel Hill Football Club.

This Place of Learning is key to Chapel Hill Council’s vision for East Chapel Hill. The development of this whole area, on land remediated by Chapel Hill Football Club, includes a new leisure centre with a public swimming pool, retail outlets and a Sports Craft Institute which will offer a world-class research and diagnostic facility to advance the academic study of sport and health.

Chapel Hill Football Club is also building a new Academy and training pitches in this area. One such pitch will be available for use by the students and staff of the College during the day time and the general public each evening. Another asset to the College was when we learnt that MCFC had been successful in their bid to the Premier League for a Multi Use Games Area, which will be in the College grounds and available to the general public each evening.