Investing in bullion may not be a great idea. Investing in gold will be a bad idea now, as US Fed is tapering Quantitative Easing programs and it's likely to completely shut in a year or two. This results in flow of Institutional Investments back to safe heaven, US that slows growth rate in emerging markets like India, Brazil, Philippines etc and strengthening of US dollar. There has been a general trend that USD and gold prices moves in opposite directions. So, gold prices are likely to fall in recent coming years.
In recent months copper prices fell greatly, copper mainly depends on growth of China, the biggest copper consumer, China's economy is likely to not to growth much in recent years.
I just answered your question regarding gold. Copper and silver are even worse. Did you know copper went down 9% in the past few weeks? China's economy is going into the crapper, they are going to have a 2008-style economic meltdown. That is important because China stockpiles copper and silver like crazy, in fact copper is commonly used for collateral on loans there. When they go into the shitter you are going to see copper prices decline another 40% or more. Silver won't be as bad but it will be similar.
The other factor is that commodity prices have been driven up by the US Fed's Quantitative Easing programs over the past 4 years. As the US economy improves, that whole thing needs to be unwound, and commodity prices will settle back to historical norms which is a lot lower than they are now.
Credible experts say no more than 6% of a person's overall investments should be in metals. If you want to play around and do that, I would stick to gold. You can buy gold coins (buy from the US mint program) in fractions of ounces. That would be a good way to invest just a little.
Metals are commodities. Commodities are to be used (to make things, in this case) and be traded, not invested in. Buying and holding a small amount as a hedge against inflation is considered wise by some financial experts, bit only as a small percentage of one's overall investment portfolio. Anyone who bought gold and silver 40 years ago and held it (you're 23, you would be 63, around the time to start living off your investments) didn't lose money, but would have done far, far better investing in the market and sticking with it through the mediocre 1970s and the crashes of 1987, 2000 and 2008-2009. They'd still be way ahead of precious metals. I don't see that changing in the next 40 years.
I hope your IRA is in a credit union instead of any of the big banks... which are planning to do a "Cyprus" on us.
Physical silver and gold are about the only investments to be in at this time. Go down to your local coin/bullion dealer with cash and load up while you can still get it below the cost of production. When the LBMA and COMEX finally default, silver will hit $500 and gold will hit $4,000.
We are about to see the dollar and the US stock market crash from what I am reading. The US has been extending its function by sending insurgents to create color revolutions in other countries and overthrowing their governments, then stealing their gold. They did it in Libya and Ukraine. Jacking with the Ukraine is simply forcing the BRICS nations to dump US treasuries and take steps to form an Asian trade alliance that revives the old gold trade resettlement model... which India started again by trading gold for Iran's oil.
It won't take long before all those treasuries come back to roost and we see hyperinflation.
No.
Metals keep pace with inflation on the average. This is a little better than burying your money in the back yard, but not by much.
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I recommend stocks if you can avoid gambling with them.
When you hold quality stocks over a period of time, the prices will go up for a real reason; the companies are earning money every year and becoming more valuable. This is not gambling; you are owner of a money making business. But it takes time for that business to earn money.
If you save a portion of your income each payday and as it accumulates invest in sturdy stocks, over the course of several years you can grow very wealthy indeed. It is like hiring someone to get a job and earn money for you, and then using that money to hire more workers. Your money grows exponentially.
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yes.
I am 23 and would like to make a long term investment other than my Roth IRA. Do any of these have very good potential for long term growth?
