
For thousands of years, gold has been the standard currency of the world. Today, gold remains as useful an asset as ever. It offers peace of mind in a turbulent world. Unlike many other financial markets, gold is not a fashion or a fad or a bubble that will burst. It is a tangible and indestructible asset. It is wealth you can hold in your hand and keep in your house. And while everything else goes down, the long-term stability of gold ensures that its value will rise.
Gold acquisition has a number of specific advantages:
- Long-term Wealth Preservation
- Excellent Asset of Last Resort
- Immediate Liquidity
- A Vital Element of Asset Diversification
Long-term Wealth Preservation
Gold has preserved the wealth of humankind throughout the ages. Over time, gold’s value and the goods and services it can buy has remained incredibly stable. Just as one ounce of gold would buy a man a suit in 16th century England, the value of one ounce of gold today is roughly the price of a nice suit. Over the last 200 years gold has kept up with the rate of inflation in the United States. Through good times and bad, gold has maintained its long-term value. Contrarily, the majority of currencies have decreased in value. Gold is often acquired to protect against inflation, currency fluctuations, and has never been declared worthless.
Excellent Asset of Last Resort
National currencies have come and gone but the stability of gold has remained intact. Gold is an asset that is not dependent on any government or corporation's promise to repay. It is not directly impacted by the economic policies of any individual country. For these reasons central banks, governments, and other official institutions hold one quarter of all gold in existence. There is nothing to indicate that gold’s reliability as a long-term store of value will change anytime soon. Gold is portable, indestructible, and relatively scarce. It cannot be manufactured, is easily recognizable, and is accepted as a form of wealth almost anywhere in the world.
Immediate Liquidity
Gold is one of the most liquid assets in the world. It can be sold 24-hours a day in markets around the world.
A Vital Element of Asset Diversification
Asset diversification is one of the ways an individual can help ensure the stability of their portfolio. Put simply, it means not having all your eggs in one basket. Gold is an excellent way to diversify your portfolio because it is the only asset that is negatively correlated with other asset classes. This means that when stocks, bonds, and treasury bills decrease in value gold, because of its historical stability, often rises in value protecting the overall portfolio.