Investing 5k in Gold

[oldexpat]

Is there a way I can invest 5k in gold without actually buying it? I have heard about buying commodoties or options in currencies but its a bit too complicated for me to understand.

[bednobs]

if something is too difficult for you to understand then stay away from it as you are then at the mercy of other people's advice and you have no way of discerning whether it is good advice or not

[jake-the-peg]

Bednobs advice is good however

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-in-gold

The Gold price is very high at the moment although it is traditionally seen as a safe haven it can drop very sharply too

If you look at charts over the last few years you'll see an un ending exponential rise.

If you look over a longer historical period it's a very different story

http://www.vanguardbl...2010/07/gold-rush.bmp

[jno]

gold doesn't have much intrinsic value, except that it doesn't tarnish and makes pretty jewellery (and more recently is useful with computers), and it's rare - all the gold ever mined would make a cube about 60ft long. As jake says, this makes it a useful safe haven, but it also means the price shoots up and down according to whether it's good times or bad. Ideally you'd buy in good times and sell in bad. At the moment times are bad and the price is high, so you'd be better off waiting a few years.

You might be better off investing in land; they aren't making much more of that either, except in Dubai.

[David Black]

Yes buy ETF's or maybe if you are racy buy shares in a gold producer.

Barrackor Goldcorp being examples.

[sumo19]

Gold is good in bad times, funnily enough.

Gold is also good when the dollar is weak as it is now, because you can only buy gold using dollars, and so you can get more dollars for your money which means more gold.

However I would hesitant before investing in gold now. I think it has probably, or pretty much, reached its peak. I think you've missed the chance to invest in it.

But I'm just a speculator.