How to Invest in Gold - Physical Gold (Bullion) vs. ETFs

Investing directly in commodities, such as gold or oil, tends to be more difficult for investors than investing in stocks and bonds. A major reason for this is that stocks and bonds are readily transferable and easily accessible to the average investor. Traditionally, commodities have been more difficult to invest in due to the complex way in which they trade through the futures and options markets. In other words, an investor can't just buy a barrel of oil. Precious metals have been a store of wealth for millennia. Owning coins, bars or jewelry used to be the only option to invest in gold, silver or platinum, but today’s investors have a number of alternatives. In addition to bars and coins, you can also hold precious metals certificates, metals-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs) and closed-end bullion funds. Gold is more accessible to the average person because an investor can easily purchase gold bullion (gold in its physical form), from a dealer or, in some cases, from a bank. However, with the advent of more advanced financial instruments, gold, along with other commodities, has become much easier to invest in without having to buy the physical metal. There are now exchange traded funds (ETF) that replicate the movements of the underlying commodity, giving investors direct exposure. While not every commodity has an ETF, both gold and oil have ETFs. For example, the SPDR Gold Shares (ticker symbol GLD) trades on the New York Stock Exchange and can be traded at any time throughout the trading day. Each share of the ETF represents one-tenth of an ounce of gold, so if gold is currently $1,500 an ounce, the gold ETF will trade at $150 per share. This investment product is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to access the gold market. In general, investors looking to invest in gold directly have three choices: they can purchase the physical asset, they can purchase an ETF that replicates the price of gold, or they can trade futures and options in the commodities market. #1 Physical Gold . Physical gold provides the most direct exposure to gold. Gold in bulk form is referred to as bullion, and it can be cast into bars or minted into coins. Gold bullion’s value is based on its mass and purity rather than by a monetary face value. Even if a gold coin is issued with a monetary face value, its market value is tied to the value of its fine gold content. Investors can buy physical gold from government mints, private mints, precious metal dealers and jewelers. Because different sellers may offer the exact same item at different prices, it is important to do your research to find the best deal. When you purchase physical gold, you must pay the full price. Physical gold ownership involves a number of costs, including storage and insurance costs, and the transaction fees and markups associated with buying and selling the commodity. There can also be processing fees and small lot fees for investors making small purchases. While collectively these costs may not significantly affect someone looking to invest a small portion of their portfolio in gold, the costs may become prohibitive for investors seeking to gain larger exposure. Bars and coins are the most direct way to hold precious metals. Government minted bars and coins like the American Gold Eagle or Canadian Maple Leaf have a guarantee of purity and can be purchased through authorized dealers. However, when holding bullion directly, investors are responsible for its storage and insurance and their ongoing costs. Also, bullion dealers charge a mark-up to your purchase price of coins and bars and buy them back at a discount. As well, bars and coins may not be easily traded. In the U.S., precious metals are considered to be collectibles like art, rare books and fine wine. Provided you hold it for more than 1 year, for tax purposes, the capital gains tax on your net gain from selling a collectible is 28%. This level of tax is considerably higher than the tax rate on most net capital gains, which is an average of 15% for most taxpayers, according to the IRS.1 If you sell a collectible in less than 1 year, the proceeds will be taxed as ordinary income. #2 Gold ETFs . Unlike physical gold, ETFs can be purchased on margin, meaning that investors only front a percentage of the investment’s value. ETFs allow investors to access gold while avoiding the costs and inconvenience of markups, storage costs and security risks of holding physical gold. An investor will lose a percentage of his or her investment’s value each year to the fund’s expense ratio. An expense ratio is the recurring annual fee charged by funds to cover its management expenses and administrative costs. Precious metals exchange traded portfolios are a popular way to gain exposure to precious metals without the inconvenience of storing and insuring the physical bullion. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Closed-End Funds provide investors with access to physical bullion with the daily liquidity of an exchange traded security. Exchange traded bullion funds are open-ended funds that issue shares backed by metals. Investors do not have direct beneficial ownership of the bullion and have no option to exchange their shares for physical metal. If investor demand outpaces available shares on a given trading day, the ETF will issue more shares to satisfy the demand and acquire more metal with the proceeds. Conversely, when there are more investors selling than buying, the ETF will redeem shares and sell the equivalent value of metal. While bullion ETFs mostly hold allocated metals, they also hold unallocated metals to facilitate the creation and redemption of shares. In addition, the custodian that stores the metal is typically a bullion bank, which can create counterparty risk in the event of bankruptcy or insolvency. While bullion ETFs mostly hold allocated metals, they also hold unallocated metals to facilitate the creation and redemption of shares. In addition, the custodian that stores the metal is typically a bullion bank, which can create counterparty risk in the event of bankruptcy or insolvency. In the U.S., for tax purposes, bullion ETFs are considered collectibles by the IRS. The capital gains tax on an investor’s net gain from selling a collectible is 28% . #3 Closed-End Bullion Funds . Closed-end bullion funds are similar to ETFs, but issue units through initial public offerings and follow-on offerings and can cancel units through buybacks. The units are usually fully backed by allocated bullion. Because there is a fixed number of units at any given time, they may trade at a premium or a discount to their net asset value, depending on investor demand and whether there is an option to redeem for physical metal. Some closed-end funds are considered Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFIC) and may offer more favorable tax treatment compared to coins, bars, precious metals certificates and ETFs for non-corporate U.S. investors. Conclusion : The transaction costs associated with gold ETFs are often lower than the costs related to the purchase, storage and insurance of physical gold. It is important to research the various costs, fees and associated expenses of each type of investment to determine the investment that is both affordable and suitable for your portfolio. Precious metals ETFs may seem like an easy way to invest in gold and silver. But investors should understand that convenience comes at a price.























































The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more