4 Strategic Gold Investments to Make in 2025

Gold prices set record highs in 2024, hitting $2,748.23 in October and climbing more than 30% for the year. Analysts predict that upward trajectory will continue through 2025 as inflation remains above target, global conflicts wear on and economic uncertainty hangs in the air. 

If you’re considering precious metals as safe-haven assets, this article explores four strategic gold investments to help you hedge against inflation and diversify your portfolio to spread out your risk.

4 Gold Investments for 2025

If you’re ready to make strategic moves with your investments this year, here are four gold investments to consider.

1. Diversify With Gold ETFs 

Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track the movement of gold prices and are a way for you to gain exposure to gold without owning the physical precious metal. There are several types of gold ETFs, so you can find one that fits your investment strategy and gives you the exposure you want to gold.

Here are several types of gold ETFs to invest in:

• Physical gold ETFs: Hold physical gold
• Gold mining ETFs: Hold mining company stocks
• Leveraged gold ETFs: Are derivatives that amplify returns
• Inverse gold ETFs: Move opposite gold prices
• Smart beta gold ETFs: Track custom gold indexes

Gold ETFs can provide several benefits. They are available through brokerage accounts, are easy to trade like stocks, have lower costs to buy and manage than physical gold and have transparent prices.

If you buy gold ETFs, performance and fees are the two key metrics to evaluate. You want to know how well the ETF performed over the past year and the last five years. Since fees impact your returns, you want to find ETFs with a low expense ratio.

2. Consider Gold Mining Stocks 

A strategic gold investment could be buying the stock of a gold mining company. A gold mining stock isn’t just another company stock. Shares of gold mining companies offer leveraged exposure to gold prices, meaning they tend to move more than gold prices. This is great when gold prices rise because you experience a bigger gain in gold mining share prices, but the losses are larger when gold prices fall. 

There are two types of gold mining companies: seniors, which produce gold and juniors, which look for gold.

Gold mining is a hard business. Profit margins are low, it takes a lot of money and it takes 10 to 20 years to start a mine. New mines must cross social, political, technical and environmental hurdles before operating.

In your due diligence before buying gold mining shares, consider a company’s:

• Market cap
• Expenses
• Profits
• Dividend
• Price-to-earnings ratio
• Total value of assets
• Debt
• Management team

You can typically find this information on the internet. However, you can also contact the company.

3. Add Physical Gold Investments 

Buying gold bullion, bars or coins has been the traditional and most popular gold investment method. However, you also can purchase jewelry as a gold investment. Over the last decade, about two-thirds of annual gold investment demand and a quarter of global gold demand have soaked up small bars and coins.

Owning physical gold gives you a tangible asset to hold. However, securing your gold comes at a cost. Consider purchasing a safe if you want to keep your gold at home. You can also store it in a bank safety deposit box or a company may offer to safeguard your gold in a storage vault. Expect to pay a fee to the bank or company.

You want to work with a reputable dealer when shopping for physical gold. Read customer reviews and ratings of dealers. You want to watch for negative reviews about products, customer service, fees and shipping. Also, check for credentials, certifications and affiliations with reputable organizations and regulators.

4. Invest the Right Amount

How much gold you should add to your portfolio depends on your risk tolerance and investment goals. In diversifying your portfolio, gold can be an inflation hedge and help preserve your wealth.

As a broad asset class, alternative investments – any investment other than stocks, bonds or cash – have the potential for higher returns than traditional investments. However, they also come with higher risk.

Traditionally, wealth advisors have recommended investors allocate 5% to 10% of their investment portfolios to alternative investments, including gold. However, millennials, who generally have a higher tolerance for risk, desire higher returns faster and are looking for a safe-haven asset, are allocating an average of 17% of their portfolio to gold.

Why Invest in Gold?

A strategic gold investment can diversify your portfolio and hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. Investors have long considered gold a store of value to safeguard their wealth and are contributing to the rising demand for the precious metal.

Geopolitical conflict, central bank buying, fears of economic instability, plans to lower interest rates and concerns about the size of U.S. debt are expected to drive up demand for gold in 2025 and push up prices. Many analysts predict gold will top $3,000 per ounce, providing opportunities for investors.

Just as gold prices are constantly changing, the gold market is undergoing change. Patterns of where demand is coming from, regulations, new market players and advances in technology are restructuring the gold trade.

In recent years, more than half the global demand for gold has come from China and India and China is the largest producer and consumer of gold. Regulations to make banks more resilient and the market more transparent have reduced some liquidity. 

Commodities, including gold, are moving away from over-the-counter trading to exchanges. Technology is changing the way gold is bought and sold and may bring more change – and safeguards – with blockchain technology.

Find Your Strategic Gold Investment

Gold prices are high, but they are predicted to go even higher in 2025. That could make gold worthwhile to pursue as an investment, especially to add portfolio diversification to hedge against economic turmoil. If you’re considering gold as a safe-haven asset, consider these ways to invest.

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