How to Buy Gold

For thousands of years humans have coveted gold — and today’s investors are no exception. Whether you plan to buy the metal in the form of coins, bars or gold-backed securities, there are plenty of reasons to add it to your portfolio.

Gold is considered a “safe haven asset” because when prices for other investments, like stocks or real estate, drop sharply, gold doesn’t lose its value. In fact, it may even significantly gain value when other investments fail, as panicked investors rush to buy something safer.

What’s more, some experts also see gold as the ultimate way to protect your savings against rising prices since it’s held value for hundreds of years.

But when does it really make sense to invest in gold? And what’s the best method? Here’s everything you need to know about how to buy gold in 2022.

Table of contents

• How to Invest in Gold
• Gold bullion
• Gold ETFs
• Gold mutual funds
• Gold mining stocks
• Gold futures contracts
• Should You Buy Gold
• How to Buy Gold FAQ

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How to Invest in Gold

There are two main ways to buy gold: purchasing physical gold, or investing in a gold-related stocks, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Depending on your investment strategy, expertise and the level of risk you’re willing to take, you may invest in any of the options below.

Gold bullion

Bullion is physical gold of high purity — usually in the form of ingots, bars, coins or rounds. (Rounds are often confused for coins because of their circular shape, but are closer to gold bars in that they don’t have legal tender and don’t differ in design from one year to the next).

Bullion derives its value from the content of the precious metal rather than the form of the metal. You can purchase gold bars in different weights — from just a gram costing less than $100 to 400 ounces — costing around $700,000, identical to the ones held by governments in places like Fort Knox.

Investment-quality gold bars are 99.5% (995) pure gold, the international standard. Legitimate bars are stamped with the manufacturer's name, purity and the weight.

Benefits of buying gold bullion

• You own a physical, valuable asset that can be easily passed on to others

• Stable value

• You don’t need to keep an eye on it like you would a portfolio of stocks and bonds

Downsides of buying gold bullions

• You might need a secure storage facility or insurance to protect it

• Should only buy from a reputable manufacturer

• Might be difficult to determine gold purity on your own

• Gold dealers typically charge significant mark-ups when you buy or sell. In some cases these may be 10% or more of the gold’s value.

Ways to buy gold bullion

Gold bullion bars and rounds are generally sold and mailed to you by online gold retailers. These retailers frequently offer discounts to members of the military and for buying in bulk. Sellers will usually mark up the price of physical gold, so you’ll likely pay more than the actual value.

Some retailers consider buying more than 100 gold bars (or 500 gold coins) a “bulk” purchase, but this will depend largely on the seller.

You may also be able to buy smaller gold bars, ranging from half a gram up to 100 grams, in stores that specialize in numismatics, pawn shops or some jewelry stores.

Where to buy gold bars

Some well-known retailers that sell gold bars include:

• JM Bullion
• APMEX
• Provident Metals
• Westminster Mint
• Money Metals Exchange

Where to buy gold coins

Several governments, including the U.S., as well as many private mints currently manufacture gold coins.

Some of the most well-known government gold mints in the world include:

• The U.S. Mint
• Royal Canadian Mint
• Royal Mint of the United Kingdom
• The Central Mint of the People’s Bank of China
• The Perth Mint in Australia

Some of the most well-known privately-owned gold mints in the world include:

• New Zealand Mint
• Sunshine Minting
• Valcambi
• Austrian Mint
• South African Mint
• Geiger Edelmetalle
• PAMP Suisse

Coins issued by the U.S. Mint are technically legal tender, meaning that they could in theory be used to pay for goods at a retail store. However, the value of their gold tends to be much higher than their face value. For example, a one-ounce American Gold Eagle 2019 coin’s face value is $50, but its real value is more than $1,500 .

Collectible coins may have an even higher market value due to their rarity or if there is high demand. And remember, sellers will charge you more than the actual gold’s value.

Popular minted coins include:

• American Eagle
• Gold Buffalo
• Canadian Maple Leaf
• South African Krugerrand
• Vienna Philharmonic
• Mexican Gold 50 Pesos
• British Sovereign
• Australian Kangaroo

Minted coins usually range in size from one-tenth of an ounce to an ounce to accommodate different investors’ buying power. Their purity is usually between 22 and 24 karats, with the purity guaranteed by the mints that produce them.

You can buy gold bullion coins from:

• Mints that manufacture them
• Coin shops
• Online dealers
• eBay
• Coin shows

Where to buy jewelry

When buying gold jewelry, keep in mind that the price you pay will be tied to the craftsmanship of the piece and that the amount of gold it contains will be just a percentage (karat) of its overall weight. In effect, this means you’ll be paying more money for less gold.

For instance, the most common type of gold used in jewelry in the U.S. is 14K gold, produced from 58.3% pure gold and 41.7% of other metals like copper and silver. Other common mixtures of gold are 18K, and 22K.

Some jewelry merchants take steps to reassure customers their gold does not come from areas of armed conflict. These pieces are often sold with the tags “ethical” or “sustainable.” For example, Fairmined jewelry may have a Fairmined stamp to assure it comes from a responsibly-managed community mine.

Gold ETFs

Gold ETFs own physical gold on your behalf. In other words, the ETF may own gold in a vault in London, but you can sit in the U.S. and buy or sell that ETF from your couch.

Benefits of buying gold ETFs

• No storage needed, ETFs’ bars of gold are stored in a bank vault
• ETFs offer simple, beginner-friendly options

Downsides of buying gold ETFs

• Charge a small management fee
• Require familiarity with ETF investing to buy and sell

Ways to buy gold ETFs

Investors buy shares in the fund through a brokerage, whether in-person or online. ETFs charge fees, but they tend to be lower than fees charged by gold mutual funds. They may also be lower than what it costs to insure and store gold in a facility like a safety deposit box. On average, ETFs charge annual fees of 0.59% of assets invested ($59 per $10,000 invested), according to ETF.com.

While you’ll likely want to buy ETFs that actually own physical gold, there are funds that invest in companies in the gold industry, often either gold mining stocks or gold streaming companies that provide financing for gold miners.

Some of the popular gold ETFs that trade in the U.S. are:

• SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)
• iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU)
• SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM)
• Aberdeen Standard Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL)
• GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR)
• VanEck Merk Gold (OUNZ)

Gold mutual funds

Gold mutual funds, which pool money from multiple investors and manage it on your behalf, typically invest in gold mining or refining companies’ stocks, though some own small amounts of bullion too.

Mutual fund fees tend to be higher than those of ETFs because they’re usually actively managed, meaning there’s a fund manager or team of people conducting research, analyzing potential investments and then making investment decisions for the fund.

Benefits of buying gold mutual funds

• You don’t have to research individual gold mining companies
• Can be easily bought through a brokerage firm

Downsides of buying gold mutual funds

• Mutual funds charge different fees and expenses, which can vary depending on the services it provides
• Value of gold mutual funds can be more volatile than physical gold

Ways to buy gold mutual funds

Mutual funds can be purchased through a brokerage (in-person or online) or via online stock trading apps.

Some of the gold mutual funds that trade in the U.S. stock market are:

• Sprott Gold Equity Fund (SGDIX)
• Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund (FKRCX)
• Gabelli Gold Fund Class AAA (GOLDX)
• Invesco Gold and Special Minerals FD (OPGSX)
• US Global Investors and Prec Mtls Fd (USERX)
• First Eagle Gold Fund (SGGDX)
• Van Eck International Investors Gold Fund (INIVX)
• USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund (USAGX)
• Fidelity® Select Gold Portfolio (FGDAX)

Gold mining stocks

Rather than investing in a mutual fund, you could also buy stocks in gold mining companies (often called gold stocks) directly.

Benefits of buying gold mining stocks

• Pay dividends, which you can’t otherwise earn with gold bullions
• Can be bought in fractions on many investment apps

Downsides of buying gold mining stocks

• Gold mining stocks tend to be more volatile than gold itself
• Stock prices are susceptible to factors outside of the price of gold, like company management decisions

Ways to buy gold mining stocks

Buying gold mining stocks is relatively simple, via a brokerage account with an online broker or an investment app. Once you add funds to your account, you can pick a gold stock and place an order.

Some major players in the gold mining industry are:

• Barrick Gold (GOLD)
• Newmont Corp. (NEM)
• Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM)
• Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO)
• B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO)
• AngloGold Ashanti (AU)
• Karora Resources Inc. (KRR.TO)
• Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd. (SBSW)
• Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (DPM.TO)

Gold futures contracts

Gold futures are mostly for professionals, not novice investors. Gold futures contracts are agreements between two parties to trade a certain amount of gold at a set price at a future time. When the contract “settles” or comes due, the seller delivers the gold to the buyer and collects the agreed-on price.

The contracts (whose value can also be settled for cash) can be traded among speculators who hope to make money by betting that gold will increase (or decrease) in value before the settlement date. Futures contracts are usually for 100 troy ounces of gold, while their prices are quoted in U.S. dollars per ounce.

Benefits to buying gold futures contracts

• You can manage positions nearly 24 hours a day
• Considerable high liquidity and low execution cost

Downsides to buying gold futures contracts

• You can lose more than your original investment
• Not suitable for beginners
• Ways to buy gold futures contracts

In the U.S., gold futures are traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

To buy gold futures contracts, you need a brokerage account with a full-service broker that support futures trading, such as Charles Shwab, E*Trade or TD Ameritrade. You may also open an account directly with CME Group, the derivatives marketplace that manages NYMEX.

Futures exchanges typically require traders to stake only a small fraction of the contract’s overall value to buy (or sell) a futures contract. However, if the contract falls (or rises) the exchange can demand additional collateral on short notice. This feature of futures trading makes it possible to lose more than the initial amount of your investment — even before the settlement date of the contract — and makes futures trading too dangerous for most novice investors.

Should You Buy Gold?

Owning gold can be a way to diversify your investment portfolio — which entails owning a mix of different assets, so that when prices for one type of investment decline, prices for others will be rising. Gold is also considered by many to be a good way to protect your savings from inflation. But, as with any investment, there are risks.

Because gold is volatile in the short term, and can lag behind stocks in terms of long-term price appreciation, financial advisors typically recommend investing no more than 10% of your savings in gold.

Before purchasing physical gold or investing in a gold-backed stock or fund, make sure it fits with your investment strategy, financial goals and risk tolerance.

Gold and diversification

While gold’s price can be volatile, gold prices tend not to move in tandem with stock and bond prices. And, in fact, during financial calamities when investors flee the stock market, gold prices often rally.

When the S&P 500 fell around 30% between November 2008 and March 2009, the price of gold was up by about the same amount.

This makes owning some gold, alongside stocks and bonds, a way to diversify your investment portfolio. Just keep in mind financial advisors typically don’t recommend investing more than about 10% over your overall assets in gold.

The ethical concerns of buying gold

More and more investors are worried about the social and environmental impact of their investments. Gold mining can take a significant toll on the environment and mining practices have raised concerns around human rights, as many gold mines are located in conflict-affected areas.

In 2019, the World Gold Council took steps to implement guidelines for member companies, as did the International Council on Mining and Metals. Both require that participating mining companies publish information on their progress publicly, making it easier for consumers to find.

Summary of How to Buy Gold

• Gold investments are considered a hedge against inflation. However there are risks you should consider carefully before deciding which is the best option to diversify your portfolio and investment strategy.
• Most financial advisors recommend not investing in more than 10% in gold.

• You can buy gold via purchasing physical gold (gold bullion or gold coins) or investing in gold-backed securities such as stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and future contracts.

• Gold bullion and gold coins can be bought online from known gold retailers such as JM Bullion, APMEX and gold mints manufacturers.

• Gold ETFs can be bought through a brokerage. Many online brokerages and investment apps let you buy popular gold ETFs traded in the U.S. such as GLD, IAU, and GLDM.

• Mutual funds can also own bullion and invest in gold mining stocks on your behalf. Some gold mutual funds are SGDIX, FKRCK, GOLDX and OPGSX.

• Popular gold stocks include GOLD, NEM, NCM, K.TO and BTO.TO.

• Gold futures contracts are an option for more experienced investors due to its volatility. You can trade gold futures in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).