Precious metals have served as currency, adornments, and status symbols throughout human history. And to this day, they enjoy a valued position in investment portfolios.
But beware: most means of investing in silver or gold are long-term engagements. So to maximize your returns, you need to make sure you make the right choice.
So how do you decide between investing in silver vs gold? To help make that call, here are three key points to consider.
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1. Volatility vs. Stability
You’re no doubt aware that gold is more valuable than silver. In a single year, the total value of gold produced might be $150 billion. In that same year, the value of all silver produced could be a mere $17 billion.
Those sound like respectable figures. But let’s put those numbers in perspective.
To put that in perspective, the value of the Disney company had a market cap of $237.53 billion as of April 2022. So an entertainment conglomerate has an estimated value of almost 14 times that of all the silver produced in an average year.
This ends up meaning that it only takes a relatively small amount of money to affect the overall value of silver. As a result, on some days, silver will rise more than gold, and fall more than gold on others. So as an investor, you need to have the temperament to tolerate these swings in value.
2. Silver Is More Affordable
As we just touched on, gold is several magnitudes more valuable than silver, making it very appealing to more modest investors.
While gold and silver have clear differences, they share many of the same benefits as investments. For example, they’re hard assets, don’t have the counterparty risk of financial investments, cannot be defaulted on, and provide confidentiality in terms of return on investment that financial investments lack.
One of the major benefits of investing in silver is that you get all of those perks at a fraction of the upfront cost. Moreover, it’s so accessible that one of the most simple ways how to invest in silver is the beginner’s packages that some companies offer. to help them get started. So if you decide silver is right for you, investing is as easy as ordering a starter pack of bullion.
3. Silver Requires More Storage Space
An important note is that, while buying physical silver is more affordable than gold, storing it for safekeeping can be another matter.
This is one of the benefits of investing in gold. If you wanted to buy $50,000 worth of gold, you could hold that hold in one hand. But that same value in silver would fill ten large shoe boxes.
This becomes an issue because most investors opt for secure storage for their precious metals. That means renting a safe deposit box at a bank or other institution, and those monthly storage fees will eat into any gains you make on your investment.
Investing in Silver vs. Gold: Which One Wins Out?
So the only question left is “should I invest in silver or gold”? Well, that often depends on your unique circumstances.
When deciding between investing in silver vs gold, you need to determine how much volatility you can accept and the extent to which the affordability affects your investment.
And timing is everything.
Picking the right moment to buy is more important than any other factor. You need the up-to-the-minute data to optimize your gains. So to ensure you have the latest precious metal values and information, be sure to follow our latest financial news.
