Humans have cherished gold more than any other precious metal throughout history. For centuries it was used as legal tender and it backed legal tender in the United States. Gold adorned kings, pharaohs and in recent years became a sign of opulence among the world’s very wealthy as they coated cars and weapons with the expensive metal. Human beings have been attracted to gold throughout the ages and this trend shows no sign of stopping any time in the near future.

In present days, investing and buying gold continues to be a big business as well as a way for individuals to secure their wealth in a tangible form. While most money is no longer backed by the equivalent amount of gold, there are many people who feel that there is a possibility of an economic collapse who buy gold as a way to inflation-proof their funds as well as secure their money in a physical form if there were to be a complete collapse of the world economy. While this might sound like the talk of survivalists or doomsday-Sayers, history has shown that this is a possibility.

Many average people shy away from investing in gold and they fell more secure in saving their money in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or in savings accounts in banks. The worry often is that it would be difficult to transition their gold into spendable money. They worry that they will have some gold but no way to liquidate it in the event that they need that money. How is this done and is it possible to quickly turn your gold into spendable cash? In many countries, it is absolutely possible to exchange gold for currency over the counter at a bank. In other countries, you can sell your gold back to the company that you bought it from or any other company that buys and sells gold. Gold is very liquid and it is probably the only material that is known worldwide as the equivalent of money in physical form. How many other investments can you think of that are liquid as well as universally known?

Take real estate or collectibles such as antiques or cars, for instance. While a home is a great way to invest your money while reaping the benefits of having an investment that you can live in, it is not very liquid. If you begin to see the value of your home dropping, it’s very difficult to liquidate your position. The same holds true for other collectibles such as cars or antiques. Gold is very bit as liquid an asset as stocks or bonds.

Most people invest in gold because of the stability. Gold has steadily increased in value over the years and it is a long term investment vehicle meant to stave off inflation as well as give the owner some security in uncertain economic times. Of course, the appeal of gold goes beyond its monetary value. We are drawn to gold. We equate gold with wealth and it is almost a universal sign for success.

How many of us dreamed when we were children of being rich? We dreamed of having gold bars or ingots. We daydreamed of the perfect life where we were happy and secure. We had the ability to buy what we wanted and do what we wanted because we were rich. In our secret safe we stores our gold bullion and we took it out from time to time to hold it in our hands. We could almost feel the heft of the heavy metal.

Owning gold satisfies this carnal desire to be wealthy and secure. It’s likely that more than one investor has relived that childhood dream and stood with a smile on his or her face as they held their first gold ingot in their hands. They had arrived. They were living that childhood dream. Of course, this probably isn’t the main reason why most people invest in good but it sure is one of the fun parts.

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