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Gold investing has seemingly been in the news on a daily basis in recent years. Whether that was due to its well-known ability to hedge against inflation, diversify portfolios, a surge in investing interest, or simply thanks to a consistent, record-breaking price run, it’s been difficult to avoid news about gold.
And investors who got started with the precious metal as recently as 2024 or even early 2025 have seen a substantial return on their money. With gold starting 2024 priced at just $2,063.73 per ounce, it now sits at $3,250.56 for the same amount – a remarkable 57% increase in barely 18 months. With inflation still a concern for some Americans and the steady value gold offers in the face of this uncertainty, those who have not yet got invested in the yellow metal may be considering a move now.
But gold doesn’t work like many other assets and it comes with risks that will need to be strategically managed, particularly in today’s unpredictable economic climate. This doesn’t mean that a gold investment should be avoided (its benefits are especially timely now), but it does mean that investors considering the metal should first familiarize themselves with the safe ways to invest in gold right now. Below, we’ll examine three ways to do so.
Start by exploring your top gold investing options here.
How to safely invest in gold right now
Here are three ways to benefit from a gold investment without having to take any unnecessary risks right now:
Limit your investment
The traditional gold investing advice of limiting gold to a maximum of 10% of your overall portfolio is still applicable now, even with all of the changes in the gold market. So don’t be tempted to overinvest while the price of the metal is on the rise. Keep gold as a small but important portion of an otherwise well-diversified portfolio. This will not only allow you to benefit from the protections gold can provide by maintaining and frequently rising in value over time, but it will also allow your other investments, like stocks, bonds and real estate, to perform as needed without being burdened by an overinvestment in gold.
Gold, after all, is an income protector and not really an income producer, even with the recent changes in which investors can turn a quick profit. So, continue to follow the traditional advice of limiting your gold investment and you’ll more safely benefit from its addition to your portfolio.
Protect your money with a small layer of gold now.
Keep clear of riskier types
There are a variety of gold investment types to explore which, in general, is a benefit. But that doesn’t mean all or even most of them will be advantageous to you. There will inevitably be riskier types of investments that will require more in-depth knowledge and a more involved approach. Gold mining stocks, for example, are generally not advisable for less experienced investors. Gold bars and coins, however, are.
The same would apply to gold individual retirement accounts (IRAs), which can offer critical financial protection for your retirement savings and can be invested in relatively securely. In other words: Explore all your gold investing options, sure, but steer clear of the riskier types that require more knowledge and strategic input.
Monitor the climate
A gold investment can protect your money and, over time, potentially even offer you an opportunity to earn a profit by selling it for a higher price than you bought it for. Many investors have done just that in the past year, approximately. To know when to sell, however, and to ensure that gold maintains its ability as a hedge against inflation and a reliable diversification tool, investors will need to both monitor the economic climate and their portfolio.
Don’t just treat gold as a “set it and forget it” investment type, especially now when rare profit-earning opportunities are more prevalent. Instead, monitor the climate as you normally would to measure your other asset performances. This will both ensure that gold is working for you as intended and it will allow you to better determine potential selling opportunities.
The bottom line
Gold is one of the safer investment types to explore as it doesn’t come with the same volatility and ebbs and flows that stocks, bonds and other asset classes do. But it also doesn’t often come with the same rapid benefits, either. So you’ll want to be securely invested in the metal by limiting it to a small portion of your portfolio, avoiding riskier types and monitoring the climate for any changes that can impact your gold negatively or positively. With this approach, you can more safely invest in the precious metal and enjoy the features it offers for the long term.
