Silver is more volatile, cheaper and more closely linked to the industrial economy. Gold is more expensive and better for diversifying your overall portfolio. One or both of them may have a place in your wallet. Arguably, the best use of gold as an investment is to mitigate portfolio risk, and the best rated Gold IRA is a great way to do that. Therefore, silver is ideal for investors with small budgets and also for any small financial need that may arise in the future.
Gold is more suitable for larger purchases. Silver is much cheaper than gold, making it more accessible to small retail investors. For those who are just starting to build their portfolios, the cost of silver may make it a better investment option. Investing in gold is a much more stable option and acts as a solid store of value.
Gold prices tend to move at a slower pace. The stability of the gold spot price adds a level of security for investors. Both silver and gold can function as safe haven assets, but gold tends to have a better track record over longer periods of time. That said, in shorter periods, the specific dynamics of each market end up being more important for their respective returns.
Regardless of the asset you buy, remember that neither asset generates cash flow, so the best thing for long-term investors would be to take a buy-and-hold approach with a profitable and growing portfolio of stocks. While both gold and silver have attractive features, gold is the best investment for the average investor in precious metals. Gold has a much larger liquid market, driven mainly by investment and demand for jewelry. The price of gold is also less volatile than that of silver.
Some of the most popular precious metal ETFs include SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), and iShares Silver Trust (SLV). On the contrary, the key advantage of buying physical gold (such as ingots and coins) is that you own the gold. And some people still do, but instead of burying gold ingots in their backyard, they buy stocks or mutual funds that invest in gold. The dollar has not been able to turn into gold since President Richard Nixon ended that practice in 1971. Before that, people bought gold bars as a way to diversify their investment portfolio and give them protection against inflation.
If you think about the global obsession with gold, it's easy to get carried away by adventure and mystery, such as searching for gold during the gold rush, pirate ships and treasure maps. While silver and gold have similar boom-bust cycles, there are some key differences to consider when choosing between buying gold and, of course, there are times when gold's gains exceed those of silver, but for the most part, the slow, low-volatility nature of gold prices translates into lower returns. You can easily see that, in percentage terms, silver rises much more than gold in bull markets and falls much more than gold in bear markets. While short-term fluctuations in the price of gold tend to receive a lot of attention, gold is relatively stable as a long-term investment compared to silver.
Demand for gold and silver comes from different sources, with gold being primarily an investment asset and silver an industrial asset. Not only is gold worth significantly more per ounce than silver, but it's also the denser of the two metals, making a specific volume of gold worth much more than an equal volume of silver.
