With the UK and wider economies in much publicised turmoil, gold offers about as much certainty as you can get. Gold offers the ultimate insurance against economic instability and unrest as gold bullion, unlike other investments, will always hold a value. Gold bullion is an effective way of hedging against other investments as the gold price tends to be particularly buoyant when other investments are underperforming such as stocks and property. 
Gold can also be effectively used to insure you against other economic factors such as inflation and deflation, interest rates, stock market jitters and currency problems. Importantly, gold as a highly precious metal has a value no matter where you are in the world, plus gold bars and gold coins can be easily taken with you no matter where you go.

 

The price of gold began rising sharply in August 2007 as news of the banking crisis started to break. It’s since more than doubled in the last three years, and more than trebled in the last five years. The price of gold tends to rise as investors in other markets get the jitters. The question is what will happen next? Despite historical data displaying that gold has out performed other major investments in recent years, there are no guarantees that this trend will continue. You should conduct your own research and buy gold primarily as a safeguard for the future, and secondly as a profitable investment. If you are of the belief the current economic difficulties will continue down the same road for some time to come, then the gold price is likely to remain high and continue to rise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver does not offer the same level of security that gold does due to the volatility in the silver price, however the consistent fluctuations result in more opportunities to buy and sell at profit making silver a more speculative investment. History tells silver is a riskier investment than the safe haven of gold, which has consistently preserved and increased the value of money, however silver has also proven to be a very good investment. In the three years between December 2008 and December 2011, the silver price had increased 233%, substantially outperforming any other investment type such as stocks, property and even gold.

 

Unlike gold bullion, all silver bars and silver coins are taxed at a rate of 20%. Paying Value Added Tax or VAT often encourages investors to turn to gold. However, it is advised that buying silver is very much a long-term investment and should be owned for at least 12 months. Ideally silver investments should be kept many years, however it is believed based on recent history keeping your silver for at least a year may be long enough to recover the 20% VAT initially paid, and return a profit. For example, if an individual invested £10,000 (£12,000 including VAT) in silver in December 2008, their silver bullion would now be worth over £33,000 three years later in December 2011.

 

                                                  Live Silver Price (Oz)