Gold has been around for centuries. From ancient royalty to present-day investing gurus, plenty of people choose gold as an investment. That many people can’t be wrong, can they?
Well, as it turns out, gold may not be such a golden choice after all. On the surface, it may seem harmless, lucrative even. However, when you look closely, you might start to notice that there are a lot of reasons that gold isn’t quite the excellent investment people have believed it to be for so long.
Here is why:
A Market Steeped in Instability?
Let’s cut right to the chase. The gold market is simply not stable. That might seem strange, because most people associate gold with prestige and wealth. You figure that it is surely in high demand. Why would its price fluctuate wildly, if everyone wants it?
As it turns out, gold prices move with the economy, like any investment does.That said, gold also crashes harder than some other investments because it doesn’t really serve any purpose, at least not in the way it used to when currency was backed by it.
People like gold, but generally speaking, they don’t need it. It’s a market that people invest in when they’re afraid of paper currencies going under, but its value doesn’t come from it being useful or necessary for society.
Why Real Estate Glimmers
With that in mind, maybe gold isn’t the right investment. Its instability makes it unreliable—you can’t count on gold to weather through a tough economy with you. So, what’s another investment to consider, if you can’t count on this classic?
Let’s take a look at another thing that people have trusted as an investment for centuries: land, property, and real estate. People have been profiting from owning property for as long as there have been people. Since folks actually need places to live and work, it’s a market that’s never going to go away as long as there are humans on the planet.
Now, the real estate market does have ups and downs of its own, just like gold or any other investment. Overall, however, it’s a much more stable option. Why? Because the demand for safe housing and attractive corporate property remains constant for the most part.
Putting your money behind something necessary is a good safeguard against turbulence in the economy. You can’t always count on your coins, but real estate? Now that’s a smart investment.
