Golden Advice for Gold Investments

Gold – that yellow lustrous metal has enchanted people for long. Not only the royal but even the common men have adorned themselves with gold. Unlike diamond and platinum, gold is not meant for the rich alone. And that’s what I like about gold. It’s within the reach of those who can afford to buy it with a bit of effort. Maybe that’s why people are thinking of investing in gold. Today, the good old gold is offering great investment opportunities due to its stable market value in the tough economic times. You might have heard about diamond investment opportunities being considered in the present times, but unlike diamond, gold has the advantage of higher re-salability and lower cost. You can consider investing in gold seriously now.

However, you should remember certain things while going for gold investments.

The “Scamology”

These days you get to hear about a lot of gold scams. The other day, my friend bought a necklace made of ‘gold’ at a gold repairing shop. After a few days of regular wear, she noticed the surface with a tanned tinge. She found that only the coating of that jewelry is gold and the rest was copper! So be careful of such scams. Another scam that is popularly doing the rounds is of polishing the surfaces of metals to look like gold. The finished work is so perfect that you’ll mistake a base metal for gold. Many companies that are not registered to sell gold are entering the business. Don’t be beguiled by the Boullion Exchange Traded Funds selling precious metals because they don’t actually sell gold. If you’ve kept yourself abreast with news in this area, there’s this New Jersey Company National Bullion Investors LLC that sold ‘gold’ to investors who lost about $5000 in the deal. The Iowa Insurance Division (IID) has taken legal action against this firm. Apart from this company, the Barron Trading Group also faced the rightful wrath of the IID.

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission warns that you should not fall prey to the claims made by these companies that you’re going to get big money with the minimum investment. Generally these companies campaign for themselves that way so that you fall into the trap of investing with them. Legal action is taken against such companies. Beware of media advertising that these companies actively use to catch hold of you.  You might come across a newspaper advertisement, a Television Commercial or a radio announcement or an internet banner asking you to invest in gold. Be careful before you take up those offers. Confirm that they are from reliable sources. The real aim of these companies is your money. You can easily make out this from the numerous ways in which they try to extract money from you through fees, commissions, loan initiations, shipping fees and storage fee etc. The more these fees, the greater is the reason for you to believe that the company is not genuine. A firm can also charge fees for genuine purposes but it is very clear about that. The dupers always include hidden charges in their services or they tell you about them later.

Many companies overstate the benefits of gold investments or the amount of money you can make with these investments. They also underplay the risks involved. Also they do not disclose their charges clearly right from the beginning. If you come across such a company never try to invest with them because these are the firms that are going to ditch you. So you’d better be careful.

Next, always ask for the storage location of the gold. Companies with dubious credentials or intentions will never disclose the location to you or they will not give straight answers. They will give you only indirect information which will involve you finding the location in a round about way. These companies will never reveal to you that you are purchasing the gold on a margin. They might also say that you need to invest more if the price of the metal falls.

What You Should Do

The Better Business Bureau has the ‘biodata’ of all consumer –oriented companies. You can look up reviews of the companies you’re interested in from the BBB before you buy any gold from them. The BBB information will tell you about the history of the company, its market value, its credibility , its performance statistics, customer satisfaction data and if there are any complaints against the company. All this information will help you in selecting a reliable company for investing in.

You can also look up the NASAA, North American Securities Administrators Association to select a genuine company to make investments. The NASAA has international reach and it’s interested in protecting the interests of the investor.  You can always request details about these scamming organizations from NASAA so that you have information with you prior to joining those firms. If you are interested, NAAG (National Association of Attorneys General) is another good organization that can help out in this. NAAG is going to help you with the laws that govern gold investments so that whenever any company tries to impose illegal issues on you, you can always detect and take the necessary action. The National Futures Association should be consulted if the dealers and brokers have got the license to operate from the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation.
The US Department of Treasury is the place from which you can expect to buy coins. You can also buy gold bars from gold Bars Worldwide. The Gold Global Council researches on gold and provides you statistics. Amerigold is rated A+ by the BBB and is known for its good customer service.

Gold investments are a good option, but you’ve got to be very careful about those investments. Save yourself from scams. It’s always better to purchase from authorized sources. Always check for any credentials of the companies and brokers before you buy. Gold investments are beneficial on the whole and you should be able to do good business if you can steer yourself clear of all the scams.