Gold can add variety and mitigate losses in other investments, but there are multiple methods of investing in it and it’s wise to carefully evaluate all available choices before making your decision.

Start off right by finding a dependable dealer that accepts credit cards; this makes the entire process simpler for you and will reduce any hassles during sale.

Physical gold

Physical gold investment has long been popular with investors. While infomercials may make the process seem easy, investors must understand its risks and seek a trustworthy seller in order to avoid being scammed. Furthermore, investing in physical gold requires storage and insurance fees as well as sales markups, processing charges, or small lot fees when making limited purchases.

Another popular form of physical gold investing is through bullion bars. Investors should examine the purity, form, size and weight of each bullion bar to ensure they receive exactly what they paid for; buyers should research sellers for best prices and selection.

Investment options beyond owning physical gold include investing in ETFs that can be traded any day the market is open, although investors should keep in mind that ETFs pose distinct risks than owning physical gold, including storage and insurance costs.

Gold mining stocks

Gold can provide an effective hedge against inflation and is frequently included in investment portfolios to diversify risk. But investors should remember that gold lags behind stocks and bonds when it comes to price appreciation; financial advisors advise investing no more than 10% of savings in gold.

Physical gold bullion can be bought through various brokers and dealers, while investment vehicles like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that hold precious metals such as gold may provide easier access without worrying about storage and insurance costs.

One way of investing in gold can be through mining companies and royalty/streaming companies. These entities purchase streams of future gold or silver production for an upfront payment, then sell the metals back to major miners such as Barrick Gold (GOLD), Franco-Nevada and Freeport-McMoRan for distribution. Successful mining companies manage costs effectively so as to capitalize on periods when precious metal prices increase and generate profit during these periods.

Gold futures

Gold futures contracts traded on financial exchanges allow traders to buy and sell physical gold at specified prices and dates, giving traders access to physical gold at the specified cost and settlement date. Companies in the gold industry can use these futures contracts to hedge against price risk while investors use them as an opportunity to take positions based on expectations for price movements.

Once a futures contract reaches its conclusion, it will be “rolled over” into the next period and priced with a differential that closely tracks financing the purchase of physical gold – this process is known as contango.

The gold futures market draws in many traders looking to profit from price movements quickly. Unfortunately, this can lead to situations in which both the exchange and clearing house cannot collect critical margin payments on open positions for various commodities – leading to substantial uncollected book profits that go uncollected as traders fail to pay up.