Holding and/or trading gold and silver bullion will help protect you from a financial 'meltdown' as these precious metals will almost certainly resume their overall upward trend against major currencies

2012 and 2013 have seen rises and fallbacks in gold and silver prices. With continuing US and European country debt crises, bullion has risen to all-time highs in the past few years and prices have risen annually for both gold and silver for more than 15 years. Long term 'bulls' take advantage of corrections and buy more when prices drop and there are ways to trade and profit from gold and silver price fluctuations.

Use the interactive chart below to see current 2013 prices and how gold and silver have increased in monetary value over the last 20 years.

A KNOWN SAFE WAY TO OWN GOLD AND SILVER: BULLIONVAULT

Your Own Silver and Gold Bullion Held in a Secure Vault
While jewellery and coins are attractive and tangible, and will always be popular, nothing beats a bullion vault for security. There is also the intrinsic value of the coin or jewellery to add to the cost of purchase, and valuation can be difficult.

If your intention is to build a safety net against devaluing currencies, then it's best to own gold or silver bullion registered in your own name and held in international Via Mat and Brink's secure vaults.

The gold in a BullionVault account remains in 'good delivery bar' form, so you have the same trust status as a professional market trader and can buy from and sell to other account holders securely, knowing that the gold never actually leaves the ViaMat or Brinks vault you chose to have yours stored – in New York, London, Zurich and now Singapore. This also saves shipping charges for both buyer and seller, and cuts out any 'middle men'. Trades can be settled instantly without going through an outside dealer or trader.

What happens when you want to switch between bullion and currency?
You may think that in times of crisis, that everyone is either trying to buy or sell gold at the same time, so it would be difficult to trade against the historically upward trend. However as with gold itself, individual gold and currency investors have different goals. Some are looking for long term gains, and will buy more when the gold price goes down.

This is when smaller investors fearing losses they cannot afford may 'cash in'. Some are speculators trying to benefit from short term swings. Others liquidate their holdings to use the money for something else. You can trade your gold and silver easily and instantly at BullionVault. Proceeds from a sale remain in your account in the currency you funded it with and you can leave it there safely until you are ready to buy bullion again, presetting an order price if you wish, or withdraw proceeds to your bank account.

So there are short trends, medium term trends and long trends depending on the time scale, which may be minutes, hours, months or years. This is much the same as happens in the foreign currency (forex) market and other 'trading instruments' too. Even minute movements in the gold price can result in trading profits if entries and exits are made at the right times.

See real examples. You can learn how to trade with 4 free grams of silver given to everyone who opens an account with BullionVault.

The best time to open an online bullion account and buy gold is TODAY; it's both easy and secure. You get four grams of silver and units of 3 currencies free when you open an account at BullionVault – no initial deposit required.

Prior to 1971 the gold price was pegged at $35 per ounce. US citizens were once again allowed to buy gold in 1975. By early 1980 gold had peaked briefly at $835 before settling in the $3-400's. However, steadily rising prices have quadrupled the value of gold in 5 years.

Predictions are that the US dollar will continue to fall and that the value of gold will rise further to possibly several thousand dollars. Gold and silver have also risen against all major currencies such as the Euro, Pound, Swiss Franc and Yen.

During 2007 gold rose from $600 to $840, an increase of 40%. In January 2008 it went over $850, the highest price for 20 years. March 2008 saw gold hit $1,000 for the first time, and it went over $1,030 before correcting. Since then it has fluctuated but the longer term trend is easy to see; by September $1,000 an oz was common place. Since then it has even reached $1,900. If it's done it once, it can do it again.

Silver prices have also increased significantly

Silver is not usually seen as an investment in the same way as gold, although we believe it should be; the spot silver price tends to follow gold, but is much more volatile in the short term. It reached a high of $20 in 2008 before dropping to as low as $9. Since then, silver has made overall gains, reaching $19 in 2010, dropping, then recovering to over $28. There was a huge rise in 2011 but it fell below $30 during 2012; it remained around that level in early 2013 when all markets fell.

Silver is being seen by many analysts as an even better investment than gold in the long term. One reason given is that it is also a valuable industrial commodity with limited availability. BullionVault now sells vault-secured London silver bullion to the public as well as gold.

Wise investors include 10 to 20% gold and silver in their portfolios
People in modern societies tend to rely primarily on banks to protect their wealth by holding their money in accounts and safe deposits for other valuables. Often their assets are mostly tied up in real estate in the form of the family house or other property investments. Some speculate in foreign currencies, others in securities like shares and bonds via brokerage accounts.

Buying silver and gold or trading it has been going on for about 5,000 years. Today, it's about as far as you can get from the complex global debt markets which have been making dramatic headlines recently. Bank stocks plummet, mortgage bonds go into default and losses are piling up at hedge funds. On the other hand, gold is showing three-decade and all-time highs, and it doesn't 'owe' anything to anyone! While many did not believe gold could go over even $1,000. It didn't seem possible, but those that forecast gold reaching $2,000 and silver $50 per ounce within the next year or two may still be proved correct in spite of the recent fallbacks. You can trade both silver and gold bullion with a single account at BullionVault.

Unlike currencies, gold has maintained its value in terms of what it can buy and for at least 500 years gold has kept pace with inflation. In 16th century England under King Henry VIII, a man's suit cost an ounce of gold, comparable to prices today at Brooks Bros or on London's Savile Row. Not that I'd know or care; Retired in Asia, I have no need for a new suit; for the past five years, as I've been able to afford it, I've bought gold and silver safely stored in secure vaults in the UK, USA, Switzerland and from March 2013, Singapore. I can sell it (see some of my orders) and convert it back into cash at any time, such as when the price reaches new highs, then drops temporarily. With correct timing, I increase my holding by selling high, then re-buying gold or silver at a lower price.

How much gold should an investor hold?
Even for the smaller investor, opening a gold bullion trading account with a few hundred dollars, euros or pounds is a reliable way to build up a secure investment and a hedge against inflation. Gold is expected to continue to increase in value against the US dollar and other currencies. While there can never be guarantees, that's the opinion of many fund managers and professional commentators.

Whether you prefer a low or higher risk portfolio, accepted market theory suggests a typical asset portfolio should contain up to 10% invested in gold and silver.

By opening a gold and/or silver bullion account, then choosing when to fund it or sell part of it off by trading gold online, private investors have an effective hedge against crisis and also an easy-to-use tool to increase their net worth. It's also fun 'playing the market' with relatively low risk. See below how you can trade silver and gold bullion easily.

WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS WAYS OF OWNING GOLD AND SILVER?

Gold and silver bullion storage and trading
While it was once difficult for private individuals to own or trade silver or gold bullion, an alternative to holding or trading currencies, this has changed in recent years. Now there are effective ways of holding gold as an asset for added financial security as well as get access to your gold or silver bullion account in order to buy or sell securely without high commissions or charges. See examples of actual orders. You can easily learn how to do it using your 4 free grams of silver from BullionVault.

Gold- and silver-related stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
An investor needs to decide whether or not to actually own gold, or simply have shares in it through gold mining stocks (quite risky) or perhaps a silver or gold ETF (exchange-traded fund) which can be included in IRA and pension funds in many countries.

There's a big difference between owning physical gold, either in your hand or held in a bank or other secure vault, properly audited with your account showing ownership of actual physical gold and merely having shares in a mine, investment syndicate or a gold fund over which you have little or no control. Both silver and gold ETFs are seen as promising, but bullion in your own name is perhaps a better way to go.

Learn more about Exchange-Traded Funds which work well for certain market sectors, and can be very lucrative, providing you have studied that market well.

Here's an inexpensive way to learn how to trade gold and silver and profit from temporary price fluctuations.

Forex (broker) trading for Beginners

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