[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignleft" width="630"]
![Jittery about the currency inflation, people are turning to Gold for a safe haven](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v9-yCshFYbWKia8aQMUBV7Gcb377CfIGB2f9eiBxF1QGom2ZqZts8tEgQLm-g_LA6n9nTkLGrBKfkcKtTwdkvOOptTcSzmsoDUgD-pOO5Tn3Hunet3PIt6RukbnZiGBQ=s0-d)
Jittery about the currency inflation, people are turning to Gold for a safe haven[/caption]
Time has proven that Gold as an asset class has play important role in our world economy dated back from the early days of human civilization.
Gold began as items of adornment to symbol of wealth to trade currencies and asset until today. Its core functions has not changed through the centuries although today in our modern economic environment, gold has evolved into more sophisticated financial products such as currency backings, investment funds and into materials for industrial uses. Its rarity, usefulness and desirability make it a substance of long term value.
Not only that, because it has a high value, durable, portable and easily divisible, it is not a wonder that Gold is a viable investment.
Compared to other asset classes, the finite resource has also been steadily appreciating in value, if not, retaining its value steadily and again proven itself as a suitor for long term investments/ saving.
Needless to say, there are many write ups and expert advises from simple laymen language to sophisticated market trend analysis that easily point out the many benefits of investing in gold.
In this article, we sum up a short and concise version for your reading pleasure as below: -
Hedge against inflation
During the launching of GoldSilver2u.com gold and silver bar online investment platform in November 2011, financial expert, Mr Cao Yang from Batar Gold China, shared that the world economic volatility is something that we all cannot foreseen, at times of hyper-inflation, even our cash will become nothing more than a piece of paper.
Blanchard Economic Research Unit in its article “Why own gold?” the most consistent factor determining the price of gold has been inflation - as inflation goes up, the price of gold goes up along with it.
It is also no wonder why not only investors are keeping gold, even central banks around the world are stocking gold to counter the effects of inflation and currency fluctuations.
Preserve your Purchasing Power
Gold always retain its intrinsic value. Gold’s value, in terms of the real goods and services that it can buy, has remained remarkably stable for centuries. In contrast, the purchasing power of many currencies has declined, due for the most part to the rising price of goods and services.
When economy suffers a crisis or when people lose confidence in their government, Gold becomes a safe haven for investment that protects against stock market's financial meltdown, inflation, currency fluctuations.
This is because gold prices tend to appreciate at time of trouble, as shown below :-
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![How Gold Perform during a financial crash Gold as safe haven](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vGeGv3lqURSK4iamOPI0GGEpm8KbZAh74d-g5Ug7DBtEWCt2W7waa4fFoEIPhFVWrwK9eqErTikMhUiMY9tHwS9Nb5oORGeyr16bLiTV61RcL55s8Yn0CHHJrE9BDvL7XYikfwvI1EUq69eg7P=s0-d)
How Gold Perform during a financial crash (Source : http://seekingalpha.com/article/295567-how-gold-performs-during-a-financial-crash)[/caption]
As a portfolio diversifier
Don't put all your eggs into one basket. When investing, it is a good practice to diversify your investments When diversifying, it is important to take into consideration the type of asset classes and their correlations to reduce the risks of value fluctuations in the one or a few of the invested assets.
Statistically, gold has seen to be behaving differently in comparison with stocks, bonds and currencies as explained in the earlier section of this article. Physical gold, compared to most investment portfolios most asset types such as bonds and stocks that are valued on paper are also much less exposed risks of severe losses in the event the finance companies undergoes liquidation.
Therefore many financial advisers recommend keeping an amount of 5% - 10% of gold help offset market fluctuations and reduce volatility
Greater liquidity compared to other investments
Unlike most investments like bonds, stocks and properties, gold is less regulated and less bound by ownership procedures and paperworks yet it is still recognized and accepted as a form of payment, worldwide. Because of that, it allows you to easily buy, sell and exchange it anytime, 24-hours a day, around the world.
In conclusion, Gold is close to being regarded as universal currency!
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation
http://www.blanchardonline.com/beru/why_own_gold.php
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/11/17/central-banks-in-scramble-to-buy-gold/
http://seekingalpha.com/article/295567-how-gold-performs-during-a-financial-crash