It's easier than ever to invest in gold in 2026, but there’s always a debate swirling about whether or not it's a good idea to invest in gold. Some people swear by gold and believe it's the answer to surviving the zombie apocalypse.
Others say it simply doesn’t have any cash flows and has produced poor returns. Whatever your view on gold, one thing is for sure, it does help in diversifying a portfolio.
If you had invested $100 in gold and $100 in the S&P 500 in 1985, by 2026, your gold would be worth about $1,414, while your S&P 500 investment would have grown to over $9,545, assuming dividends were reinvested. However, during periods of market crises (such as the 2008 financial crisis or 2020 pandemic), gold provided strong returns and acted as a hedge, while stocks faced significant volatility.
We aren’t going to debate the merits of investing in gold for this article. There’s already plenty on the internet about it. In this post, we’ll focus on how to get started investing in gold. We’ll break down the investing avenues into two paths — paper and physical gold.
How To Invest In Gold
Paper gold means investing in gold indirectly through stocks, ETFs, options, and futures. There are a few reasons to go this route vs. investing in physical gold:
- No storage fee
- Lower transaction cost
- Liquidity
- Potential dividends or cash flows
For investors who want exposure to gold without any of the hassles that come with owning the physical asset, paper gold products are an excellent choice. We mentioned four asset classes above. Let’s go through each one to understand what’s involved.
Invest In Gold Stocks And ETFs
Gold stocks and ETFs have the cheapest transaction cost (potentially $0 with these brokers) and are the simplest to invest in. You can invest in gold miner stocks and ETFs that track gold.
Popular gold miner stocks include Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD), Jaguar Mining Inc. (JAG.TO), and B2GoldCorp (BTG).
Well-known ETFs that are backed by physical gold include SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), VanEck Merk Gold Trust (OUNZ), and Aberdeen Standard Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL).
Invest In Gold Options
Gold options are a little more advance in that they use a lot of leverage. One options contract is equal to 100 shares of the underlying stock or ETF.
Specifically, if you're buying options, you’ll have to be careful about which strike you choose because they decay with time. Unlike a stock, where you can continue holding the shares indefinitely, an option will eventually expire, which can mean losing all of your investment.
Related: Options Trading 101: What You Need To Know To Start
Invest In Gold Futures
Of the paper gold choices listed in this guide, this is the most advanced. Futures are the closest you’ll get to trading physical gold without actually owning gold bars.
In the section on physical gold that follows, spot price is mentioned a few times. The gold spot price is based on the gold futures contract price.
Like options, futures are also highly leveraged and will eventually expire. You can also end up taking delivery of physical gold if you don’t sell out of the futures contract before expiration.
How To Buy Physical Gold
Owning physical gold has a bit of a mystique to it. Unlike paper products, you can touch physical gold. You can put it in your vault, ship it off to be stored at a remote location, or trade it in secondary markets.
But owning physical gold costs more than owning paper products, both in obtaining and storing it. We break both down below.
Purchase Costs
The price of gold bullion or bullion coins is based on the spot price, which generally follows the gold futures contract. On top of the spot price is a markup by the gold dealer.
This dealer markup is basically the transaction cost although there may be a separate fee involved. These transaction costs are going to be much higher than any commissions you’ll pay online for buying paper gold products.
Storage Costs
Next is the storage fee. You need to store your physical gold in a safe place. This means both a secure location and one that is safe from fire. Some people choose to store their gold in a home safe. While that will save money on storage cost, it does leave the gold susceptible to high heat in the case of a home fire.
Instead of storing gold in a home safe, some choose to store it in a safe deposit box at a bank.While that might seem like a step up, the problem with safe deposit boxes is that the contents are not insurable. Additionally, if something happens to the contents of your safe deposit box, the bank is not liable.
There are also precious metals storage facilities. They specialize in the storage of gold, silver, and other precious metals. Some of these facilities can even buy your gold when you’re ready to sell it. Some even offer insurance on your contents.
Vaulted is one example of a company that sells physical gold and offers flexible storage options. With Vaulted, you can choose to pay a 0.4% annual maintenance fee to have the gold held at the Royal Canadian Mint or you can have it shipped to you via FedEx. Buyers also pay a 1.8% transaction fee. Another competitor is Glint, which does similar.
Sale Costs
At some point, you’ll want to sell your gold. Now you need to find a buyer. Here too, you’ll incur high transaction costs. Also, nothing says the buyer has to pay the spot gold price, which means you might get a worse price.
Where To Buy Gold
It used to be that you had to go to a coin dealer or jeweler if you wanted to buy physical gold. Now, it's easier than ever.
There are traditional exchanges like APMEX that allow you to buy gold and other precious metals. There are now new apps like Glint and Vaulted that let you buy physical gold online (or keep it with them to store).
Even Costco sells gold bars now!
The important thing to remember is you want to buy from a reputable dealer so that you know you're getting authentic gold in the proper purity and quantity you want.
Final Thoughts
Gold tends to outperform during secular bear markets for stocks, but over multi-decade periods, equities have delivered higher compounded growth. That doesn't mean you should dismiss gold as an investment.
Buying paper gold products through a low-cost stock broker is a simple, cost-effective way to invest in gold today. But once you've done your homework on purchase and storage options, investing in physical bars or coins could further diversify your gold holdings and overall portfolio.
Finally, you can also consider investing in silver!
Editor: Clint Proctor Reviewed by: Chris Muller
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.