What Are the Best Precious Metals For Investing?

Choosing the right precious metal can be difficult. What is the best precious metal for investing? Many new investors ask themselves this simple question. It’s true that stackers have quite a few options when stacking precious metals. Pressure is high, too. Choosing the wrong metal could potentially cost you both time and money. 

To find the best precious metals for investing, new investors should consider their investment time horizon, investing budget, and risk tolerance. These three classic strategies for investing can help collectors identify the best precious metals for their needs and unique investing objectives. 

Today, we’re walking readers through how to find the best precious metal for investing. As always, we recommend checking out Hero Bullion’s expansive inventory of in-stock gold, silver, and platinum coins and bars.

Searching For the Best Precious Metal

Some investors seem to feel like all precious metals are the same. Most precious metals fall under the category of safe haven assets. This means that these investment-grade metals might provide similar asset protection during times of strife in the traditional economy. 

However, all precious metals are not created equal. Depending on your time horizon, investing budget, and risk tolerance, some precious metals may better fit your investment objectives than others. 

Factors to Consider

To get a better idea of which precious metals might work best for your portfolio, we’ll need to consider a few different factors. Investment time horizon, your investing budget, and your preferences on risk tolerance all play a role in which precious metals are good choices for your growing stack. 

Investment Time Horizon 

Investment time horizon is an important element of investment planning. Your time horizon refers to how long you’re willing to hold onto an investment before you’d be interested in selling. Some people have long time horizons, especially if they’re young investors who plan to build their portfolio over many years. The length of your time horizon plays an essential role in determining which precious metals you should consider. 

If you have a short time horizon, it might make sense to take a gamble on volatile precious metal investments like palladium. For investors with a lot of time to spare, a more consistent precious metal like silver may provide a more fitting opportunity. 

Take some time to consider your investment time horizon before buying precious metals. The best precious metal for you will be one with a volatility level that works well with your anticipated time horizon. 

Investing Budget

Budget is perhaps the most important factor used to determine the best precious metal for investing. As you already know, some precious metals are far cheaper than others. Silver often trades at around thirty dollars per troy ounce, while gold coins and bars can cost $2,000 per ounce or more. 

When looking for the best precious metal for your portfolio, it’s important to keep budget in mind. If you’re working on a low budget, you might still be able to secure some of the more expensive precious metals on the market. To do this, you’ll need to consider fractional coins, rounds, and bars. Although gold is very expensive, buying small gold coins can help you save quite a bit of money while still getting the precious metals you need. 

Consider your budget before settling on a new precious metal for your portfolio. Never invest more money than you can afford to lose. Try to look for precious metals that are affordable in your price range but still offer excellent value and opportunities for profit. 

Risk Tolerance 

Risk tolerance is the final consideration to keep in mind when searching for the best precious metals to buy. Different precious metals come with different risk levels. In the investing world, we refer to the relative risk of an investment as its “volatility.” 

Precious metal investments with high volatility tend to swing wildly in prices from day to day. Some metals can lose hundreds of dollars in value in just a few months, depending on market conditions and investor speculation. 

Risk tolerance varies from investor to investor. For the most part, we tend to see a higher risk tolerance among young investors. Because new consumers have lots of time to build their portfolios, they might be willing to take more risks during the lifetime of their portfolio. But when you reach advanced age, you might want to put your money on safe, proven bets that are unlikely to lose substantial value in a short period of time. 

Keeping risk tolerance in mind can help investors select the best precious metals for their needs. We generally note that platinum is one of the most volatile precious metals on the market. If you put your money on platinum, be prepared to see some wild price swings. Silver, on the other hand, tends to be relatively consistent and has a lot to offer for investors with a low risk tolerance. 

Types of Investment-Grade Precious Metals 

You’ll find a wide range of different precious metals online. Before you can decide the best precious metals for your needs and investment objectives, you’ll need to take a closer look at the precious metals that we sell. 

For the most part, the bulk of precious metals investments are in gold, silver, and platinum markets. There’s a little-known additional option for investors who want something new – palladium. 

Below, we’ll outline four of our favorite picks for the best precious metals for investing. 

Gold Bullion 

Gold is a classic. It’s hard to imagine the precious metals market without the yellowish metal that started it all. For thousands of years, gold bullion has been one of the world’s most popular precious metals to invest in. 

Clearly, gold’s reputation is indisputable. But what are the pros and cons to investing in gold, and what makes gold such a popular precious metal for investors? 

Pros and Cons to Buying Gold 

Gold offers both pros and cons. For generations, gold bullion has been the standard for investors who are looking to diversify their portfolios with a time-honored safe haven asset. However, the metal is extremely expensive, which can make it hard for low budget investors to start stacking gold coins and bars. 

Gold’s main advantage is twofold. First, gold is beautiful. The precious metal is considered one of the most important metals on Earth for a reason; gold jewelry, coins, and bars are always a great addition to any portfolio. Second, investors like gold because of its scarcity. 

Unlike traditional assets like stocks and currency, gold has intrinsic value. In other words, gold bullion retains value and isn’t dependent on the success of a single company or government in order to become more expensive. 

Finally, gold bullion coins and bars serve as buffers between your portfolio and inflation. When inflation rates are high, traditional assets tend to depreciate, or decrease, in value. This isn’t usually the case for gold. Instead, gold often performs better when inflation and interest rates are rising. 

This is part of what makes gold such a good safe haven asset. Gold’s immunity to economic downturn helps make it one of the best precious metals for investing. 

Investing in Silver

To many investors, silver functions as gold’s little brother. It’s been around for about the same amount of time, with its roots coming from Ancient Egypt. However, silver may be one of the best precious metals for investing because of its affordability and consistency. 

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons that make silver one of the best choices for investors looking to get into precious metal stacking. 

Silver Investing Pros and Cons 

Silver’s pros are pretty easy to figure out. Silver is cheap, beautiful, and relatively easy to find. In fact, most geologists claim that silver is up to 19 times more common than gold bullion. This means that the precious metal is also cheaper than gold, sometimes trading at 1/100th of the spot price of gold! 

In addition to being easy to find and cheap, silver bullion is beautiful. Some people prefer the look of gold or platinum, but we find that most investors can’t get enough of cheap silver coins for their portfolios. 

Silver coins and rounds also feature some of the most beautiful designs in the entire precious metals industry. Silver rounds are easier to produce than gold coins, and they can be minted privately instead of only at government mints. This means that investors who love variety can enjoy thousands of unique designs on their silver rounds while also saving money by avoiding costly gold coins and bars. 

Platinum Coins and Bars

Right now, platinum’s price sits somewhere in between gold and silver. This hasn’t always been the case. Sometimes, platinum is nearly as expensive as gold. Platinum also offers a higher volatility than most of our other precious metals, which can be either a good or a bad thing for investors. 

Below, we’ll outline some of the pros and cons of investing in platinum bullion coins and bars. 

Pros and Cons of Investing in Platinum

We’ll start with the positives. For investors with a high risk tolerance, platinum’s high volatility can make it a great choice. Because of platinum’s wild price swings, some investors secure quite a bit of profit for themselves by investing in platinum coins and bars. 

Additionally, platinum is one of the most beautiful precious metals on Earth. Featuring a brilliant shine and a litany of intricate designs from renowned mints, platinum bullion looks fantastic in any collection.

There are 2 main cons to investing in platinum. The first is its high entry cost. Investors need to be willing to spend quite a bit of money if they want to invest in platinum coins and bars. This cost might be worth it, but investors who are looking for cheap platinum also need to contend with the metal’s high volatility. 

Because platinum is highly volatile, investors need to be willing to weather bear markets without selling their platinum out of panic. Volatility can either be a good or a bad thing for precious metal investors, depending on your investment time horizon and risk tolerance. 

Overall, platinum has earned its place as one of the best precious metals for investing. Platinum coins and bars are beautiful, valuable, and come with a history of impressive price appreciation. Still, platinum bullion investors should be willing to spend a sizable chunk of cash on their next platinum investment. 

Sleeper Option: Palladium Bullion 

Palladium is a lesser known precious metal, and we think it’s an easy contender for the best precious metal for investing. Palladium belongs to the platinum family of metals, but it also offers its own distinct benefits. 

Palladium is currently just a tad more expensive than platinum bullion. However, the past three years have been an absolutely wild ride for palladium investors. This precious metal reached record heights in March of 2022, when supply chain disruptions drove it up to a jaw-dropping $3,400 per troy ounce. 

Palladium’s wild price swings are its main downside. However, palladium offers an unprecedented level of industrial demand. The precious metal is used in hundreds of industries, including the automotive sector. 

Overall, palladium is one of the best precious metals for investing because of its relatively low cost and tremendous potential upside. 

Which Precious Metals are the Most Profitable?

The best precious metal for investing depends on your own circumstances, objectives, and budget. If you’re willing to invest a sizable amount of money, gold and platinum are tried and true investments that have made millions for stackers over the past few decades. 

But if you’re working with a smaller budget, there are several important benefits to putting your money on palladium and silver. 

Final Thoughts: What’s the Best Precious Metal for Investing?

So what’s the best precious metal for your growing portfolio? We recommend considering your budget, risk tolerance, and time horizon before settling on your next precious metal. Each precious metal on the Hero Bullion website comes with its own upsides and downsides, so feel free to shop around and figure out which metals are right for you. 

You might also be interested in: 

• When is the Best Time to Buy Gold? 
• How to Buy Palladium 
• 5 Tips For Investing in Silver Dollars