Why invest in silver

Left unchecked, it can also lead to ruin. World Gold Council. Federal Trade Commission. Federal Reserve Bank of St. TD Ameritrade. Geological Survey. Accessed May 7, Metals Trading. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice.

Popular Courses. Table of Contents Expand. Filling Up Your Treasure Chest. Will Precious Metals Shine? Precious Metals Risks. The Bottom Line. Key Takeaways Precious metals are thought to be a good portfolio diversifier and hedge against inflation - but gold, perhaps the most well-known such metal, is not the only one out there for investors.

Silver, platinum, and palladium are all commodities that can be added to your precious metals portfolio, and each has its own unique risks and opportunities. In addition to owning physical metal, investors can gain access through the derivatives market, metal ETFs and mutual funds, and mining company stocks. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work.

These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate.

By selecting company or companies above, you are giving consent to receive communication from those companies using the contact information you provide. And remember you can unsubscribe at any time. But Bill Holter and Jim Sinclair hit the nail on the head for me. There is no way that the world can pay the debt, something has to give. The global financial system is based on ever increasing amounts of debt. The endgame outcome is certain, the path is uncertain.

Stocks and real estate looks very expensive relative to PMs. I am super leveraged on real estate where I earn a good rental yield but have also been accumulating silver and gold in lieu of keeping cash in the bank.

You cannot compare investing in PMs with investing in stocks or real estate, its apples and pears. I would rather invest in silver than keep excess money in the bank. Im happy to keep my silver with my broker for the next few years until I have a better handle on the global outlook. Long term plan is to take delivery to avoid paying longterm storage costs and have my children inherit the bulk of my PMs.

In fact, I dont have any savings accounts for them. I allocate a portion of my PMs to them each month as if I would be saving fiat ccy for them. I suspect the value of my PMs during the next economic downturn will be enough to cover most or all of my housing loans. Then I will increase my cashflow and look forward to retirement. I stack gold and silver an insurance policy for my grandchildren.

I love them!! I am certain that our monetary system will collapse when?? Oh wow, you are so far off in left field. People like me buy silver for when the dollar collapses. We want the price to keep going down to lower the dollar cost average. A safe deposit box at the bank? Countless people have made articles on this.

The answer is absolutely not with a bank! Just look at the last 10 years of the value of bars and coins and you see that if there is any rise in value it is the rise of the sellers price and not that you could sell your silver for a profit.

You must be logged in to post a comment. How to Invest in Silver. Despite its affordability and industrial uses, silver has maintained a fairly low profile, especially in comparison to gold. It also remains relatively cheap — especially in comparison with gold — presenting investors with more buying opportunities. But silver is more volatile and less liquid than gold. These factors, along with its dependence on different industries, can make it difficult to predict what the silver market will look like in 10 minutes, let alone 10 years.

For those reasons, it's probably wise for newbie investors to steer clear and stick with good old gold if they want a safe haven against the stock market's moves. But if you're slightly more experienced and have a stomach for risk, Camerana suggests that silver could be a good choice. Now might just be the perfect moment to take the plunge, as the combination of a bullish market intersects with increased demand from both the industrial sector and financial investors.

Get the latest Silver price here. Get the latest Gold price here. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. Investment Assets. Silver also retains its purchasing power over long-periods of time, as does gold , and is thus suitable as a store of value and as a long-term hedge against inflation.

Chart: years history of the silver price. Source: www. Silver has many different properties which make it useful in a multitude of different roles. Of all the metals, silver is the best conductor of heat. Silver is also the best conductor of electricity. In addition to its usage as money, the conduction properties of silver allow it to be widely used in electrics, batteries, and electronics.

Silver is also the most reflective metal when exposed to natural light, hence its use in jewellery, silverware and more recently, solar panels. Silver nitrate was critical for the evolution of photography, and silver is still used widely in the photography industry despite the rise of digital photography.

Silver's anti-microbial properties have found it applied recently as nano-particles in sweat resistant clothing and as a germ fighter. Silver has long been used as a water purifier, and is now also found in medical equipment and hospital instruments.

Silver's many useful properties and usage in a wide variety of applications and consumer goods means that the demand for silver is driven by a diverse number of sectors which compete for available silver supply.

Within the large industrial fabrication demand, electronic and electrical applications comprised the biggest component, generating 7, tonnes of silver demand, while applications in the fields of silver alloys, photographics, and solar cells generated another 6, tonnes of demand, with the remaining 5, tonnes arising from other diverse industrial end uses not captured by the above categories.

These diverse demand drivers for silver underscore silver's unique position as both a monetary asset with inherent intrinsic value and as a commodity asset with sophisticated and important value and uses to society.

The silver price is therefore often more volatile than the gold price. Global demand for silver bars and silver coins exploded with the onset of the financial crisis in , a trend driven by savers and investors moving into tangible assets such as precious metals, which are seen as safe havens and stores of value. By , the comparable figure was 4, tonnes comprising 2, tonnes in physical silver bars and 2, tonnes in silver coins and medals.

Silver supply is predominantly derived from mining and to a lesser extent from scrap recycling. Since silver demand totalled 31, tonnes, there was a supply deficit in the silver market equal to about tonnes or about 2. The global silver market has been in a deficit position since CPM Group , a precious metals consultancy, estimates that silver mine supply will fall further, adding additional pressure to silver supply.

Of the estimated 1. Thomson Reuters GFMS has identified the relatively small above-ground stockpiles of silver available, and estimated that these stockpiles totalled about 86, tonnes at the end of This would represent less than 3 years of silver demand.