With so much confusion about the state of the economy, the Federal 
Reserve, and other central banks, the wealthy have developed an appetite for having physical ownership of their assets. With financial institutions around the world printing more and more money, the wealthy (and many other socioeconomic types of people) are anticipating eventual consequences and feel more comfortable investing in “safe havens.” Safe haven is the term for tangible assets such as paintings, real estate, art and collectibles, and of course precious metals like gold and silver, which have been rising in price steadily as people are choosing to make hard assets a part of their investment portfolio.
Wealthy people are moving out of currency and into having something tangible for a number of reasons, such as there is not enough interest to offset the risks of fiat currency. Other risks include holding money in a bank, inflation, and commerce being changed by governing financial institutions. Some people accept these risks but many who do not are investing in safe havens of all types, which are benefitting from this influx of purchasing. Gold is considered a safe haven because it has been seen as money for 5,000 years and is still continues to be seen as money which is unique. As the centuries roll by, gold has held its spot as a stable commodity.
The consequences of overprinting money is that if something happens to the U.S. dollar not just Americans are affected, because the U.S. dollar is the world fiat currency right now. Some investors consider it smarter to diversify your portfolio by having wealth invested in physical assets of varying sorts such as precious metals or antiques instead of having too much faith in fiat currencies.
No one can predict the future of what would happen if the American dollar fails. Private currencies could become paramount. Bitcoin is an interesting example of a pivotal technological revolution which may play a role, however gold has always been the nucleus of worldwide finance. The two may form a symbiotic relationship where gold is the physical money and any kind of cryptocurrency is used as a form of payment. Banks are wary of cryptocurrencies because clearly they are competition which has turned them into an underdog when fighting for a stance in the world of currency providers.
You can buy gold to become a trader and earn money from its changes in price in the market, or you can treat is as a “safe haven” and collect gold as a tangible asset with no risk. To protect your tangible gold assets you can purchase it and store it yourself or pay someone to store it, which slightly changes your return on investment, but might be a safer option. If you are going to store it yourself you need a safe. Doing both is an option and in investments diversification is never a bad idea, even with storage of your assets. It just depends on what seems more advantageous to you. Diversification of your portfolio to include tangible assets is something that wealthy people are doing in an unpredictable economy and may be a good idea for all investors to take note of.
