Metal Prices
	GBP	USD	EUR
Gold Price	£3,048.90	$4,010.47	€3,532.30
Silver Price	£44.90	$59.02	€51.97

How to invest in gold for beginners

Beginner's guide to gold investment.

Beginners to gold investment can be assured they are embarking on a well-trodden path. Because of its great scarcity, gold has always been a medium of exchange and a store of wealth. Unlike most paper assets, gold can never fall to zero value.

Gold investment can seem like a daunting prospect for beginners, but owning physical gold is one of the simplest ways to invest your money. Understanding how gold investment works – as well as the actual act of how to buy physical gold – does not have to be difficult, and the barrier for entry is one of the lowest for any investment vehicles.

Beginners may see websites talking about gold ETFs and other forms of gold investments, but for people new to investing simplicity will be a great way to start in a way you can quickly understand.

Physical gold offers a number of benefits, and is much simpler to invest in. ETFs will be traded via funds/brokers, and incur fees as a result while increasing risk. The process of setting up accounts and beginning your investment is also much more difficult compared to simply buying physical gold.

Other investments, like property for example, are also difficult to invest in. Estate agents, surveyors, solicitors, builders, tenants; each third-party involved in an investment is an additional cost and an additional risk. As we discuss in our gold vs buy-to-let article, the returns have historically been poor for rental properties too.

How do you invest in gold?

So how do you invest in gold? It's a question we're asked quite often by beginners. Some who have previous knowledge or experience with other assets often expect to own shares in gold, or gold-backed products, but with physical gold you actually buy the physical asset itself. It's this true ownership that can make precious metals so appealing.

Investing in physical gold is simple. Buying it is done in the same way as buying many other online products: you create an account on a website, you choose the product(s) you want, you proceed to the payment page and enter your payment details, and once payment is confirmed then your physical gold will be packed up and posted to you. Once you have your gold, that’s it - it's yours. You’ve invested in a physical asset, and need do no more for now.

As the gold price moves, your investment increases or decreases in value accordingly. Over a longer period, gold has historically been shown to gain value, which is why gold is recommended as a long-term investment.

Return on investment is easy to calculate for gold, and can be done with the following formula:

(Current Gold Price – Original Cost)/Original Cost).

For example, if you bought an ounce of gold for £700 and sold it in 2019 (with a gold price £1,100 per ounce) this would be: (1,100 – 700)/700 and would return you a figure of 0.5714, or a ROI of 57.14%. The graphic below shows how the return on gold investment ramps up significantly the longer you hold it. From a 1% return in the past year, 109% in the past decade, to an incredible 614% in the past 20 years as of 2024.

ROI Gold 2024

A chart showing the ROI for gold over four different time periods.

When you decide you want to sell - be it the right time for you personally, or the right time because of a high gold price - this process is as simple as buying. Customers can arrange to sell and then post their gold back to us, or visit our trade counter in Birmingham - whichever suits them best.

Though there are additional decisions to be made, such as whether to buy gold bars or gold coins, and tax considerations, the question of how to invest in gold for beginners really is that simple. Start with a value you are comfortable with, buy physical gold, keep it safe over the years, and then sell when ready.

Need help choosing what to buy? Try our investment calculator for an investment package tailored to your budget.

We’re here to help

Even beginners can benefit from investing in gold, and the process is far easier than you might imagine. If you have any further questions about how to invest in gold our Bullion Index has the answers to a number of frequently asked questions. Alternatively, our customer support team are always happy to help with any enquiries, and can be reached via phone on 0121 634 8060, or email at support@bullionbypost.co.uk.