Many people are seeing the potential benefits of investing in gold ira during these times of economic downturn. The price of gold is rising rapidly, so you must think carefully before investing in it. There are many options available when it is time to purchase precious metals. Here are the top 5 ways you can buy precious metals.

1. Physical Coins – The idea of investing in gold has existed for thousands years. Thus, the creation of coins. Coins are portable and small enough to hold a lot of wealth. These treasures can also be purchased at your local or online dealer.

2. Physical bars – This is a great way for you to invest in gold. Bars are gold at its most affordable form. Bars are generally cheaper than smaller denominations of gold because they offer the least markup, or premium over the spot price.

3. Precious Metals IRA – Investing your gold in an IRA can be a great way of diversifying your retirement funds and hedging against inflation. You’re simply having a third-party storage firm, or gold bullion dealer store your gold in your IRA.

4. COMEX Contract — A COMEX Contract is a gold Comex futures contract. It covers a predetermined amount of precious metals. One 100 ounce Comex Gold contract is 100 ounces. They can be delivered upon request once the futures contract is over. Although your gold is actually stored in a Comex vault, many people complain that the Comex offers cash settlements rather physical bullion.

5. ETF’s: GLD is an exchange-traded fund. GLD can be traded in the same way as a mutual fund. The gold you trade is not actually yours, but you are exposed to the market price. This could be a good way to go if you don’t plan on owning physical bullion.