Precious metals, especially gold, have been and continue to function as stores of wealth the entire history of mankind. Physical gold, platinum, silver, etc are considered to be true “safe haven” assets because they have no counter-party risk. Unlike currencies, bonds, and other “paper” financial instruments, precious metals do not rely upon a government or someone else’s promise to pay.

The dot-com collapse of 2000, the ensuing global credit collapse of 2008-2009, and the current mid-East crisis with the skyrocketing price of oil have helped position precious metals as the #1 performing asset class of the past decade. For example, on average, gold has increased over 15% each year from 2001 to 2011.