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Gold prices are ticking slightly lower today, just off of its fresh all-time high from last week. Gold is broadly considered a safe haven asset, which means it's considered stable, it holds its value, and even grows even when stocks and bonds are experiencing volatility. So for those curious about adding gold to your portfolio, we've got the tips for you. Joining us now, we've got personal finance editor Molly Morehead. Molly, good to have you here in studio with us for all the gold curious people out there. Lay out the key steps in the gold investing process they need to know.

There's a lot of those gold curious people right now. Um, so step one would be, what's your goal? Why do you want to own gold? I think, um, interest grows when there's market volatility and so that's what we're seeing now. And, uh, you need to know why you're buying it. Um, a good reason is for diversification. It's an alternative asset that holds its value even when stocks are kind of all over the map. It's also, uh, can be a form of currency, uh, if you're really worried about the value of the dollar. Um, so just know why you're buying gold would be step one. Step two is allocation. You do not want 80% gold in your portfolio. Tip from me. Um, the standard advice is something like 5 to 15%. Uh, again, because it can be a good hedge against, um, other volatile assets. It can be an insurance policy, um, that as an alternative currency. Uh, and then step three is what form you're going to buy it in.

Yeah. And so with that in mind, let's explore those different forms of gold. I mean, I always had the thought coming into many of these conversations years ago like, all right, am I buying gold bars? Do I need an amazing vault in my apartment in Brooklyn? How am I going to get the permits to make sure that I can add on that vault? Let's explore those different types of gold, though. What are the pros and cons of physical gold versus stocks and ETFs?

Yeah, so, uh, you really can buy physical gold and, uh, you know, put it in a safe in your house. That's, uh, the, the obviously most direct way to own it. Uh, the purest form of gold, it's, uh, you know, the con is you got, you have to store it. Yeah. Um, but there's no, you know, management fees for your gold bars. Um, a second, uh, way to buy it is, uh, buy stocks in gold mining companies. So these are just, you know, stocks you buy on an exchange like any other, they're, they're fairly liquid. Um, but one thing to note is that stock shares have often been, um, lower than the spot price of gold historically. Uh, finally, gold ETFs, so these are, uh, exchange traded funds that invest in physical gold and gold mining companies, and then you buy shares in those, uh, funds. And so this is kind of a low maintenance way of investing in gold.

Is there anything else people need to consider, especially as they're identifying what their entry point might be given the trade that has really run to new all-time highs over the course of this year, even though we're seeing a bit of a pullback today?

Right, but it's important because of the heightened interest is that like, I mean, in general, you're going to buy gold and hold on to it. So just know that when you, uh, you know, just decide to buy physical bars or invest in an ETF, this is not something you're going to trade frequently. This is something to buy and hold on to again to have diversification in your portfolio and a little bit of insurance against volatility.

All right, so I will keep my Costco gold bar tab open then on my laptop. I appreciate that. Good call, Molly. Thanks so much.

Good call.