If you’re considering buying gold as an investment for the future, there are many things to think about. What type of gold will you buy? Where will you buy it from? Where will you keep it? How much will it cost to keep the gold secure? Another question that you need to ask yourself, though, is when you should actually go ahead and buy gold. Different financial experts will say that you should buy gold at different times, but there are a few rules of thumb that you can follow to make the process a little easier.

First off, know that most people won’t make a killing on gold in a few years. Instead of being an investment in the way that stocks and bonds are an investment, gold is actually something that you should purchase as a solid financial base. If the stock market crashes and inflation makes paper money worthless, gold will still have an inherent worth. Because of this, it’s really a long-term investment and a way to pass your wealth down to future generations instead of a way to turn a quick profit.

That said, you should still seek to buy gold with the prices are good, just as you would buy any other investment low. Although no one can predict what the price of gold will be from one day to the next, you can certainly check out trends in the market to see what price you should shoot for. Over the past five years, the demand for gold has skyrocketed, so it’s price has gone up accordingly. You can check out a chart with the lowest price of gold in the past few months, and then you can try to get it as close to that rock-bottom price as you can.

On the other hand, the time to buy gold is, simply put, now. Whenever you have the money to make an investment in gold, you should definitely do it. Although the amount of assets that you devote to gold investments will depend on your financial goals and preferences as well as your current financial status, if you have the money to start investing in gold, you should begin today. The price of gold has only to go up, and even if it falls for a while, in the long run, it will be a worthwhile investment and a solid basis for your financial future, so it’s never too early to take advantage of this type of investment.