If you’re hearing more and more about investing in gold, you may be wondering if it’s really a practical or profitable undertaking. Is it really worthwhile, or is it a scam designed to make those who sell gold some extra profits?

In fact, gold is a very good investment for several reasons. While it’s true, when you buy gold someone else will earn a profit, this is true of almost every other type of investment, too. Few people would call the stock market a scam due to the fact that brokers earn a commission.

Investing in gold allows you to own an asset that will hold its true value. The value of paper currency and paper investments such as stocks depends on many different factors. Inflation and deflation continually affect the dollar, while the worth of gold depends primarily on the physical content of the precious metal it contains.

This is why many people consider investing in gold a type of insurance for financial security. If a company you’ve invested in suddenly flops and its stock plummets, there’s nothing you can do to recoup your investment. The market value of gold on the other hand may drop, but it will always be worth at least something.

Most experts agree that when it comes to gold, you’re practically guaranteed the same relative buying power you have today for as long your gold exists. That means the amount of purchasing power your gold has today will at a bare minimum be the same for whoever owns it three generations from now.