Today’s global marketplace is full of worry, trepidation and constant change. It is still full of ways for smart investors to create vast amounts of wealth, but the risks of losing it all are higher than ever before. Wealth cannot be created overnight, but it can certainly be lost overnight if poor investment choices are made. Smart investors look at today’s turbulent economy and attempt to find more stable forms of investments to help them build long-term wealth. One of the most stable forms of investment is precious metals, and the precious metals outlook for the 2013 year and beyond looks good.

Why Invest in Precious Metals

Precious metals make great investments because they are secure, tangible and not as directly connected with the worldwide economy as many other types of investments are. Paper currency is backed by the government that issues it. The worth of stocks and bonds is determined by market factors, which can dramatically rise and fall according to almost anything, including the bad ‘feelings’ of market experts.

Precious metals, on the other hand, have intrinsic and inherent value. They are never worthless. Precious metals can be used in a variety of different methods, including as currency, jewelry and in manufacturing industries, and their worth is not determined by the stock market. Precious metals are always worth something and when other types of investments lose value, they tend to hold their value. This means that the precious metals outlook for 2013 shows it as a safe, stable and long term investment strategy.

Types of Precious Metals

There are many different types of metals that can naturally be found all over the world, but four of these metals make great investment assets and have an excellent precious metals outlook. These four metals include gold, silver, palladium and platinum. Gold is probably the oldest and most well-known precious metal. It has been used as currency for thousands of years. Today gold can be used as currency, in jewelry and in a number of industrial manufacturing processes. It is highly valuable and its price tends to either hold or rise in tough economic times. Silver is the second most known precious metal, as it has also been used as a form of currency for many years. Silver has many of the same uses as gold and can be purchased for investments for a lower price than gold. This makes a popular form of long-term investment for first time buyers or for investors with limited funds.

Palladium is not as well-known as gold and silver, but it has a great many uses in the world’s manufacturing industries. It is a highly valued precious metal because it has a wide range of modern applications, but it is only available in a limited supply. Platinum also has a large number of uses in the production and manufacturing industries, and it is not readily available, which makes it a valuable precious metal for investment purposes.

The precious metals outlook for investment purposes in 2013 remains good. The odds that these precious metals will not only retain their value in 2013, but also gain in value are very high.