The time of ancient civilizations to the modern era, gold has been the world's currency of choice. Today, Gold Investment Scheme investors buy gold mainly as a hedge against political unrest and inflation. In addition, many top investment advisors recommend a portfolio allocation in commodities, including gold, in order to lower overall portfolio risk.

We'll cover many of the opportunities for investing in gold, including bullion (i.e., gold bars), mutual funds, futures, mining companies, and jewelry. With few exceptions, only bullion, futures, and a handful of specialty funds provide a direct investment opportunity in gold. Other investments derive part of their value from other sources.

So, you've decided to buy some gold for your investment portfolio, but how should you go about doing that?

The most direct way to own gold is to purchase physical gold bars or coins, but these can be illiquid and must be stored securely.

ETFs and mutual funds that track the price of gold are also popular, and if you have access to derivatives markets in your brokerage account you can also use gold futures and options.

To get at gold indirectly, you may also want to consider investing in gold mining stocks, although these companies' share prices do not track gold's value very well over the long run.