Do you want to know why you should consider different ways to protect your money — such as gold ETFs or other precious metal ETFs? In this article, we give you the answer.
Today we’re going to talk about something that directly affects your wallet. Because let’s be honest — we’ve been deceived.
Just like me, you’ve probably noticed that no matter how hard you work, how much you save, or how well you try to manage things, every year you need to spend more money to buy the same things.
You used to pay 50 cents for a coffee, and now you pay two euros.
So why is your money worth less? Who or what is stealing the fruits of your labor?
Central banks.
Central banks print money that doesn’t correspond to the real economy.
This creates inflation — and inflation is an invisible theft of the value of your work.
In fact, if you measured your work by how many things you can buy with what you earn, you’d see that you can buy fewer and fewer things every year!
A rarely told story
But before revealing how all of this works — and how you can even benefit from it — let me tell you a short story about how money has evolved.
Thousands of years ago, we used bartering. I would give you my chickens for your cows, and then my tomatoes for your lettuce. But there was a problem: what if you didn’t want my chickens? Or what if your cow was worth three and a half chickens, and I couldn’t exactly cut one in half?
That’s why money was created — something everyone values as a medium of exchange, that’s divisible, and doesn’t spoil over time.
Some people used shells, grain, beer, or even salt, but in the end the best and most practical option prevailed: the exchange of gold coins.
And that’s how it was for more than 2,000 years. Gold held this role because it has many valuable qualities: it doesn’t deteriorate, it lasts over time, it’s divisible, everyone values it, and above all, it’s scarce.
Later, around the 1800s, paper money began to gain popularity. Initially, it represented a portion of the gold stored in the bank.
Basically, if you had a banknote, you could go to the bank and exchange it for its value in gold.
This was known as the gold standard.
But everything changed in 1971, when U.S. President Richard Nixon ended that system and declared that from then on, the value of money would be based solely on the trust that people have in it.
You believe it has value. I do too. And that’s it.
It completely changed the rules of the game.
From that moment on, central banks began creating money out of thin air.
They no longer needed gold to back their notes — they just had to turn the printing press, and that was it.
The Great Deception
And here’s where the deception I mentioned begins.
We all know that if one year the pepper harvest is excellent and there’s an enormous supply on the market, the price will go down — and if there are very few peppers but demand is high, the price will rise.
Well, believe it or not, the same thing happens with money. If large amounts of money are printed and there’s too much in circulation, its value plummets, prices go up, and your purchasing power decreases.
This happens gradually, unless there’s some exceptional event — so slowly that you hardly notice it.
That’s why I said that inflation is the invisible theft of the value of your work.
And you might wonder whether the rate at which money is being printed is really that high or low.
Well, for example, in the United States, over the past 10 years the average annual rate has been 6.44%.
That is to say, your money — although it also depends on some other macroeconomic factors — is, on average, really losing almost six and a half percent of its value every year.
And I’m sorry to tell you that this loss of purchasing power is no accident.
The system is designed for our money to constantly lose value. Central banks want there to be inflation every year — and this will only keep happening more and more in the future.
This is because governments are enormously in debt — and they’ll only become more indebted — since when a country owes, for example, one million euros, it benefits from the value of money decreasing, as its debt then becomes worth less in real terms.
That’s why states have a huge incentive to keep creating inflation.
It’s the only way they can make their gigantic debts more “manageable.”
The problem is that you and I pay the price — with our savings.
So, how can we protect our money?
Do you know how assets that can’t be created out of thin air — like gold — have performed?
In the past 25 years, its price has increased sixfold, and in the past year alone, it has yielded a 45% return.
And the fact is that among its properties, that the number of gold bars is limited, that there are only 50,000 tons left in the world to be extracted, and that central banks themselves are buying gold hand over fist, make it a more than interesting asset to protect against inflation and the system.
And not only that, for the most skeptical, it even practically matches the performance of the S&P 500 over the last 10 years:
And also with less volatility, and delivering a return above 12% annualized.
If after this you’re thinking: ‘Okay, you’ve convinced me, but how do I invest in gold? Because buying gold bars is a hassle.’
Don’t worry, there’s a much more practical solution for most people: ETFs.
Gold ETFs
A gold ETF is basically an investment fund that trades on the stock exchange and whose objective is to replicate the price of gold. Most physical ETFs are backed by real gold and their advantages are that they are more accessible, since you buy and sell them from your online broker with one click, they are much cheaper than buying physical gold, and they are also very liquid.
And I’m going to show you some of the best ETFs on the market.
Invesco Physical Gold
The first one is Invesco Physical Gold, better known by its ticker GLD.
Its fees are 0.12% annually, it’s one of the largest and most liquid ETFs in Europe, and it’s backed by physical gold stored in J.P. Morgan’s vaults in London.
Its total average return over the last 10 years has been 174.15%.
iShares Physical Gold
The next ETF is iShares Physical Gold, with the ticker IGLN.
Its fee is 0.15% annually, it also offers direct exposure to the price of gold, and its annualized return has been 10.63% over the last 10 years.
And lastly there’s Xtrackers Physical Gold, with the ticker XGLD.
Its fees are a bit higher, at 0.25% annually, but its return has also been 176% over the last 10 years.
If you want to know where you can buy these ETFs, I’ll leave you links down below in the description to some trusted brokers where you’ll be able to find and trade these gold ETFs.
| Broker | Regulation | Broker Type | Trading Instruments | Trading conditions | Minimum Deposit | Broker Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XM | CySEC | Market Maker/STP/NDD | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.2 pips Leverage: 1:888 | $5 | Review |
RoboForex | CySEC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.5 pips Leverage: 1:1000 | $10 | Review |
HF Markets | - | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.2 pips Leverage: 1:1000 | $5 | Review |
EXNess | FCA CySEC | Market Maker ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.0 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $1 | Review |
XTB | FCA | NDD/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.2 pips Leverage: 1:200 | $250 | Review |
ICMarkets | ASIC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.1 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $200 | Review |
Axi | ASIC and FCA | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.0 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $10 | Review |
BlackBull Markets | FSRP | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.2 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $200 | Review |
Pepperstone | ASIC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.1 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $200 | Review |
ForexTime | CySEC IFSC | Market Maker/ECN | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.1 pips Leverage: 1:1000 | $5 | Review |
FPMarkets | ASIC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD -Stocks | Spreads: From 0.0 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $200 | Review |
Avatrade | Bank of Ireland, ASIC and other | Market Maker | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 1.0 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $100 | Review |
FXPrimus | CySEC | NDD/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.5 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $200 | Review |
FXOpen | FCA ASIC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.5 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $1 | Review |
Markets4you | - | NDD/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.5 pips Leverage: 1:500 | $10 | Review |
FBS | CySEC IFSC | ECN/STP | -Forex -Commodities -CFD | Spreads: From 0.5 pips Leverage: 1:1000 | $1 | Review |
EasyMarkets | CySEC ASIC | Market Maker | -Forex -Commodities -CFD -Forex options | Spreads: From 1.0 pips Leverage: 1:400 | $250 | Review |
Gold ETF FAQ
What is a Gold ETF?
A Gold ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is an investment fund that trades on stock exchanges and aims to track the price of gold. Most physical gold ETFs are backed by actual gold bars stored in secure vaults.
Why invest in Gold ETFs instead of physical gold?
Gold ETFs offer several advantages over buying physical gold:
- Accessibility: Buy and sell with a single click through your online broker
- Lower costs: No storage, insurance, or security costs
- High liquidity: Easy to trade during market hours
- Transparency: Daily pricing and holdings information
- Divisibility: Invest small amounts without buying full gold bars
Are Gold ETFs backed by real gold?
Most physical gold ETFs are backed by actual gold bullion stored in secure vaults with custodians like J.P. Morgan or HSBC. Each share represents a fraction of gold ownership. However, always check the specific ETF’s prospectus to confirm.
What are the main Gold ETFs available?
Popular gold ETFs include:
- Invesco Physical Gold (GLD): 0.12% annual fee, backed by physical gold in London
- iShares Physical Gold (IGLN): 0.15% annual fee, direct gold exposure
- Xtrackers Physical Gold (XGLD): 0.25% annual fee, physical gold backing
How have Gold ETFs performed historically?
Over the past 10 years, major gold ETFs have delivered:
- Total returns of approximately 174-176%
- Annualized returns above 10-12%
- Lower volatility compared to stocks
- Performance nearly matching the S&P 500
What are the fees associated with Gold ETFs?
Gold ETF fees typically range from 0.12% to 0.40% annually. These management fees are automatically deducted from the fund’s assets and cover storage, insurance, and administrative costs.
How do Gold ETFs protect against inflation?
Gold has historically served as an inflation hedge because:
- It’s a tangible asset with intrinsic value
- Supply is limited (only about 50,000 tons left to mine globally)
- Central banks actively buy gold as a reserve asset
- It tends to maintain purchasing power over time
Can I take physical delivery of gold from an ETF?
Most retail gold ETFs don’t offer physical delivery to individual investors. They’re designed for convenient trading exposure to gold prices. If you want physical gold, you’d need to sell your ETF shares and purchase bullion separately.
Are Gold ETFs safe?
Gold ETFs from reputable providers are generally considered safe because:
- They’re regulated investment vehicles
- Physical gold is stored with established custodians
- Holdings are audited regularly
- They’re traded on major stock exchanges
However, like all investments, they carry market risk and can lose value.
