Can Gold Investments Be Tomorrow's College Tuition - CheapScholar

Today?s guest article is provided by Natalie Bracco.

Experts advise parents to begin saving for their kids? college as soon as the child is born. If you set aside $100 per month from the child?s birth, you can accumulate $48,000 by the child?s 18th birthday at an interest rate of 8-percent.

However, current interest rates are far below 8-percent. According to St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, the interest rates aren?t likely to rise soon. The average cost of a university education currently hovers at about $64,000 for public institutions and $128,000 for private universities, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and this cost is on the rise. Almost every state is raising college and university tuition to account for state budget deficits. For most of us, savings alone isn?t going to cut it.

So, What are the Options?

Stocks and bonds were the go-to investment for many parents until 2008, when we began to fear whether we?d ever get to retire ? let alone send our kids to college. So, where is a parent to turn to put their kids in position to graduate college and succeed in life?

Historically, the soundest investments are commodities that are:

• Not renewable, hence always raise in value
• In demand no matter what the national or international economic climate looks like

There are three investments that meet these criteria:

Gold vs. Other Investment Alternatives

Most parents can?t afford to make mortgage payments on a piece of property for each child they have, and an uncertain selling market means there would be no guarantee of selling the property for what its worth when the child is ready for college. Plus, real estate means property taxes, insurance and maintenance that offsets any profit to be made. So, real estate is definitely not a sound choice for financing your children?s education.

Silver vs. Gold

This leaves gold and silver. While both are at all-time high prices and each holds value, gold has many factors driving its value upwards ? making it the soundest possible choice when investing for your children?s college education.

• Since the same weight in gold is worth far more than the same weight in silver, safekeeping enough gold to cover your children?s tuition costs is less expensive and takes up less space. Which also makes it easier to hide. You have to account for purchasing safes or renting safety deposit boxes when determining how to store your investment assets.
• The price of silver is directly tied to the value of the dollar. Gold will hold its value no matter what the world currency situation becomes. Humans have sought after gold in good times and bad since before recorded history.
• Gold is proven to fare far better in uncertain economic times. For example, while silver prices fluctuated erratically during the financial crisis of this century, gold (aside from normal day-to-day fluctuations) has seen a steady incline in value, beginning the year 2000 at just under $300 per ounce and valued at about $1,600 per ounce currently. During the same time, silver entered this century valued at less than $8 per ounce, dipped below $4 per ounce and now sits just above $17 per ounce.

Clearly, the most sound investment in your child?s ability to attend college lies in investing in gold.

About the Author:

Natalie Bracco is a freelance writer and an amateur baker. When she?s not busy in the kitchen, you can find her writing about technology, education, food and finance.

Source: http://cheapscholar.org/2012/11/14/can-gold-investments-be-tomorrows-college-tuition/

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