If you know a bit about modern investment tactics, you are probably already well aware of the widespread recommendation to add gold bullion to the portfolio. If you don’t know about this trend, you will want to delve into the facts and understand exactly why most financial experts are suggesting that a 20% to 30% conversion of the portfolio into a “real money” asset like gold bullion is a good idea.

It helps to start your educational process with the use of a single chart. This chart should be the performance data on gold for the past year. If you compared the average market price for an ounce of gold bullion from mid-2009 to the current pricing, you might be incredibly surprised. Why? Well, the price has increased by roughly 30% – ranging from around $900 to the ounce to upwards of $1,200 for an ounce only twelve months later!

This shows that even short-term holders would have enjoyed a tremendous increase in the value of their holdings, and that such holdings could have counteracted any offsets caused by general market trouble. Just consider the wild fluctuations and losses that have occurred throughout all of the global economies and markets over the course of the past few years. It is little wonder that so many investors are rushing to acquire stable assets like gold bullion.

Of course, if you doubt that it will continue to function in this current capacity, you can look at the performance data as far back as ten years ago to see that gold bullion is a long-term investment option too. For example, in mid-2000, gold was at a price of roughly $300 per ounce, and yet ten years later, it has continually climbed to reach that $1,200 mark. The trend for increasing value is consistent, which is something rare and valuable in the modern world of finance.

So, how can you add bullion to the portfolio? Fortunately, gold bullion comes in a wide array of “styles.” These include things like bars, ingots, and medallions, as well as officially minted coins too.

To determine the appropriate option for your needs, you must simply consider the amount of portability and flexibility that you will require, along with the available budget. For example, someone with a small amount of capital could easily add gold to their portfolio through the acquisition of gold American Eagles. These are bullion-quality (or pure gold) coins that come in weights as small as a tenth of an ounce, and which provide privacy and fluidity. They allow an investor to purchase small amounts, and to trade only as much of their holdings as desired.

Investors who are looking for long and short-term ownership, on the other hand, might want to consider the larger quantities available in the kilobars and bars of bullion too. These can be found in small bars of only a single ounce, in ten-ounce bars, and in the 32.15 “troy” ounces in the kilobars. They come in various levels of purity with .9999 (four nines) being the ultimate level possible.