As gold has become a key element in investment portfolios around the globe, investors are keeping a keen eye on live gold prices. While the gold price has risen dramatically over the last few years, long-time investors in precious metals know that these solid assets can be quite volatile. However, many financial experts believe that the current gold bubble has some time before growth subsides.

The demand for gold is high. It seems that everyone these days has their take on what the future holds for investments in gold. As Jason Toussaint, managing director of the World Gold Council, has stated, “If I went outside and talked about gold, everyone would have an opinion on it, including the taxi drivers. Anyone past the age of 4 knows about gold. It brings out a lot of opinions.”

News about gold investments have been rampant in just about every news source available. As economic uncertainty also remains a hot topic and is of great concern for investors around the globe, gold’s intrinsic value and safe hedge against inflation has many people flocking towards investments in gold. Websites offering live gold prices are receiving more hits than ever as investments in gold-based exchange-traded funds, certificates, derivatives, and other investment vehicles have risen dramatically.

For those interested in more direct investments in gold, gold bullion bars and coins provide the most straightforward option. Dealers in gold bars and coins have also seen a tremendous rise in sales in recent years. For owners of gold bullion, checking live gold prices is often, at least, a daily habit. The recent surges in gold prices have made this type of investment more exciting than ever.

While gold prices have had a long, steady growth in recent years, many investors see gold as more than just a periodic investment tool to be used in times of economic downfall. There has been much talk about gold’s permanent role in solid investment portfolios.

In truth, fiat money, which is the form of currency used by most countries today, is unpredictable and depends greatly upon the current political and economic climate of any given country. Gold, on the other hand, will always have intrinsic precious metal value. Therefore, while an investment portfolio based solely on fiat currency based investments is a gamble, so to speak, those investment portfolios that include precious metal investments will retain, at least, some value no matter what the economic climate.