This is the 1^st installment in a series of 16 articles on acquiring gold and silver for your investment portfolio.

Pat Gorman, President & Owner of Resource Consultants, will provide you an education on the subject of precious metals investing. There is such a concern about the economy, I felt this subject could use some light, instead of smoke and heat.

Read and study this information carefully! You are responsible for your own money! Invest it wisely, and it’ll serve you well.

(Note: Information is given as generalizations of typical portfolios. Some of this information was provided by Patrick C. Gorman, President & Owner, Resource Consultants Incorporated, 6139 S. Rural Road Ste.103 ‘(800) 494-4149 or 480-820-5877 6480-820-5905. Resource Consultants deals in all gold, silver, and platinum coins, and bullion. Pat sells 90% silver in bags, gold and silver Eagle coins, silver dollars, and can recommend a strategy to fit individual need. His wife, Linda, has been in the business for 25+ years, and is experienced in every aspect of brokerage and precious metals management.

Mr. Gorman has been in the hard asset business for more than 27 years. For the past 19 years, he has also hosted his own live talk show, “Hard Money Watch” and has been rated in the area’s top 5 radio shows for the last 6 years. Further, Pat Gorman and his company Resource Consultants is the most recommended precious metals brokers in the country. They are recommended by more than 20 financial newsletter writers and investment analysts.)

What Is Precious Metal?

While getting your pantry ready for the unexpected, there is more to consider than just food, shelter, and clothing. We strongly recommend that you invest in yourself and your family by providing a financial cushion that contains a years’ supply of reserves for housing and/or shelter for your family. In a financial emergency, when the entire fiat (paper money) system fails, there may be a need for a medium of exchange that is both effective and outside the fiat money utilized at the present time. This allows an effective and continuing medium of exchange with intrinsic value recognized by those with whom we deal.

Any tangible asset that another will accept for goods or services will suffice, but those reserves that are recognized worldwide have always been precious metals.

Webster’s dictionary defines the term precious metal very simply as a metal of the gold, silver, or platinum group. Some guidelines for understanding precious metals and their value in an investment portfolio are provided as they are utilized in context.

Our intent is to inspire all our readers to learn about the generalities of investing in precious metals. Specific advice is not offered by this book, its author, publisher, or distributors––nor is any course of action recommended for the individual reader. In fact, we urge you to always seek expert advice and consult with a professional investment counselor prior to making any investments.

Review the credentials of those investment consultants to assure they have the background and training to give competent advice about the acquisition and utilization of precious metals in your portfolio.

Precious metals are a real and enduring asset of true wealth and power. Gold’s richness is attested to by the fact that it was used to decorate the temples of the Egyptian gods more than 3,000 years ago. Today when one sees new gold coins in brokers’ showrooms, their luster and beauty capture the imagination with their richness and powerful warmth.

Knowledgeable investors have always valued the tangible and symbolic significance of precious metals. Both silver and gold were used as coins as early as the 6^th century. Rulers struck gold coins or stamped bars with their personal heraldic emblems to create “coin of the realm” or legal tender for trade within their area of influence.

Precious metals have been used as money in the past and can be kept in reserve as money for the future.

What is money?

Money is defined here as stored-up work. It can take the form of anything anyone will accept in payment for goods and services rendered.

Throughout history, people have accepted many things as money (e.g.: seashells, animal teeth, livestock, salt, sugar, furs, slaves, wives, gemstones, and precious metals), too many to mention individually. Some of these forms of money have proven to be much more enduring than others. In all of history, however, precious metals––usually in the form of gold and silver––have best served to determine the value of one’s stored-up work.

A note of caution, by their nature, precious metals markets can be very volatile, and can trap the unwary.

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Financial Preparedness: Why Gold?