Should I invest in gold or real estate? This is the question many people are asking themselves because the stock market is volatile and they want a safer avenue to park their funds. Also, they want an avenue that comes with low risk, and at the same time, they want good returns from their investment. So, which out of these two investments satisfies all the requirements?

Here are some factors that help to decide between the two:

Amount

The amount of money you have for investment determines to a large extent which one is better. In general, rich people choose to invest real estate whereas poor people tend to invest in gold. In fact, a study by Gallup showed that Americans who earn less than $30,000 a year believe that gold is the best investment with 31 percent saying they will invest in gold. This is a stark contrast to the 18 percent of Americans earning $200,000 or more who said they will invest in gold.

This difference in investment choice stems from the fact that real estate costs much more than gold, so the former is more viable only for rich people whereas gold costs a lot less and is affordable for a wider section of the society.

Inflation

The biggest advantage with gold is that it increases in value when inflation goes up. Today, the government is printing money at a rapid rate and this is driving up inflation world over. When prices go up, the value of gold goes up too. As a gold buyer, this is the biggest reason for you to invest in gold, considering the movement of the US dollar and other world currencies. Likewise, real estate prices also move up during inflation because it is also a physical asset like gold.

Low-risk

If you go by historic trends, then gold is the winner hands-down. People have invested in gold for the last five thousand years, and it has been a safe form of investment. Even if you examine the price movements over the last few decades, gold has risen steadily. In contrast, real estate prices have jumped and dropped many times through the same period, as also other forms of investment like stock market. Even eight years ago, the stock market and real estate crashed during the Great Financial Recession of 2008. However, gold has never crashed in the past, which means, you'll always get more money than what you invested. This way gold is the safer investment when compared to real estate. Also, based on historic trends, gold offers the best return for long-term investment.

Aesthetic value

Many people buy gold in the form of jewelry, so it's more than just a form of investment for them. For such people, gold is more appealing because it has an aesthetic value. They can use it for a longer time and even pass it on to subsequent generations.

Thus, from the above discussion, it can be said that gold is a better investment than real estate if you're in it for the long-run.