Recently, I noticed an interesting phenomenon: more and more people around me are starting to consider buying gold. This may be because, in recent years, geopolitical situations have been tense, inflation has continued to intensify, and everyone is looking for a reliable hedging tool. To be honest, gold does have that value, but many people still do not understand enough about how to buy it.

In fact, buying gold is far more flexible than you might think. Many people still stick to the old routine of “going to a jewelry store to buy gold bars,” but investing in gold has evolved into several different ways now. I recently put together some notes, and I found that each method has its own logic and applies to specific scenarios. The key is to choose based on your investment goals and your risk tolerance.

First, let’s talk about the gold price trend itself. From the 2022 to 2023 market cycle, gold prices repeatedly fluctuated between 2000 and 1700 USD, mainly driven by geopolitical conflicts and Federal Reserve rate hikes. But in 2024, things clearly changed. Expectations of U.S. rate cuts warmed up, and global central banks made a record for gold purchases (net gold purchases of 1045 tons in 2024). These factors directly pushed the gold price to break above 2700 USD. By September 2025, gold had already surged to more than 3700 USD, and Goldman Sachs even gave a target price of 4000 USD for mid-2026. Speaking of it, this uptrend really is worth paying attention to.

However, to be honest, short-term gold price movements are still very difficult to predict. If you are planning to hold gold long term for appreciation, the focus is to find good entry points—don’t wait until prices rise before you enter. In this case, physical gold, a gold savings passbook, or a gold ETF are all good choices. But if you want to earn higher profits while also being able to bear market risk, then you need to consider short-term trading and swing trading—this requires you to learn how to read the market.

Physical gold is the most traditional way to buy gold. You can purchase gold bars, ingots, or commemorative coins directly at banks or jewelry stores. However, there is a pitfall to avoid here: gold jewelry and commemorative coins look appealing, but in reality the processing fees and selling commissions can be quite high, making it not worthwhile. Taiwan Bank is a relatively reliable option. It is the only bank in Taiwan that offers physical gold buying and selling services, and the gold bars come from Swiss banks, with quality guaranteed. You can buy starting from 100 grams, with options including 250 grams, 500 grams, and 1 kilogram. The advantages of physical gold are low risk and simple buying and selling, but the downsides are a high unit price, the need for storage, and additional safekeeping fees. From a tax perspective, if your transactions exceed 50,000 New Taiwan Dollars, you must report it as personal one-time trading income.

If you don’t want the hassle of holding physical items, a gold savings passbook is a good alternative. In simple terms, the bank keeps the gold for you, and you just need to keep a passbook. Taiwan Bank, CTBC Bank, First Bank, and Hua Nan Bank all offer this service. There are three ways to buy a gold savings passbook: buying with New Taiwan Dollars, buying with foreign currency, and the latest dual-currency gold savings passbook. If you buy with New Taiwan Dollars, you have to bear exchange-rate risk. If you buy with foreign currency, you’ll have currency exchange costs in the initial stage. Overall, the costs are about the same and fall under moderate friction costs. The biggest advantage is that you can trade in small amounts, and you can also convert it into physical gold. The downside is that you can only trade during bank business hours, and frequent buying and selling will accumulate high fees, so it’s not recommended to operate too frequently. From a tax perspective, profits are treated as property transaction income and must be included in the comprehensive income tax return for the following year.

Gold ETFs have become a relatively popular choice in recent years. You can invest in Taiwan stock gold ETFs (00635U), U.S. stock gold ETFs (GLD or IAU), and others. The benefits of investing in gold through ETFs include a low investment threshold, good liquidity, and convenient buying and selling. The costs for Taiwan gold ETFs include management fees (1.15% per year), transaction fees, and trading taxes. The costs for U.S. gold ETFs are management fees (0.25–0.4% per year) plus currency conversion fees. However, you should note that ETFs can only be traded long, not short, which makes them more suitable for long-term investing and beginners. If you have an overseas brokerage account, the costs for U.S. gold ETFs are relatively lower.

If you want more flexible ways to operate, gold futures and gold contracts for difference (CFD) are useful tools. Both of these are contracts that track the international gold price, and they allow two-way trading—you can go long or short. Gold futures have the feature of long trading hours (overseas futures trade almost 24 hours a day), low holding costs, and leverage through margin trading—since you only need to pay margin, you can participate in leveraged trading. The downside is that there is an expiration date, which means you need delivery and rollover procedures, and if you still hold positions during the delivery month, they will be forcibly closed. From a tax perspective, the transaction tax for gold futures is extremely low (25/10,000).

Gold CFDs are more flexible than futures. CFDs are contracts that track the spot gold price. They allow two-way long/short trading, have no holding expiration time, and have a very low entry barrier. Investors’ profit is the difference between the contract’s buy and sell prices. Trading gold CFDs does not require stock selection—you only need to judge the gold price trend. From a tax perspective, overseas income exceeding 1,000,000 New Taiwan Dollars must be included for calculation under the minimum tax system. The main differences between futures and CFDs are: futures have a fixed contract size and an expiration date, while CFDs do not; futures have transaction fees, while CFDs do not; and CFDs have a lower margin requirement.

At the end of the day, how you should choose to buy gold depends on your investment strategy. If your goal is to preserve value and hedge against inflation, physical gold or a gold savings passbook is more suitable. If you want to profit from price differentials, gold futures and CFDs are better tools. One thing to remember is that the long-term investment return on gold is not particularly high—the real opportunities lie in short-term trading. No matter which method you choose, the key is to have a clear trading plan and a risk management mindset. Leverage can amplify both your gains and your losses. Beginners should best start by practicing with a small amount of capital, accumulate experience, and then gradually increase their investment.