The term “investment” is often used when referring to buying gold and silver for the simple reason that by doing so, you are taking your available cash and converting it to gold. This isn’t buying gold stocks or other high-risk investments where your return is based upon company performance, price and other factors. Converting to precious metals is about protecting the purchasing power you have today well into the future. Gold and silver are currencies, whereas other metals, such as platinum and palladium are not.