Testing the waters for buying gold? Consider a pooled or holding account.

People have been talking a lot about gold lately. But then again, it's been a topic of conversation for hundreds, even thousands, of years.

According to Chuck Butler, President of EverBank^® World Markets, "For over 200 years, gold has held a storage of wealth or value, if you will. It is a store of wealth that cannot be made. Cannot be cloned. Cannot be imitated…it can only be mined and taken out of the earth.

"And even though just eight years ago, gold was holding steady at $250, it still maintained a store of wealth. It had value. You can't say that about every fiat currency that has been in existence the last 2,000 years."

But what makes gold so precious now? For starters, it historically increases in value in times of crisis. It's tripled in value since 2001. With few places offering decent returns, gold offers some comfort.

Although it can be volatile, gold also helps diversify your portfolio and acts as a hedge against inflation. According to Butler, "Go back to gold's price when it was removed as the backing of dollars and allowed to begin to float. It was around $40. Now, $40 in 1971 to $900 today. I would say that it has done an excellent job keeping up with inflation."

And demand for gold increases every year. In 2008, demand for gold as an investment increased by 427% over the previous year. Even foreign countries are buying it. For example, China has increased its gold holdings by 176% since 2002.

You're sold on buying gold. But how can you buy it?

There are a number of ways to invest in gold. You could buy it outright through reputable companies or dealers—both locally or online. You could buy paper investments based in gold. Or you could buy physical gold and have it held by a third party.

This third option can be one of the smartest ways of owning gold—especially through pooled and holding accounts.

Pooled accounts—least expensive, most efficient.

When you buy physical gold from a third party, you often have to pay ongoing account, storage and maintenance fees. But not with a pooled account. The gold you buy is "pooled" with other investors, saving you from having to pay those fees.

Pooled accounts are often referred to as unallocated accounts. That's because you don't own specific gold coins or bars. They're not allocated to you. You instead own a portion of the pool of gold.

If you ever want to sell the gold, it's easy. You simply call the third party and enter the trade. Or if at some point you decide you want to have the actual gold in your possession, no problem. You can call up the third party and have the gold shipped to you in coins or bars. You'll have to pay a fabrication or minting fee—which could run as high as 9% of the retail price of gold and a delivery fee¹. But you'll already own the gold.

Holding accounts—direct gold ownership.

If you prefer to take direct ownership of the gold, consider a holding account. With this account, specific gold is allocated to you. And you can choose whether you want gold coins or bars. Some third parties will even allow you to convert your pooled account to a holding account.

By having direct ownership for gold you'll pay a storage fee within 1% of the Customer Price² rate. If you choose to have the gold sent to you, you'll also need to pay shipping fees. And if you take possession of the metals, when you sell, you'll pay an assay fee along with delivery charges back to the dealer.

Learn more about these accounts at EverBank.

Ready to take the plunge into gold with a pooled or holding account? EverBank offers both through non-FDIC insured EverBank Metals Select Accounts.³ We encourage you to learn more about these accounts now.

Or if you'd prefer to discuss these accounts with one of our specialists, just call 800.926.4922.