Investing in gold and silver: the complete guide

About Neverless

Neverless is a platform licensed under MiCA and MiFID II that lets you invest in stocks, ETFs, crypto, gold and silver with zero commission and at the best execution price on the market. Founded by three former Revolut executives, it already has more than 100,000 investors.

On 29 January 2026, silver hit an all-time high of around $121.67 an ounce, more than double its level in October 2025. Eight months later, in mid-September 2026, it was trading around $66, nearly 45% below its peak. Gold, for its part, had broken through $4,000 an ounce for the first time in October 2025.

These figures sum up precious metals well: assets in demand in uncertain times, capable of strong rallies, but also of sharp corrections. Here is how they work, how to invest in them and how to fit them into a portfolio.

Gold and silver: the 2-minute refresher

Why invest in gold and silver

A safe haven. Gold is nobody's debt. It depends neither on a company's strength nor on a government's, which is why it is sought after during crises, inflation or geopolitical tension.

Diversification. Precious metals often move differently from stocks and bonds. A small allocation to gold can cushion some declines in the rest of the portfolio, although this decorrelation is never guaranteed.

Protection against currency debasement. Over the long run, gold has kept its purchasing power far better than paper currencies, even if the path has been bumpy.

Central bank demand. Since 2022, central banks have been buying gold at historically high rates, which supports the market.

For silver, industrial demand. Solar panels, electronics, electric vehicles: more than half of silver demand comes from industry. According to the Silver Institute, the market is expected to post a sixth consecutive annual deficit in 2026.

Gold and silver: two metals, two behaviours

In short: gold is the defensive pillar, silver a more dynamic complement that often rises more than gold in rallies and falls harder in corrections.

The different ways to invest in gold and silver

Physical gold (bars and coins). This is the most direct form: you own the metal. In return, you pay a premium on purchase, bear a spread between buying and selling prices, and arrange storage (safe at home, bank deposit box or professional vault), with its cost and insurance.

Metal-backed ETFs and ETCs. They track the price of gold or silver and are generally backed by metal held in vaults. They are bought like a share, with annual management fees often below 0.5%.

Mining stocks. They offer leverage to the metal price, as their margins rise faster than the price. But they add specific risks: extraction costs, management, country risk.

Positions on the metal price. Some platforms let you gain exposure directly to the price of gold or silver, on the upside or the downside, with or without leverage.

How much gold in a portfolio?

There is no universal rule, but many wealth allocations set aside between 5% and 10% of the portfolio for precious metals. The idea is not to bet on gold to get rich, but to hold an asset that behaves differently from the rest.

Example for a €20,000 portfolio:

Illustrative example, to be adapted to your horizon and risk tolerance.

To smooth your entry price, dollar-cost averaging (DCA), which means buying a fixed amount every month, avoids putting everything in at the top.

How gold is taxed in France

On purchase. Investment gold is exempt from VAT in the European Union. Physical silver, on the other hand, bears 20% VAT in France, which significantly increases its cost.

On the sale of physical gold, two regimes are possible:

• The flat tax on precious metals: 11.5% of the sale price (11% + 0.5% CRDS), whether you make a gain or a loss. This is the default regime, especially without a purchase invoice. Sales of €5,000 or less are exempt.
• The capital gains regime: by option, if you can prove the date and price of purchase. The gain is taxed at 19% plus social charges (18.6% in 2026), after an allowance of 5% per year of ownership from the third year. It is fully exempt after 22 years.

Example: gold bought for €10,000 and sold for €15,000 after 8 years. The flat tax comes to €1,725. Under the capital gains regime, the allowance is 30%, the taxable gain €3,500, or about €1,316 in tax.

For ETFs, ETCs and price positions, the rules on capital gains from securities apply, in principle the single flat-rate levy (PFU).

Tax rules change: check your situation with the tax authorities or an adviser.

Real case: silver, from $50 to $121 and back to $66

For more than forty years, silver never stayed above $50 an ounce for long: it touched that level in January 1980, during the Hunt brothers' attempt to corner the market, and again in April 2011.

In October 2025, it finally broke through $50. Driven by industrial demand, a market in deficit and gold's surge, it reached around $121.67 on 29 January 2026. By mid-September 2026, it had fallen back to around $66.

Two lessons

• A safe-haven asset is not a risk-free asset: silver lost almost half its value in a few months.
• Entry timing matters: buying gradually reduces the risk of investing at the peak of a frenzy.

Advantages of investing in gold and silver

• They diversify a portfolio made of stocks and bonds.
• They depend on no issuer or counterparty (for physical metal).
• Gold has historically preserved its purchasing power over the long term.
• The markets are deep and liquid, especially for gold.

Drawbacks and risks

• They generate no income: no dividend, no coupon.
• Prices can go through long periods of stagnation or decline.
• Silver is very volatile, with corrections of 40% or more.
• Physical metal is expensive to buy, store, insure and sell.

Why investors choose Neverless

Gold and silver alongside the rest of your portfolio: stocks, ETFs, crypto, gold and silver in a single app.

No commission on orders: buying or selling carries no brokerage fees, whatever the amount.

No storage to manage: you get exposure to the metal price with no vault, no insurance and no transport.

Up or down: you can take positions in both directions, with chosen leverage up to 5x or without leverage.

A regulated framework: Neverless is licensed under MiCA and MiFID II.

No platform makes investing in metals risk-free. What Neverless does is let you access them simply, at the best price and with no transaction fees.

Investing in precious metals carries a risk of capital loss. This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.