So we know that gold is rock solid. No matter what happens to the dollar or the stock market, physical gold holdings will be there for their owners. Indeed, if stability is what you're after, nothing will beat the peace of mind of gold coins in a secure vault. But if you're looking to grow your portfolio, analysts warn gold may not be the best long-term investment.

Indeed, if you had put some gold coins into a vault 25 years ago, they'd be worth about the same price today. Meanwhile, all kinds of index funds could have been making you more than 10 per cent a year in that time. Gold is a conservative investment, but opportunities do exist in higher-risk scenarios. Whether or not you're happy with the proportion of your gold holdings in physical gold (that will depend on whether you're looking to save your existing capital, or speculate around opportunities), here's how you can diversify:

- Gold Coins: The most popular are one-ounce coins such as the American Eagle and the Canadian Maple Leaf. These closely match the price of gold and are considered essential when building a baseline in gold investing.

- Gold Certificates: A bank can issue paper certificates backed by its assets. These are similar to physical bullion, and can easily be sold or exchanged for gold bars. The fabrication costs and shipping and insurance fees are lower with certificates, but some analysts still prefer physical possession of gold in a segregated vault.

- Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs): This relatively new choice eliminates leverage and storage problems by offering shares in funds fully backed by deposited gold and based exclusively on the existing market price of gold. The first gold exchange-traded fund was launched in March 2003 on the Australian Stock Exchange under Gold Bullion Securities. A number of other gold ETFs have since sprung up around the world.

- Gold Market: Taking this route includes buying stocks in gold mining companies and mutual funds traded on one of the major exchanges. The value of a company's stock is usually volatile, depending on its debts, holdings, future plans, and management. Mutual funds remove some of that stress by spreading the investment among many stocks and having a professional make major decisions.

- Gold Futures: A futures contract traded on one of the futures exchanges, such as the COMEX in New York, is generally considered the riskiest of options, given historical fluctuations far outweighing those of the price of gold. Still, gold futures contracts are valuable trading tools for the metal's commercial producers and users, and can also be used to benefit from a sudden drop in the price of gold.