Investing in 2011? Wow, is that a scary concept.

Growing up, I remember my parents putting all kinds of money aside in retirement and 401K plans. When you are young it is hard to understand the concept of investing. Why did they put all of this money in some plan when our family could get more of the things we wanted and do more traveling?

Fast-forward 10 years...I start my first job, working at a very reputable company with a nice retirement plan and 401K option package.

My parents recommend - no INSIST - that I take the maximum amount of money that I can and "invest" it. I didn't like the idea of not having that hard-earned cash in my pocket on payday to spend how I choose, but I still did what they said. It wasn't until they sat down and showed me exactly how investing worked and how it gave them the option to retire by 55 if they wanted to.

So I followed their advice and the advice of financial advisors for several years. Since I was young, they recommended that I consider putting a large portion of this money into higher risk stocks. And for a long time, I could see how "investing" early could really pay off. How I would be able to retire early like my parents if I continued to do this.

Then...

• 9/11 happened,
• then the housing market dropped,
• then gas prices skyrocketed,
• then business costs rose and people began losing their jobs,

and I watched as the market dropped, and dropped, and dropped.

The financial advisors said to stay in the market...don't stop investing...the market will come back. So I stayed and continued putting that money into the market. Where did it all go???  The plan my parents had laid out for me had vanished along with the money I had set aside (and a good portion of theirs too).

So what do you do now? Where can you "invest" without losing any more money?

Well, after much research, I discovered that gold is one of the safest places to invest when the economy is bad. If you look back into the history of gold, you will see that the value of gold has increased every time there has been a financial crisis.

Now it is true that as the markets increase the value of gold will decrease, but the key is to get into gold when the price is low and then once the markets just start to improve, then get out. By doing this you will offset the losses that you will incur in the markets.

So, is gold a good investment in 2011? I believe the answer is "yes".

Why? Well from all of the reading that I have done on this subject, many financial experts believe that the stocks are still over-valued and that there is still much more room to drop. In fact, a good number of experts believe that we still have another 5-10 years of falling investment prices. As I write this, we are coming off of a week where the markets dropped another 700+ points.

I know my investments are going nowhere in stocks and bonds, so I am getting out. I am planning to invest in history. I am going to give gold a chance. What do I have to lose? If you are in the same spot I am, you should think about it too.