The Two Best Precious Metals and Minerals Funds

You are a happy investor today if you own a precious metals or minerals fund or ETF. These particular investments are considered to be volatile, however, if you look at past performance it is hard to ignore production.

Take, for instance, the Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund (VGPMX). Since inception back in 1984 it has earned over 8%. Not too shabby. Also, in December this fund paid it's annual dividend at a whopping $1.09 per share on top of a long-term capital gain of $0.19 per share.

For more information on how to invest in this fund or more information about this fund go to www.vanguard.com.

A couple of other funds in this category to look at are:

USAA Precious Metals and Mineral Fund (USAGX)

Current Price:

Expense Ratio: 1.21%

Distributions:

Annual: $0.67

Large Capital Gain: $3.88

Small Capital Gain: $0.05

Performance:

1 Year: 39.92%

3 Year: 19.68%

5 Year: 25.66%

10 Year: 30.80%

This fund is honestly probably the best managed and incurs the best returns year in and year out. If you are interested in purchasing this fund, there are several different affordable ways to buy in.

For just a minimum investment it is $3,000. For a Roth IRA it is $250. USAA also has another cool way to invest called automatic investing. You can buy into this fund with an automatic $50 a month deposit. This is a great way to invest into a volatile fund such as this because you buy as the market fluctuates.

For more information on how to buy into this fund or to become a USAA member, go to www.usaa.com