--- title: What Is a Safe-Haven Asset? description: Investors can choose from numerous asset classes. But safe-haven assets tend to preserve their value regardless of economic conditions. authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 437 covers: - Investing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes editors: - name: Jordan Chussler role: Editor, Investing and Banking url: https://money.com/author/jordan-chussler/ bio: Jordan is an investment editor and CPFC who specializes in traditional equities, gold and other precious metals, retirement savings and income investing. He combines his personal and professional interests in finance and education to help readers increase their financial literacy and make better investment choices. education: Lynn University certifications: Certified Personal Finance Counselor at_money_since: 2023 articles: 131 covers: - Investing - Banking - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement also_seen_in: - Weiss Ratings - 24/7 Wall Street - Better Investing - Yahoo Finance - Nasdaq - Investing.com - Marketbeat - MSN Money social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-chussler-b3597811/ updaters: - name: Gabriel O. Rodriguez Cruz role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/gabriel-rodriguez/ bio: Gabriel Rodríguez is an editor at Money who has been writing and editing crypto content for over five years. His goal is to make crypto less cryptic, helping newcomers avoid common pitfalls and scams present in the industry. education: University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras at_money_since: 2018 articles: 101 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-rodriguez-cruz/ published: '2026-02-24T22:10:10.000Z' modified: '2026-03-03T18:33:11.000Z' section: Investing word_count: 859 canonical: https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Gold and silver bars](https://img.money.com/2024/12/Gold-Safe-Haven-Asset.jpg) Sponsored by: ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/37788/a0697fa6-84b0-402e-b906-b89e98d58c1e.webp) Thinking about investing in gold or silver? Thor Metals Group is the solid choice for learning how to preserve your wealth with precious metals. [Go to ThorMetalsGroup.com](https://money.com/pr/f735576f0841?ap_referrer=%2Fwhat-is-a-safe-haven-asset%2F) Investors looking to safeguard their wealth can turn to any number of assets. But each investment carries a certain level of risk. Cryptocurrencies, for example, are some of the riskiest assets. While they can generate substantial long-term returns, it’s also possible for them to suffer dramatic losses in a short period of time. For instance, Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $126,210 in October 2025 before experiencing a nosedive shortly after, now standing at $62,946. You won’t have to worry about those types of losses if you put your money into a [high-yield savings account](https://money.com/best-high-yield-savings-accounts/), but interest rates have fallen for most of these accounts over the past year. It’s even worse if you factor in the real return of a high-yield savings account since all of the interest you receive is treated as taxable income. Safe-haven assets like [gold](https://money.com/gold/) offer investors a middle ground. These assets can perform well in the long run, but more importantly, they can also preserve the value of your investment during economic downturns. This guide will explore how safe-haven assets work and provide some examples for you to consider. ## What makes safe-haven assets special? Safe-haven assets are investments that don’t get shaken up by economic downturns in the same way risk-on assets — such as cryptocurrencies and growth stocks — do. Rather, these types of assets retain their value because they have been essential resources for many years, and it’s almost impossible for societies to operate without them. Gold is one of those assets. It has served as a store of value for thousands of years and is a useful [inflation hedge](https://money.com/heres-how-inflation-impacts-gold-prices/). Investors and [central banks](https://money.com/central-banks-gold-buying-spree/) load up on gold to reduce the impact of economic and geopolitical uncertainties. However, gold also has many uses in [industries and products](https://money.com/golds-industrial-applications/) like jewelry, automobiles, satellites, and semiconductors. [Gold](https://money.com/is-gold-a-good-investment/) isn’t the only thing that will continue to retain value. Commodities like oil, crops and livestock also tend to retain their value during any economic cycle. No matter how bad the economy gets, people will always need food and gasoline. Consumers are willing to pay higher prices for these essential products if inflation brings them up to new highs. As an example, the outbreak of avian bird flu that started in 2024 caused [egg prices](https://money.com/why-are-eggs-so-expensive/) to more than double in one year. Prices increased because the bird flu reduced the supply of chickens, which in turn reduced the number of available eggs. Although innovative companies offer flashier growth rates and higher returns, their shares often can’t endure sharp corrections during economic uncertainty. On the other hand, safe-haven assets aren’t as striking, but people will always have a need for them, not just a desire to have them. ## How to invest in safe-haven assets The easiest way to invest in safe-haven assets is through mutual funds and [ETFs](https://money.com/best-gold-etfs/). These funds offer diversified exposure to a basket of safe-haven assets. Investors can also buy shares in publicly traded corporations that profit from this type of asset. For instance, Newmont Corporation is a [gold miner](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/who-owns-the-world-s-biggest-gold-mines/ar-AA1uzTUO?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds) that benefits when the [price of gold](https://money.com/what-drives-the-price-of-gold/) goes up. Vital Farms is a publicly traded company with a business model that revolves around eggs. Investors can also buy the safe-haven asset outright or trade futures contracts. While it’s more practical for some safe-haven assets than others, you may also buy their physical versions. Many investors buy [physical gold](https://money.com/how-to-buy-gold-bars/) and [silver](https://money.com/how-to-buy-silver/) that they can store at home, in safe deposit boxes at banks or in precious metal depositories. However, it’s much more difficult to use this strategy with agricultural products like eggs since they are perishable. Futures contracts, mutual funds and ETFs are more suitable for soft commodities that perish. ## Is gold the best safe-haven asset? The “best” investment is in the eye of the beholder, but there are a few key distinctions that set gold apart from other safe-haven assets. The first advantage is how easy it is to store gold. You don’t have to worry about storing a live asset like crops or livestock. That ease of storage also results in lower costs for storing gold compared to other assets. Farmers need a lot of land for chickens, pigs, cattle and crops. Investors don’t require large amounts of land to safely store $1 million worth of gold, which weighs a little less than 400 [troy ounces](https://money.com/how-much-is-an-ounce-of-gold-worth/). Some gold bars weigh 100 troy ounces, making it efficient to store a lot of value. Gold is also less volatile than most of the other safe-haven assets. Soft commodities like crops and livestock are vulnerable to more factors that can influence their prices. Weather conditions, diseases and varying crop yields are some of the factors that influence soft commodities — none of those variables affect gold. Finally, the [precious metal](https://money.com/what-makes-a-metal-precious/) has been used as a medium of exchange for thousands of years. Gold has retained intrinsic value during various economic economic cycles and is vital for many industries. The continued stockpiling of gold as an investment, plus its real-world uses, has helped it generate respectable long-term gains. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gold", "item": "https://money.com/gold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What Is a Safe-Haven Asset?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/", "name": "What Is a Safe-Haven Asset?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-02-24T22:10:10.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/what-is-a-safe-haven-asset/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-03-03T18:33:11.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "What Is a Safe-Haven Asset?", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/12/Gold-Safe-Haven-Asset.jpg", "width": 1181, "height": 787, "caption": "Gold-Safe-Haven-Asset" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marc Guberti", "url": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/#author", "description": "Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2026-02-24T22:10:10.000Z", "description": "Investors can choose from numerous asset classes. 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