As often happens when the markets are bouncing up and down, some people are turning to the "safe haven" of gold. But how safe is gold? Gold has several attributes that make it attractive: 1) Gold is durable. In fact, some of the gold you buy today was probably mined by the Inca's thousands of years ago. 2) Gold is universal. With very few exceptions, gold always has value. This is true historically. And no matter where you go today you can likely trade gold for other goods either directly or by converting it into the local currency. 3) Gold is portable. While heavy, gold packs a lot of value in a small package. 4) Gold is beautiful. You can store it as jewelry or other decorative art. So if you are looking for an investment that will last a 1000's of years and still hold value, gold is a great commodity. Or if you are looking for something that will be likely to survive a complete societal breakdown like a war. However, when you start to look at likely fin