The best gold ETFs, compared

There’s no single best gold ETF. The big ones all hold real gold bars, so they move almost together. What differs is the yearly fee, how much they trade, and the price of one share. Here’s how they compare right now.

The best gold ETF for…

• Holding for years: the lowest fee wins, because it’s taken every year. GLDM at 0.10% costs $10 a year on $10,000; GLD at 0.40% costs $40.
• Trading often, or trading options: GLD. It trades the most, so the gap between the buy and sell price is tiny, and its options market is by far the deepest.
• Small, regular purchases: a low share price helps, like GLDM’s, though fractional shares make this matter less at many brokers.
• A big, established fund at a lower fee than GLD: IAU.

Why they move almost together

Each of these funds holds gold bars in vaults, and each share stands for a fixed amount of that gold. So their prices all follow the gold price. The small differences come from the fee (which slowly shrinks the gold behind each share), and from their price drifting a little above or below the value of their gold during the day. For how that works, see how gold ETFs work.

What about gold mining ETFs?

GDX and GDXJ hold gold mining companies, not gold. They usually move two or three times as much as gold, in both directions, because a miner’s profit swings more than the gold price. GDXJ holds smaller miners and is even more volatile. They’re a bet on gold and on companies. Live prices are on our gold stock price page.

What to check before you buy

1. It holds physical gold, not futures or miners, if that’s what you want.
2. The fee, on the fund’s own page.
3. Trading volume and spread, if you’ll buy and sell often.
4. Taxes: in the US, gains on gold ETFs are taxed as collectibles, at up to 28% for long-term gains.
5. That you’re comfortable with gold’s swings: it can fall 10% or more in a few weeks.