LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Global demand for silver will rise to 1.025 billion ounces in 2021, its highest in eight years, as investors and industry ramp up purchases, the Silver Institute said on Wednesday, predicting that prices would rise.

Silver is a white lustrous transitional metallic element found widely in the human environment. Low concentrations of silver are present in the human body through inhalation of particles in the air and contamination of the diet and drinking water, but silver serves no trace metal value in the human body.

Is Silver Harmful to Humans? Unlike other metals such as lead and mercury, silver is not toxic to humans and is not known to cause cancer, reproductive or neurological damage, or other chronic adverse effects. Nor has normal day-to-day contact with solid silver coins, spoons or bowls been found to affect human health.

Silver is Recovering from its All-Time Low Levels Having said that, it is the right time to invest in silver. From here, the uptrend looks more feasible and there is a very limited downside to this metal considering the recent market trends. Due to this reason, you can consider silver as an investment option.

Generally, the best way to invest in silver is through ETFs or ETNs, not mutual funds. The reason for this is that most investors typically want exposure to the price of silver, rather than stocks of companies associated with silver mining and manufacturing. ETFs and ETNs often track the price of silver.

“It takes a much smaller investment in silver than gold to hedge against inflation,” Gunzberg says. The S&P 500 gains on average 2.4% per 1% rise in the Consumer Price Index year over year, so both precious metals provide a greater inflation hedge than stocks.

ANZ’s gold price prediction puts the precious metal at an average of $1,850 per ounce at the end of June, rising to $2,000 per ounce by the end of September, but then falling back to $1,900 by the end of 2021 and $1,800 by mid-2022.

Are diamonds a good investment? On paper, diamonds make great investment sense. They have high intrinsic value, they’re always in demand and they last forever – plus, they’re small, portable and easy to store (unlike that priceless Ming vase you just had to have at auction).

While investing can build wealth, you’ll also want to balance potential gains with the risk involved. There are many ways to invest — from very safe choices such as CDs and money market accounts to medium-risk options such as corporate bonds, and even higher-risk picks such as stock index funds.

Gold is considered a far better investment than diamonds. In fact, most pawn shops won’t even consider buying diamonds.

Although man’s obsession with gold goes back hundreds or even thousands of years, diamonds are a relatively new one. Like any other gem stone, diamonds are valuable because they are rare and in high demand. Without the demand though, they would be worthless.