Silver is a poor return on investment. I remember going to buy bars at $5 - 6 / ea. at McBride's and other places here in Austin. Now they have a market value of about $15. So in a decade you've tripled your money. While that seems like a big return ... I earned on average about 18 - 25% a year on my 401K. Compound that investment out and you'll get a substantially larger return. At 15% average you'll gain a solid 25% more over 10 years. Mutuals are relatively safe if you understand the scope of the investments, but you can make HUGE gains on day trading, commodities, and stocks over a short term. It just takes alot of foresight and prowess.