2nd order finally came in.  

Any advice on how to get started?

I invest in a lot of different asset types because I believe in diversification.

I'm not qualified to offer financial advice, but I can tell you how I got started.  

In my early stacking years (2002-2005) I mainly focused on what I liked.  There were some early silver half dollars and dimes and quarters that were collected in the late 90's, but it wasn't much. I was into the numismatic aspect of older coins like the Morgan and Peace dollars and the American Eagles.  I really didn't have much to spend so I would only get a coin or two bi-weekly.  After 3 years I had acquired about 200 ounces of silver and an ounce and a 1/2 of gold.  

Once I switched employment to better pay, then I started to purchase a little more.  I stopped being focused on the collectibles and started trying to get more quantity for lower markups.  When Covid hit, I just kind of stopped buying anything.  My focus on metals just kind of left me.  There wasn't any action, it was pretty flat for too long.  Then the recent climb up with gold drew me back in.  

I retired last year and liquidated most of my business assets.  The interest that I'm gaining from the cash, isn't keeping up with inflation.  I feel like the wealth I had acquired was dropping in value and decided I needed to move it in order to preserve it.  I thought more land or properties that generate cash flow would be good, but decided to move to silver for now.  I love gold, but with where the Gold/Silver Ratio is at, I'm sticking to only silver for now.  When the ratio shrinks to less than 50 silver ounces for 1 ounce of gold, then I'll switch over.  

I don't follow any standard diversifications for my portfolio.  I have some real estate properties, a money market account, and a few bonds.  Many of the stackers that i've met over the years all have their own reasons for stacking what they do.  

I would never purchase from any gold or silver dealers that advertises on television.  They are paying to have their commercials aired and will pass that cost on to the consumers with higher premiums.  It's good to shop around.  LCSs (local coin shops) can be a great place to look around and talk with customers and the dealers.  I never had any luck in a pawn shop, they have always tried to screw me.  About 95% of my purchases have been through APMEX, but SD Bullion and Summit Metals offer basically the same products.  I like to shop the weekly deals.  The most important thing for me is dealing with people I can trust.  The companies I mentioned will also buy back silver and gold.  

Sometimes there are situations that lead to panic buying by large amounts of people which will lead to really high premiums due to the demand.  I usually wait until those periods are over.  

I always hear from the stacker videos I watch, "don't go into debt to purchase precious metals, just purchase what you can afford".  I would add, be prepared for whatever you purchase to drop in value in the short term.  That happens to me a bunch, but I'm long, so time has resolved it for me. 60/40 has been the standard portfolio distribution for years now, but the big investment firms are going to 60/20/20 and 25/25/25/25.  That last number being 20% to 25% gold/silver.  I'm heavier than that, I'm probably between 35% to 42%.  

Watch videos, read articles, and just poke around a bit and find out what appeals you. If it feels fishy or just doesn't sit right in your gut, walk away.  

Also:

Save every single receipt. I keep multiple copies. Keeping spreadsheets to track what you have and what you paid for it, where the spot price was when you purchased, and how much you paid above spot.

@DroidKnight Thank you. Very informative.

This is order #3 and received these last week.  I ordered just the lower priced Johnson Matthey bars, which I did receive for the first 2.  The 3 and 4 bars are a type A Canada series that are serialized.  And the 5th one is also a Canadian type A but quite a bit older.  It's always nice to get a little extra bang for the buck than what I was expecting.

Johnson Matthey sold off their precious metals refinery to Asahi Holdings, Inc back in 2015 so are no longer pouring bars.  Though I just purchased these for increasing my silver weight, these are becoming highly collectable.

I kind of went crazy and ended up doing a total of 8 orders. 

More of the large bars.  

This one took quite a bit of time to prep.  Its 1000 1oz. rounds.  I also placed an order for 1300 that I have decided not to photograph yet until I get enough energy to do so.  I'll probably do a combination of the above stack with the 1300 stack together. 

This is a combination of my last couple of orders.  One was 30 kilos and the other was 45 kilos for a total of 75 (2411.25 oz).  Made a couple of structures with them. 

Hasn't gold cratered in recent weeks?

Pulled back to $4000 range after reaching about $4350.  Think it was about $2600 at the beginning of the year.  

edit: I think the pull back was much needed.  I believe all PMs will continue on a slow upwards trend for the next decade.