Gold has risen for 12 straight years, and many experts expect the rally to continue. So how can you take advantage of it?

There is no shortage of investment vehicles, ranging from gold bullion itself, to mutual funds consisting of gold miner stocks, to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) containing gold.

“There may be no other single commodity for which there is a wider variety of investment choices than gold,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

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One question you must answer is whether you want exposure to gold itself or gold miners — or perhaps both.

In the last 12 months, SPDR Gold Shares ETF (Ticker: GLD), which holds physical gold, has slid 4 percent, while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) dropped 19 percent, as miners have faced rising costs and other problems.

But in the last three months, the Market Vectors fund has soared 13 percent, while the Gold Shares fund has gained only 4 percent.

Mining companies are getting their act together, Joseph Foster of Van Eck Global, which operates the Market Vectors fund, tells The Journal.

If you believe him, you might to want to opt for a gold miners fund, if not you might want to select an ETF holding gold bullion.

Owning a fund generally beats possessing gold bars or coins because pricing is transparent, you don’t have to pay storage costs (at least directly) and you can buy and sell anytime.

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