If ever there were a time to buy gold, this is it. So says author Shayne McGuire, whose new book, “Buy Gold Now: How a Real Estate Bust, Our Bulging National Debt, and a Languishing Dollar Will Push Gold to Record Heights” (Wiley, 224 pages, $34.95), outlines why gold is the best investment, better than such plays as real estate and stocks.

Mr. McGuire, the director of global research at Teacher Retirement System of Texas, says now is the time to get back to the yellow metal because “when all else fails, gold does not.” In this less than stellar market, gold, and possibly silver, is the way to protect your wealth, he says.

This isn’t a step-by-step manual to buying gold. Mr. McGuire spends three of the five sections discussing the history of gold and the gold standard. He also notes that at the time of the Great Depression, there was a burgeoning need for credit, and spending based on the potential earnings of America soon became the norm. Later, the dollar took gold’s place as the world’s standard for judging wealth, but now that the strength of the dollar is declining, it’s a good time for investors to get back to gold, he writes. In the book’s final section, Mr. McGuire gets to his tips for buying and selling the precious metal, with chapters on financial insurance, buying rare coins, and why silver might rise even higher than gold.

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Buying gold could also be a good bet for investors who haven’t been diligent about investing and saving for the future, and are worried about retirement. Buying precious metals is one of the recommendations in “Cash Rich Retirement: Use the Investing Techniques of the Mega-Wealthy to Secure Your Retirement Future” (St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages, $24.95), by Jim Schlagheck.

Retirement is a modern experiment, Mr. Schlagheck, an independent wealth manager, says, and it’s looking like it has failed. It was only in the 20th century that laborers put down their tools before they were physically unable to continue working, and now, they expect to spend their golden years in beach chairs. But as companies discover that pension plans are too expensive and workers learn they cannot depend on their place of employment to take care of them financially as they grow old, financial planning has become key.

Mr. Schlagheck wants investors to forget everything they think they know about investing. The traditional markets such as bonds, stocks, and real estate are not the ones that investors, especially those late to the game, should focus on, he says. Instead, Mr. Schlagheck suggests investing in precious metals, health insurance, and well-researched funds. Above all, he emphasizes doing research, going so far as to say that even he is not a reliable source because so much changes in such a short time.

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While “Cash Rich Retirement” is a guide for older investors, the younger generations might do well to follow more aggressive strategies. For those who have a little more time to plump up their portfolios, stocks might be the best option, the author of “The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing” (Plume, 304 pages, $15), Jason Kelly, says. Mr. Kelly, whose first guide was published in 1998, touts wisdom from his grandfather: “It only takes $10,000 and two tenbaggers to become a millionaire.” The 2008 guide explains everything one would ever need to know about the market, which is great for novice investors, although it might be tedious for those with some experience with Wall Street. Mr. Kelly shows investors the way to pick those two tenbaggers (stocks that grow tenfold), avoid stocks that won’t succeed in the long run, and make money from stocks in even the worst markets.