No. of Recommendations: 1
I have never owned gold. I may have some gold miners in VTSAX or VESAX, but they are extremely small parts of the funds if they are there. Anyway I heard a
The Indicator podcast story about why gold prices are rising. The show presents a lot of information that leads to the conclusion that gold may have ups and downs in the short term but over the next several years it will generally be going up. Here's the link to the show. If you listen to it I would be interested in your thoughts. It is about 10 minutes played at normal speed. (Does anyone listen to podcasts at normal speed?)
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/01/nx-s1-5558443/why-i...
Gold is on fire right now with some gold ETFs outperforming the major stock indexes over the past 12 months. Gold is supposed to be boring, an inflation hedge. But right now, it's responding to something else. Today on the show, we talk to a finance professor about what’s behind the current gold rush and if gold’s hot streak is built to last.
No. of Recommendations: 1
For me, while I own some (accumulated at prices between $50-$400 an oz), (physical) gold is not a valid investment. It requires appropriate secure storage (bank safety deposit box), is not generally covered to a significant level by standard insurance policies, is a pain to sell at its proper value and so on. Does it rise with inflation? It does tend to over time - but so do many other easier to handle investment vehicles. So, why bother? Well, it blooms when there is an implied risk of the currency itself. It is there in case it is needed in dire emergency and "paper gold" (ETF's, gold proxies, miner stock, etc. may not help). BTW, I also keep a few rolls of silver Mercury dimes for "small change" during a potential emergency.
I admit to having accumulated some (physical) gold years ago, but none for at least the past couple of decades. Interestingly, despite my other assets appreciating substantially during that time, gold holdings have remained between 1%-1.5% of net worth.
Can gold appreciate from here? Absolutely - especially if nation-states start buying again. Can it go down in value? Sure - if the global attitude towards the strength of the dollar improves. From an investment standpoint, I have, for a long time, had substantial holdings in a number of major miners which have been satisfactory, but I have chosen (perhaps incorrectly) not to invest in paper gold.
Jeff
No. of Recommendations: 0
After Trump was elected, it was obvious listening to them talk that devaluing the dollar was a priority (reasons I don't know or really care when it comes to investing) and that meant two things to me - invest in gold and increase international stocks. Both of which have paid off nicely.
A big question now, is when does it end? That one I don't know.
I looked at my account today and saw it was nicely up. Later I looked closer and it was mostly gold and international stocks up nicely.
Would I buy now? Not sure. We saw what happened to bonds when many of us older folks could recall any mortgage rate under 9 or 8% was a good deal. Rates went down some and people said they can't keep going down but downward they went to near zero before rebounding sharply but still on the low side historically.
We seem to get getting to a point where there isn't much I would consider a good investment. Rates (treasuries) are declining, gold is very high, internationals have had a nice run and domestically I don't think the economy is very good due to tariffs and immigration issues.
Rich
