I Don't Get The Gold Thing
I'm a pretty good investor. I don't know whether it's my expertise in finance or just luck, but my investment strategies over the years have put me well into the high net worth category.But after all the years I've been at the game, I still don't get the gold thing. What is this obsession with gold as an investment? I think it's 99% hype and 1% sensible.
If you bought gold exactly 10 years ago today, it would be worth 46% more today.
But if you had bought the stock market exactly 10 years ago today (using S&P 500) it would be worth 133% more today.
And that's in the middle of the worst economic crisis in US history when gold is supposed to be worth so much more and stocks are supposed to be worthless.
Exactly what kind of catastrophe would be necessary for this so-called advantage to owning gold to pay off? Armageddon? If Armageddon happened I think your net worth in tradable currency would be the least of your worries.
Gold isn't a substitute for water. You can't eat it. Are people going to suddenly worry about how fancy they look during the Apocalypse and cause a sudden skyrocketing demand for gold plated medical masks and hand sanitizer bottles? In a catastrophe of the apparent magnitude necessary to get this elusive payoff from gold I think food and water would be much more valuable than some shiny metal object. Heck, even eating paper currency sounds more appetizing than eating gold.