Just curious... I see so much about it on TV but I know many of the coin sellers are scamming. Any real gold investors? How is it working out for you?
Red always advocates keeping about 10% in precious metals. I never have put a dime in metals. Just not for me.
Between 5% and 10% is good investment diversification. I have about 13% right now, but I was taking advantage of the gold runup in the last three years, now that it has leveled off a bit, I will take some profits and reduce it to about 8%. I have done very well in my gold mutual funds and gold stocks. But I have done phenomenal in gold bullion coins. I bought at $275 and its worth $1,650 today. Gold is a commodity and I don't recommend speculating in gold futures. But holding gold as investments is a hedge against inflation and it usually holds value when the market drops. Demand for Gold is increasing faster than gold production so more growth in the long run seem assured. And, unlike stocks, gold is NEVER worth nothing. These days its never going to be cheap either.
The last ten years or so have been great, but the long term growth is piss poor. If you have a gold watch or some gold cuff links you have a large enough gold position. To put it like this... if you purchased gold in 1980 you would have to have waited 25 years before you saw any growth.
Spoken like one who has never invested in gold. I've made good money in the last ten years while you were on the sideline. Any investment with a 10-year runup is great and smart investors get on board. Demand for gold continues to rise and a big drop just doesn't seem to be in the cards. If it were to happen, I'd just move the money to other sectors until gold recovered. I repeat . . . the future looks good for precious metals. You base your contempt for gold on the fairly level prices from 1935 to 2000. But that is backsight based on a supply/demand that no longer exists.
A big drop may not happen, but prospects for long term growth comparable to alternatice assets does not seem likely either. If you had to invest $1650 dollars today, and could only invest in one asset would you buy gold, or would you buy something else? I'm willing to bet most managers would go with something else. Copper may be where the real money is. The annualized returns I have realized have been un-godly high.
