wood for sheep?
If you had of invested the equivalent amount of money in the Dow Jones index instead of purchasing 10kg of gold and kept it invested from 1920-2024 you would have ~$15 million.
This, precious metals are a hedge against hyper inflation. Not an investment.
So I get the idea of a hedge, but I guess the question on my mind whenever I hear talk about hyper-inflation is “what are you going to do with the gold if society collapses?”. My thought is that if the world economy got so fucked up that the US dollar was worthless, and the government didn’t step in, then wouldn’t we sorta be in a failed state? And if we were in a failed state is the plan to sit on the gold in some sort of fortress to wait for civilization to come back? Hoping that you can defend it and that the incoming civilization doesn’t just take it?
As far as I know, the idea with holding gold in bank storage is, that if hyperinflation occurs, the currency becomes worthless and there will be economic upheaval, but it will not be the apocalypse. And then a new currency will be created and everybody who held physical assets instead of the old currency will be in a way better position.
I’m in Canada. 25 years ago my parents bought a home for $130k, they sold it 15 years ago for $500k, it’s now listed for $1.1 million. We are so fucked.
If you include maintenance and taxes, it actually sold for less than the same amount of money invested in an index fund.
Still a tough bind for someone who isn’t already a homeowner. I’ve put a lot into index funds which have performed really well, but if I sell them now to buy a house and the real estate market shits the bed (which it really should), then I’m in an even worse place. I remember talking to people in 2007 who complained they would “never be able to afford a house”, but three years later their local listings fell by 30-40%.
Look, unless you’re renting it out, your house isn’t an investment. It grows in value and that’s nice, but you’ll spend more on maintenance and improvements than it will increase in value.
Your house is your house.
This isn’t actually true. In the US, housing has outpaced the value of gold.
In 2023, you would need 254.7 ounces of gold to buy a house, since $495,100 avg home / $1,943 price of gold = 254.7
In 1920, you would need 164.1 ounces of gold to buy a house, since $3,395 avg home / $20.67 price of gold = 164.1.
Gold isn’t terribly useful as a metal. Sure it’s valuable but mostly because people see it as valuable and perceptions can change.
Everyone needs a place to live and on top of that land can be used for making money even if land itself isn’t as lucrative.
