Do you think gold is a safe investment in times of geopolitical trouble, war or other international crises?

I tried investing in some gold during the US debt ceiling crisis of 2023. Missed out on a ton of gains in the regular market. I've also read that during a market crash, many companies will have to sell their gold to pay their bills. Gold remains a yellow substance in the ground but not a particularly wise investment.

No dividends, no fixed income, no thanks. Gold is a rock that no longer serves much of a financial role in today's world.

As Jefflee and TaiwanisNotChina said, gold is but a precious metal made valuable by those who deem it valuable, but is not that useful in itself for the average person. Cash crops, preserved food and long-shelf life medicine are in my opinion better to keep during economic turmoil as you can trade with it easier than precious metals with the average person. I can't imagine anybody accepting a several thousand dollar gold ring for a sack of rice or a loaf of bread.

Gold is a rock

Gold is not classified as a rock but a metal.

Bitcoin is the new gold.

It is interesting that misconceptions about gold!

First as pointed out is is not a rock but a metal, second it may have once been used purely for ornamental purposes but today only half is used on that way and dropping!

The need for gold in industry especially tech products is only increasing.

Then there is the definition of "investing ' if you are buying gold only on paper it is no different than most other commodities and you could find yourself holding paper and nothing more in the event of a major collapse of the financial markets etc...

But if you are holding actual gold coins, small bars in large enough quantity you may (note the may) have a possible fall back in a currency collapse, financial collapse etc...

But all this depends on when you bought your gold and markets or social upheaval.

Just looking at gold prices, in the last year gold has gone up just over 17% and a 22% increase in the past 6 months.

At the same time the yen has dropped around 14% to the dollar.

So locally your gold would net you a much Higher yield if converted back to yen today.

Yes I understand the yen would have less purchasing power than a year ago but on the domestic market local produce hasn't gone up the same percentage as the yen has fallen on the international market.

Gold is always useful to have in your portfolio.

Gold is a good way to keep value. Money isn't.

Gold is good because it always has value, even if the banks cease to function due to war, etc

Gold is the gold standard. Buy enough gold to buy a new suit in 2024, and 100 years later sell that gold and you will be able to buy a new suit.

I don’t think anyone holding gold as part of their portfolio would be regretting it.

As spitfire says it’s good to have in the portfolio.

Specifically, having some gold will typically improve the risk adjusted returns of one’s portfolio. That’s what the data says, it’s not an opinion. Any portfolio tool should confirm this.

If one is a cowboy/girl, then ignore risk adjusted returns. You might get richer that way, no doubt, it’s very possible.

Also, note that central banks are buying craptonnes of gold recently. But what would they know.

Fiat currency is only backed by a politicians promise.

Classic example, when the UK was on the gold standard one sovereign was one pound and in those days there were 240 pennies to a pound. Fast forward to today, to buy a gold sovereign you would pay about £480.00 so a modern pound due to inflation is worth about a halfpenny coin!

Gold is a store of value over the long term.

Gold in a world of turmoil is only as safe as how trustworthy are the guards you hired to protect it.

Gold 5 years ago was 2000 ounce today it 2150. So you invest $200,000 5 years you make $15,000 today. So for an outlay of $200,000 per year you return $3000 for 12 months. 5 years ago you couldn’t give a barrel of oil away. During Covid it drop to $30 a barrel today it $120 a barrel so oil has had a 400% increase over the same period.

Several times my recommendations were to invest in gold and now the proof is out there…

Absolutely, been investing in it since 1999

Yes invest but surely not when you can hear cannons.

The only time it is valuable is when the owner sells it. 155 yen to the dollar is great, but what does the owner get? PAPER MONEY. The only way to make money is to buy and sell and buy and sell, etc. Just like stocks and bonds, buy low or on the dips and sell on the high or peaks. At some time the owner has to "chicken out" and sell the gold or die. Then, the beneficiaries party of his/her money.

I seek when I want to invest in a different asset or take a 20% gain (recently) and go and party

An ounce of gold will buy you the same amount of goods and produce that it would have bought you hundreds of years ago. Gold has traditionally been balance. There are upswings and downswings, but gold always finds itself floating around value-wise in the same position.

Also interesting, in the past gold was rare and used primarily in jewelry, but now it's been found to have a lot of value in the technical fields, such as gold wiring in various technical devices,. My old JBL stereo speakers are full of gold wiring, and the sound is still excellent. Thus, a new demand for gold has been created in recent times, so if anything the price of gold may go much higher. I've read that if all of the gold ever mined was put in one place it would be about the same size a swimming pool. If it was platinum, then it would be about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Also, mining for precious metals is also becoming more expensive due primarily to environmental concerns, so that's another price factor to consider in extracting just one ounce of gold from the ground, and it ain't easy.

The trick is to buy low when it is cheap and to then just sit on it. I was lucky and bought some back in the 90s when it was at $225. per ounce. Wish I'd have bought more looking back on it now. And that's where the guessing game comes in. At that time, I wasn't sure if it was a good price or not. The gold dealer I was buying from kept telling me it was cheap and that it was going to go way up. Little did I know. Some say the price at $2,000. per ounce is still an excellent bargain. Is it or isn't it? Who knows where the price is going. It all depends on the demand, and it looks like the demand is going to keep on growing.

Before investing in gold, read the history of the tulip bulb market in Holland in 1637. The last person to invest in bulbs was left "holding the empty bag" of bulbs.

My strategy is to invest in baseball cards and valuable vinyl LPs. A Mickey Mantle rookie card and a near perfect Yesterday. . .and Today Beatles butcher block LP will always be worth their weight in gold.