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Here are the 1-year trailing returns for various asset classes according to Morningstar:
Bloomberg Commodity 9.16%
LBMA Gold Price PM 34.59%
Morningstar Global Core Bond GR 2.17%
Morningstar US 5-10 Year Treasury Bond 3.09%
Morningstar US 10+ Year Treasury Bond -5.85%
Morningstar US Cash T-Bill 4.63%
Morningstar US Core Bond 2.61%
Morningstar US HY Bond 8.18%
Morningstar US Market 16.79%
Morningstar US REIT -1.17%
Morningstar US Small Cap 10.85%
A portfolio which contained an equally weighted amount of each of the above would show a gain of 7.7%. Without gold it would be 4.6%.
According to the article “gold now ranks as the top-performing major asset class over the trailing 20-year period through Aug. 27, 2025, with annualized returns of 10.7%. It also ranks at the top over most other trailing periods….. Academic researchers Campbell Harvey and Claude Erb have found that, over time, gold prices tend to revert to the mean…. it’s probably not the ideal time to buy gold when it’s already trading near an all-time high. ”
The above from the article “Can the Gold Rush Continue” dated 9/2/2025
I think my wife owns enough Gold Jewelry for it to qualify as a measurable asset in our overall investment portfolio. I guess we could sell some of it eventually if we needed the money but I don’t think that will happen (or I would still be married) 🤷🏻♂️
Many of the other asset classes have done fine for us without investing directly in Gold related instruments.
I can relate to that.
I inherited a some gold coins and would love to sell. It is complicated. I read how to sell them and “I’ll think about that tomorrow” takes over.
Michael Flack asked a similar question on this topic a little over a year ago and he did not appear to get a satisfactory answer regarding the selling process at that time. Maybe he or others who have actually sold physical gold could comment.
Mr. Flack had previously penned an article about how he came to buy his gold eagles which was a good cautionary lesson for me.
After inflation, gold has had some serious ups and downs, my memory is that a 20 year time frame sorta captures gold recovering from it’s horrible bear market 1980-2000. I think in those 20 years it lost like 80% of it’s real price.
YUP here’s a link to an informative chart gold real return
Since 2010 the S&P 500 has far exceeded the performance of GLD (SPDR gold shares). I’m not a gold bug, but my equities do include about 3.5% mining/precious metals. I posted the caveats from the article as a warning.
Plenty of well regarded experts recommend some amount of gold as diversification in a portfolio. I wouldn’t argue against it.
I just remembered how gold exploded after the end of the gold standard and then crashed for a few decades.
Yes, I owned a few shares of GLD from 2010 to 2020. When I sold it had appreciated 144%. Since then it has doubled in value. I switched to miners. I’ve noticed that precious metals can languish from time to time. But I’m more comfortable with this than crypto.
I admit, gold is an asset class I’ve looked at a few times. Each time, I’ve fallen into the classic trap of thinking it’s at an all-time high and haven’t proceeded with buying. I know I’m showing the bias of peak aversion and price anchoring but I still couldn’t pull the trigger.