Gold is pointless

Legacy_user

I fail to see why anyone would keep it, as cash seems superior in every way - cash is a more reliable non-correlator, more liquid, more productive, and you shouldn't hold an excessive amount of either, and being bearish over the long term seems unlikely to ever work

The only thing i can see about it is active etf speculation, which i don't believe is a good idea Vs just indexing equities

Laycity

You can't just print gold for starters.

System

Laycity - equities are the inflation hedge, most developed countries wouldn't dare print much and you could always hold foreign if the local might be printed

grumbler

Which foreign currency cannot be printed? All governments do their best to get their currencies devalued (possibly, except countries with double-digit or higher inflation combined with or caused by the same printing)

Thrugelmir

Gold mining isn't though.

DigForVictory

It's pretty, though. And a rolled up treasury note is not comfortable shoved through a pierced lobe, let alone aesthetic.

Besides which, the belief he'll find gold is what gets my son out digging the garden (so far, we've found some lump metal, several evening meals of spuds & an Action Man figure) but his faith is splendid.

EdGasket

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

I fail to see why anyone would keep it, as cash seems superior in every way

Rubbish. Fiat currencies come and go and the governments that back them for a while fail. Gold wins out every time and has been a reasonable inflation hedge since the beginnings of time. Just wait until you experience some hyperinflation and see what happens to your 'superior cash' !

TrustyOven

EdGasket wrote: »

Rubbish. Fiat currencies come and go and the governments that back them for a while fail. Gold wins out every time and has been a reasonable inflation hedge since the beginnings of time. Just wait until you experience some hyperinflation and see what happens to your 'superior cash' !

So how will you go to the local ASDA?
Do a 12 month shopping trip in one go for 1 small bar of gold bullion?

EdGasket

https://dailyreckoning.com/fiat-currency/

grey_gym_sock

EdGasket wrote: »

Fiat currencies come and go and the governments that back them for a while fail.

States can fail; when they do, their currencies are likely to fail, too. but why not take a view about how stable the State you live in actually is? IMHO, the UK is very stable. there is no sense in making my financial plans on the assumption that the UK is just as likely to fail, within my lifetime, as is (say) yemen.

Gold ... has been a reasonable inflation hedge since the beginnings of time.

it's been a reliable inflation hedge over a few centuries. but unreliable over shorter periods, such as a few decades. and the latter is what's actually relevant for anybody planning for themselves and their immediate family.

System

If the state fails still holding foreign currency would hedge and you'd have problems with jobs and equities too

But for the most part equities embrace inflation and grow on the back of it + profits, so they are good for non-hyper inflation