Is buying gold a good idea?

TrustyOven wrote: »

What a silly comparison. You're not really helping AndyT678!

You go to a barber and they say "what would you like? I can do a wide range of different styles." and you either get cut there or go elsewhere.

Well it's a fair analogy.

If you go to a barber and ask how to improve your look, he probably won't recommend you get a tattoo from next door, or a spray tan from the place next to that, or sign up for classes at the gym across the road, or buy some new shoes or a whole outfit at the shoe shop or boutique down the street... until you've handed over your cash for a haircut. Though all could be useful. Depending on your start point, the best improvement you could buy with this week's pay packet could be from a bunch of other options and leave the hair to grow another few weeks.

Similarly you won't get unbiased ideas on building a portfolio that grows and protects your wealth across a range of long term economic conditions from someone who runs a gold research and trading firm, because they'll mostly be incentivised to be telling you about things that they know about and that will help them.

Still, if you've decided that gold is definitely what you are going to get regardless of all the more suitable alternatives, so you need an article that explains gold ETFs vs Brittanias, or Pandas Vs Krugerrands, or the effect of drip feeding versus lump sums for a given theoretical price movement... it makes sense that the guy from the gold company writes the article. He probably know more about it than the guy who can advise on crew cuts Vs short backnsides, or the optician who knows that you should go for squarer lenses as they fit your round face. They could all write articles on their own specialist subject and you might get a better set of articles than if you got generalists to write them.

Obviously it is still somewhat "buyer beware" if you are reading an article about buying specialist assets written by someone whose salary and investment returns only exist because of demand from people buying those specialist assets. In that sense, its a bit like, if you are looking for wholly unbiased advice on hosting a dinner party, don't expect the guy running the chicken farm to plan your menu entirely impartially and your vegan guests may not be too happy.

But if you know you definitely want poultry, then he'll probably have some good hints and tips on how to get the skin crispy without overcooking the white meat. You might of course still get nudged towards a particular type of bird that suits his stock levels rather than your wallet or tastebuds.