Gallup Poll: Gold Is Best Longterm Investment

Yes, hard to believe it, but roughly 30% of Americans polled felt that gold was the best longterm investment. Not real estate, not stocks, not bonds, but gold.

You might think that this is an indication of a real bubble in the price of the precious metal. Until you realize that if 30% of Americans actually put 5% of their money into gold, I doubt very much that the price could stay where it is. Globally, American investors have to compete not only with other people around the world, but also foreign central banks, who continue to buy more gold than they sell (in stark contrast to just 5 or 6 years ago.) Globally, there is maybe 1 trillion dollars of gold for sale to the public, and I bet this number is being generous. Financial wealth in the world? Probably 100 trillion dollars.

Yes, 30% of Americans think gold is a good investment, but they have received little help or encouragement from financial advisers or other professionals in terms of being led to actually put any money into the yellow metal. But this reminds me (and others) of the early 1990s with the stock market. It took time not only for the word to get out about the great returns in equities (after most Americans were in fixed income), but it also took time for people to actually take the plunge.

As I never tire of repeating, people should have learned from 2008 that the joke was on them as a taxpayer, investor, and dollar holder. One set of rules for the bankers and one set of rules for the little people. To be further insulted by a purposeful policy of attacking savers with zero interest rates should have led more people to push back (peacefully, mind you) and simply say, thank you and goodbye to playing in the bankers’ casino. I was taught to stand up to bullies. I think the most powerful reason to buy gold and silver is out of a sense of self-respect. We can’t change everything about ourselves or about our world, but we can do some small things to make a statement.

I think buying gold and silver is that statement.