If you are near retirement or already in retirement, there are many much better investment options [than gold or even]…recession resilient high-dividend stocks that generate consistent income in both good and bad times. [This article examines REITs and explains why they hold] the best bet against inflation.
REITs vs Gold
…There’s no investment that evokes as much passion as gold. Whether you are thinking about end of days or currency devaluations, gold always has been at the forefront of investment ideas. Gold also is known to be a rather strong protector against inflation. While we do believe that gold does have some inflation correlation, investors who like getting paid (vs. paying someone to store the metal), should ignore gold and focus on a much better investment class for inflation protection. Real Estate Investment Trusts.
At a broader level REITs have done exceptionally well over large time frames. The 20-year period below shows REITs delivering the best performance among all asset classes.
Gold did come in second, but here’s the thing, if you shift the time frame back three years, things become rather different. REITs still come out on top while gold falls quite a bit.
In fact…REITs are incredibly consistent and you can best see that by visualizing 20 year returns vs. gold.
Source: Engineered Portfolio
In fact if you bought gold in any year between 1974-1988, you had negative total 20 year returns… before counting storage costs. Let that sink in. REITs on the other hand were consistently a good performer regardless of your entry.