With all that has been said, if you are looking at own physical gold, I would suggest an alternative route, either jewelry or a good Swiss watch. This will hedge some of the value. For example, you can spend $25k on bullion or $25k for a gold Audemars Piguet watch. If the value of gold crashes, you still will have the inherent value of the watch. If the value goes up, so will the gold within the watch. You won’t have as much physical gold per price and weight, but you will have an object that through history, holds its value (and even increases) comparable to some of the best investments.
$25 K for a watch? Common sense and logic tell me there are NO watches out their worth $25 K. Those people who sell you these things see you comming. Like a Pravda pocketbook for $25 K? I don’t think so!