Timing is everything. It's what separates you from Jesse Livermore, for example.
That is the point I was making. You could have bought in to gold back in the 70's and made a fortune or gone bust, all depends on when you bought and when you sold.
The key here is that gold is not something you would want to buy and hold forever. It is a speculative thing. Like trading on the Stock market, you can go conservative or be a day trader. Different strokes...
My Mom bought gold, way back when and it did zip. I bought nice conservative mutual funds and am happily retired.