No, but you can certainly ride it up, sell it off, and live quite comfortably off the proceeds. Isn't that what people do with their investments or have I missed something?
Never?
Bull markets are always followed by bear markets. Switching out when the change happens and finding another investment to ride up is how one preserves capital and locks in gains. This is not a bull market we are in. Right now we're in an echo bubble as I see it. The indices have failed to take out the prior heights and Dow Theory has been singing a sell signal for a few years now. This is a trader's market, not a buy and hold market.
As for my calculations of Gold, keep in mind that Gold backed our currency until Nixon closed the Gold window. In 1971, it was statutorily $35/oz in the beginning of 1971 and was then raised to $42.22 per oz later in 1971 -- after which the gold window was closed. You can do your own research on that, but it is common knowledge to anyone with a set of encyclopedias around. All the gold held at Ft. Knox is still listed on the books at the statutory price of $42.22/oz.
Source
"The price of gold had been fixed at $35/oz since the Roosevelt administration."
As for the Dow, check this table and you'll see that in 1971, the DJIA was at 884.76 on average. It bounced around a bit in there, but failed to take out 1000, as shown on this chart:
Any questions?
Did you sell out at the very top?
No. I sold out a couple of months early as I was very twitchy for the year previously and felt I'd made enough in the market. Turns out I was right.
I expect to be right again and even if I don't pick the exact top, I'll come close enough to be happy with the gains and then I'll find some other undervalued, unappreciated investment, ride that up, wash, rinse, repeat.