That depends upon the when they brought and sold. If they brought gold in 1981 as a long-term investment, the investment would have would have grown about 50% over 29 years or about 1.72% per year, which means that gold lost money after factoring in inflation. For example, a $10,000 investment in gold in 1981 would be worth about $15,000 today before the effects of inflation.
The S & P 500 index, in contrast, had an average annual return during that time period of approximately 12.5%, and a $10,000 investment in the Vanguard S & P 500 Index Fund in 1981, would be worth about $190,000 today before the effects of inflation. Since March 2009, many stock mutual funds, including the Vanguard S & P 500 Index are up over 40% and many funds are up 60% or more, but unlike gold, these funds can be brought and sold with a few clicks of the keyboard without paying a commission of any kind.
I really hate to disappoint you, but just because Rush, Mark, and Glen hawk gold on their shows, doesn't make gold a good long-term investment.
I was using the time frame mentioned in the article. Since 2007.
Yes. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
Believe it or not, I’m neither stupid nor gullible nor financially illiterate. If you had invested in the Neikkei in 1989 you’d still be down 75%. The US market (in dollars) has been flat for a decade and more than a decade if you used foreign currency to buy it.
If the last decade taught us anything is not to trust the guys on Tout TV talking their book and preaching buy and hold.
We had a generation bull market, that was from 1982 to 2000. Maybe a decade from now, but probably two, the S&P might be ready for a replay but right now the market is expensive based on any historical metric (P/E, dividend yield, etc.)