Gold has always seemed like a risky proposition to me. Of course it's better when economies are in a downturn as others have witnessed but then that also leads to high volatility. Seems pretty easy to lose a bunch of money quickly. It also doesn't help that the people who tend to push gold constantly are the type of people that I am diametrically opposed to so that could be a factor.
Been investing 20 years, have spent the last decade managing others' money, actively investing my own, etc.
Really interesting discussion, I have always thought gold was the safest investment out there but this discussion makes me think twice, it certainly doesn't seem like it's going to turn a profit for people for awhile, but silver is looking pretty attractive. In fact there are a lot of people in my family who have done pretty well with silver in the past few years.
So, from this post, and I believe that it might not be a bad idea to invest in Silver. Currently, my silver investments consist of purchases of coinage only, however, I would love to diversify and actually purchase silver through other means. I don't have any gold, and because of its price, and suggestions from this board, I am likely not to bother until it comes down considerably. That said, I have much more faith in these commodities than I do in the USD.