THE NEW GOLD RUSH
Savvy investors are returning to America’s original currency. Here’s why.
GOLD IS POISED TO MAKE A COMEBACK. Despite favorable job reports and consumer confidence, many market analysts are predicting that America is headed for a recession in 2019. They blame various intersecting factors: instability in global markets; tariffs and trade wars; America’s ballooning deficit; and continued increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. All of these factors could slow stock growth, cause prices to rise, and reduce the buying power of the U.S. dollar.
After seeing double- digit losses in our retirement accounts during the last crash, many of us are looking for safer places to stash our nest eggs. The world’s oldest form of money may be the answer. New technology has made gold easily accessible to regular investors, paving the way for its comeback as a currency you can save and spend. You don’t need to be a billionaire with a financial advisor and a safe in the wall. You just need a mobile app and debit card — and the desire to exert more control over your financial future. Here are a few of the most immediate benefits of going back to gold.
ONE RECESSION- PROOF YOUR RETIREMENT
This one is easy to grasp: Just look at your 401k reports from 2008-2009. While stocks were cratering, gold was holding — and increasing — its value. And that story has been consistent over the long term: The price of gold fluctuates modestly but doesn’t suffer overnight double- digit declines like the stock market has.
That makes gold a smart investment, especially if you’re saving for retirement, tuition, or a large purchase like a boat or new home — and can’t afford a sudden downturn. Imagine you’re less than 10 years from retirement, when your risk is the highest, or you’ve stashed almost enough for your dream barn ... and then the market plummets. Will you have the time or salary to build back your nest egg? If those analysts are correct, gold’s historical resilience makes it a very attractive way to protect your hard- earned savings.
TWO EARN MORE FROM YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Inflation is an insidious and largely invisible drain on your net worth. Every day, the buying power of the U.S. dollar decreases a fraction as more money is made. On top of that, most of us keep a fair chunk of change in low- or no-interest debit accounts to cover our dayto- day spending. That yields a financial double whammy: There’s a hole in your bucket and no new water being added.
Gold is a different story, as the chart shows. It’s an independent currency whose value comes from the limited worldwide supply of bullion. There’s no Federal Reserve to issue more bars, so there’s no inflation. Plus, because it’s a coveted precious metal, its price tends to rise.
If only you could put gold in your debit account and spend it, you’d win both ways — no inflation and better earnings — right? That hasn’t been possible since frontier days, but that’s about to change. More on the company that is making gold easy in a moment.
THREE AVOID THE RISKS OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Crypto took the world by storm with the promise of cutting-edge technology and universal access ... and promptly roller-coastered through a series of busts and booms. Early adopters rushed to buy tokens, but many got burned. The problem: Dollars converted into an unregulated digital ether have no inherent value or protections. Gold, on the other hand, is a physical commodity that can’t be hacked or wiped out in a rush of pixels. It’s numbered, regulated, insured, and protected in the world’s most secure vaults. Cloud-based currencies may ultimately have their place in the financial system, but if you’re seeking a secure alternative to national currencies, gold is far less risky.
FOUR REDUCE YOUR TRAVEL COSTS AND HASSLES
If your bank deducted a $.10 fee every time you deposited $1.00, how long would you keep banking there? Not very long — and yet most of us blithely accept the conversion and convenience charges that banks and foreign exchange booths charge at international airports. In many cases, these fees can run into double digits, coming and going.
With a universally accepted currency like gold, you can skip right by those lines and keep the FX hand from dipping into your travel funds. Same goes for international purchases, like a fishing charter in Baja or drinks at a Paris bistro; why pay a conversion surcharge when you can skip it?
THE GOLD APP
So how does a normal investor start saving and spending with gold? A new financial technology company called Glint has developed a proprietary system that lets you buy gold through a mobile app and spend it with a Mastercard® debit card. Whether you buy $10 or $10 million in gold, you’ll own real, physical gold that’s held in your name in a Swiss vault with the company trusted to hold the world’s bullion: Brink’s. Simply download the app, register, and transfer dollars from your debit account. Glint purchases the gold immediately, and insures it with Lloyds of London. From there, you can spend your gold wherever Mastercard® is accepted, on anything from gas to groceries to globe-trotting vacations. The firm’s technology converts the value of your gold into dollars in real time, meaning you can also use an ATM to withdraw cash.
With a Glint gold account, you protect your savings from volatile markets, you sidestep inflation, and you sail through customs with a fatter wallet. And that is why gold is making a comeback.