It's richly valued, sure, but it's certainly an investment. VTI, for instance, currently yields 1.7% annual dividends, and the companies it holds negate the ris

It's richly valued, sure, but it's certainly an investment. VTI, for instance, currently yields 1.7% annual dividends, and the companies it holds negate the risk of inflation as they're the companies that charge (inflating) dollars for their goods and services. Gold is an unproductive block of metal that sits there. I'm not saying there's no value for gold at all, I'm saying that it's not an investment in the typical sense. Hold a small percentage of gold as a low-ish correlating asset class to rebalance with? Sounds great. Hold maybe 3-5% of assets in physical gold as a hyper-hedge insurance policy in case the US or world at large collapses? Perhaps a smart move. Holding all one's assets in gold as a perceived investment? No thanks!