“My Advisor Says Sell the Gold. Should I?”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several conversations with people nearing retirement who are grappling with a familiar question: Should I keep my gold… or dump it and go all-in on the market?

One woman, Linda, is just seven years from retirement. She told me she has about 10% of her portfolio in gold, but her financial advisor is urging her to sell it off and “get more aggressive” in the stock market. After all, the headlines are optimistic. The markets are strong. Why not chase a bit more growth while she still has time?

I hear this often—and I get it. The temptation to ride the wave is real. But I also know what happens when the wave crashes. I’ve watched families lose what they spent a lifetime building because they were told to “stay the course” right as the cliff was approaching.

Here’s the truth: I’m not a financial advisor. I don’t sell stocks or give investment advice. What I do is educate. And I’ve spent over 20 years helping families understand the importance of stewardship, diversification, and historical cycles that Wall Street often forgets (or conveniently ignores).

So let’s look at the bigger picture.

Even some of the biggest names in finance are beginning to sound the alarm. Bank of America recently warned that we may be heading into bubble territory as interest rates drop and financial regulations loosen. Globally, rates have already declined from 4.8% to 4.4%, and are projected to fall to 3.9% in the next 12 months. That means easier money, more liquidity, and—historically speaking—more volatility. It's the kind of environment where bubbles are born.

At the same time, there’s a push to bring more retail investors into the market. Bigger crowds, bigger inflows, and ultimately bigger risks. Bubbles aren’t built by Wall Street alone—they need Main Street to believe nothing can go wrong.

And that belief? It’s how bubbles pop.

We've seen this movie before. The dot-com bubble in 2000. The real estate crash in 2008. In both cases, the market was flooded with easy money, confidence was high, and most people were “all in.” When it all collapsed, many investors waited 7 to 10 years just to get back to where they started. That's not just a setback—that's a lost decade. And if you’re 60, like Linda, can you really afford to lose a decade now?

Here’s where this matters: your advisor may see gold as something to flip when it’s “underperforming,” but that’s not how I see it. Gold isn’t a growth tool—it’s a preservation tool. It’s not for speculation. It’s for protection.

It sits outside the system. It doesn’t depend on interest rates, tech stocks, elections, or quarterly earnings. It’s real, tangible, and historically stable. It’s not meant to make you rich—it’s meant to keep you from becoming poor.

So how much is enough?

Linda has about 10% of her savings in gold, which is a meaningful starting point. But many of the families I work with are moving toward a 20–25% allocation—again, not as a hard rule, but as a thoughtful hedge. One way I encourage people to think about their portfolio is this: imagine a pie chart of your financial life. If 90% of it is in dollar-based assets like stocks, bonds, and bank accounts, that might not be as diversified as it sounds.

Scripture offers timeless wisdom here. Ecclesiastes 11:2 says, “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.” That’s not a financial forecast—it’s a reminder that uncertainty is part of life, and diversification is part of stewardship.

With inflation still eroding purchasing power and the national debt climbing past $34 trillion, it's worth asking: How exposed am I? And what portion of my net worth is truly protected from what’s happening in the system?

If you still trust the market, that’s fine—but do so with eyes wide open. Even Wall Street is waving yellow flags. And for those of us nearing retirement, protecting what we’ve already earned should take priority over gambling for more.

This isn’t about fear—it’s about wisdom. The kind that looks ahead, remembers the past, and doesn’t follow the crowd off a cliff.

Thanks for reading. If you’re wrestling with these questions too, you’re not alone. My door is open.

Until next time, Becca

Past performance is not indicative of future results.