Buying Gold Isn’t Just for Old People: A Modern Guide to Seeking Wealth Preservation

• Younger generations are increasingly turning to buying gold to help protect their wealth against inflation, currency devaluation, and the underperformance of traditional financial assets.
• Gold has outperformed stock markets in the 21st century, making it an attractive asset for long-term growth potential.
• You can buy physical gold either through a gold IRA, which offers all the tax advantages of conventional IRAs, or through a direct cash purchase.

If you look at marketing for gold and gold products, you could be forgiven for thinking that buying gold is just something that appeals to old people. After all, much of the gold industry, and particularly the gold IRA industry, markets to established older Americans who have retirement savings that they want to try to protect.

Gold’s reputation as a safe haven asset and inflation hedge, its derision as a “pet rock” by detractors, and its nature as a non-yielding asset are other reasons it is sometimes seen as a stodgy, passive asset intended only for those looking for capital preservation in retirement.

But the post-COVID economic reality of persistent inflation, rising government debt, and a declining value of the dollar have helped to alter the perspective of gold as simply a defensive asset purchased by old people. Today a growing number of younger people, including millennials and Gen Z-ers, are rediscovering the appeal of owning physical gold.

Whether you are looking to help protect existing retirement savings or looking to build wealth over a multi-decade time horizon, precious metals like gold can offer financial security and growth potential. Goldco has helped thousands of Americans take advantage of the benefits of owning gold through establishing gold IRAs or acquiring physical gold through direct cash purchases, helping people take control of their financial well-being in a time of increasing economic uncertainty.

The Changing Demographics of Gold Ownership

The global market for precious metals is experiencing a shift in buyer demographics. On the one hand, there is a natural shift as a consequence of the aging population, as older generations die off and newer generations mature.

Older millennials who were in their 20s during the financial crisis are today in mid-career, often decades into retirement planning and having to think about balancing retirement savings, mortgage payments, and college tuition. But even younger generations are having to think hard about money matters, having come of age in an era in which inflation has become not only persistent but unpredictable.

With the rising cost of living, younger generations are more willing to think outside the box when it comes not only to earning their living, but also to generating and building wealth for the long term.

• Over 15% of Gen Zers owns gold, while 60% of millennials own gold. Gen X and Boomers actually lag millennials, at 35% and 20% respectively.
• More than 42% of Gen Zers indicate hedging against inflation as a reason for buying gold, while more than half of Gen Zers are worried about the impact inflation will have on their assets.
• Nearly three-quarters of millennials and younger no longer believe that traditional financial assets like stocks and bonds can deliver above average returns, making them more open to alternative assets like gold.
• Digital access and streamlined direct sales have made buying gold easier for younger generations and make gold far more accessible than having to visit a brick-and-mortar coin shop.

This surge in demand among younger age cohorts demonstrates that gold isn’t just a “Boomer” asset popular among retirees, but also a potential growth asset that can be used to help grow and preserve wealth for people of all ages. For younger gold buyers, there are three particular advantages to buying gold that they might want to keep in mind.

Gold Advantage 1: Defending Purchasing Power Against Dollar Devaluation

A major financial threat facing younger gold buyers is the continued loss of purchasing power of the US dollar. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, the US dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power.

Perhaps even worse, the dollar has lost 88% of its purchasing power since President Nixon closed the window in 1971. With the Federal Reserve continuing to struggle with keeping inflation under control, loss of purchasing power could be an ongoing issue.

If you have 20-40 years or more of earning potential ahead of you, this devaluation could severely impact the value of your retirement savings. Popular assets like T-bills, CDs, and savings accounts offer yields that at best barely edge out inflation, making it difficult to use them to significantly grow your wealth.

Gold, on the other hand, gains in value and maintains its purchasing power in the face of inflation. During the 1970s stagflation, for instance, the gold price rose at an annualized rate of over 30% per year over the course of the decade. And since 1971 the gold price has increased by over 11,000%, compared to the dollar’s 88% loss of purchasing power.

Gold Advantage 2: Portfolio Diversification Beyond Paper Assets

Many financial advisors advocate for portfolio diversification by proposing different ratios of stock and bond holdings depending on your age and risk appetite, such as the well-known 60/40 portfolio. What these diversification strategies sometimes fail to take into account, however, is that during systemic shocks both stocks and bonds can lose value.

• During severe market downturns, such as the 2008 financial crisis, both stock and bond markets can experience simultaneous price drops.
• Physical precious metals can act as countercyclical assets, exhibiting low-to-negative correlation with conventional Wall Street financial instruments.
• Adding physical gold to a portfolio alters its overall risk profile, which could help smooth out volatility during market corrections.
• Holding physical bullion removes counterparty risk, meaning the value of your asset is not dependent on the solvency or financial well-being of a corporation, bank, or brokerage firm.

By using gold to help diversify, younger gold buyers can help insulate their assets against systemic shocks that could upend many traditional asset portfolios.

Gold Advantage 3: Multi-Decade Wealth Building and Countercyclical Growth

A common objection to buying gold is that gold’s growth potential is inferior to that of stock markets. But that doesn’t hold up.

In fact, gold has been one of the top-performing assets of the 21st century. Since 2001, the gold price has increased at an annualized rate of 11.54% per year, while the S&P 500 index has risen at an annualized rate of 7.07% per year.

This indicates that gold has offered significant long-term growth through both bull and bear markets. With many analysts expecting gold prices to continue to climb, gold could offer younger gold buyers continued wealth appreciation over the long term.

Comparing Gold Performance Against Conventional Financial Assets

To understand gold’s role as a wealth-building tool, it is valuable to examine how physical precious metals compare against paper assets across critical performance metrics.

Performance Metric	Physical Gold	S&P 500	Treasury Bonds
Annualized Return, 2001-2025	11.75%	6.76%	3.34%
Counterparty Risk	None	Corporate bankruptcy of individual companies	Debt default
Purchasing Power Protection Over Long Term	High	Variable, bear markets can incur losses	Low, real yields can be negative
Tangible or Paper Asset	Physical Asset	Digital/Paper Claim	Digital/Paper Claim
Correlation to Stock Markets	Low	High	Variable – lower over long term but higher in short term

Buying Gold: Gold IRAs vs. Direct Physical Purchases

People looking to buy gold and precious metals often choose between two different methods of buying physical gold: buying gold through a gold IRA, or making a direct cash purchase of gold and taking direct physical delivery.

1. Gold IRA Advantages

A gold IRA is a self-directed individual retirement account that holds physical gold coins or gold bars instead of paper assets like stocks, bonds, or fund shares. Here are a few advantages of buying gold through a gold IRA.

• Tax-Free Rollovers: You can execute a tax-free rollover or transfer from existing 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or IRA accounts into a gold IRA without incurring income taxes or early withdrawal penalties.
• Wealth Protection: Rolling over funds from a retirement account into a gold IRA allows you to lock in the gains you made in those retirement accounts and transfer them into physical precious metals.
• Flexible Account Types: Gold IRAs can either be set up as a Traditional gold IRA, which is funded with pre-tax dollars and pays taxes only at distribution, or as a Roth gold IRA, funded with post-tax dollars and which offers tax-free qualified distributions.
• Economies of Scale: Many gold IRA providers offer flat custodial and storage fees regardless of how much gold your gold IRA holds. The more gold you buy with your gold IRA, the lower your fees are as a percentage of your assets.

2. Direct Physical Cash Purchases

For people who aren’t interested in the tax advantages of a gold IRA, or who don’t have retirement assets they can roll over, or who want to have their gold holdings stored at home where they can access them immediately, direct cash purchases can be an ideal alternative. Here’s what direct cash purchases of gold offer.

• Complete Privacy and Control: Physical gold coins and bars purchased directly can be stored securely at home, in a safe deposit box, or in a private vault. It’s your choice where to store your gold.
• No Maximum Purchase Limits: IRA annual contribution limits (which don’t apply to rollovers) are capped at $7,500 in 2026, or $8,600 for those over age 50. But there are no limits to how much gold you can purchase in a direct cash purchase.
• Immediate Liquidity: Direct cash purchases allow you to hold your gold in your hand, providing you a quick and discreet source of liquidity that can be sold quickly without having to wait for delivery from a bullion depository.

Some Key IRS Rules for Holding Precious Metals in a Gold IRA

Starting a self-directed gold IRA means that you need to understand the rules that govern gold IRAs. Working with an experienced gold partner like Goldco can help ensure that you remain compliant with these key rules.

1. Purity Standards: Gold held in an IRA must meet a minimum fineness of .995 (99.5% pure gold), with specific exemptions for American Gold Eagle coins minted by the US Mint.
2. Prohibition on Collectibles: Coins such as pre-1933 US gold coins and common gold bullion coins such as South African Krugerrands are considered collectible coins and may not be acquired by an IRA; using IRA funds to acquire these coins would be considered a taxable distribution, and can result in taxes and penalties.
3. Custodial Management: IRS regulations mandate that all IRA assets be administered by an approved non-bank trustee or custodian. Not all IRA custodians offer custodial services for self-directed precious metals IRAs.
4. Secure Depository Storage: Physical IRA metals must be stored in an IRS-approved bullion depository; attempting to store gold IRA assets at home through a so-called “home storage gold IRA” violated federal tax law and could subject you to taxes and penalties.
5. Distribution Options: When you decide to take a distribution from your gold IRA, you can take that distribution in cash or request an in-kind distribution by taking physical delivery of your gold coins or gold bars.

How to Get Started with Goldco Today

Helping to protect your hard-earned wealth against market volatility, currency devaluation, and potential recession does not have to be complex. Goldco can help make buying gold a breeze through this simple three-step process:

• Step 1: Open Your Self-Directed Gold IRA Account: Talk to a Goldco precious metals specialist to complete the standard agreement paperwork and decide what kind of gold IRA you want to open. Or if a gold IRA isn’t right for you, elect for a direct cash purchase of gold.
• Step 2: Fund Your Account: Once you have selected your gold IRA custodian and opened your account, you can initiate a tax-free, direct rollover from an existing 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA, or similar IRA account into your gold IRA. If you’re making a direct cash purchase of gold, you can elect to send a check or a bank wire to purchase gold coins or gold bars.
• Step 3: Select Your IRA-Eligible Metals: Choose from a wide selection of guaranteed authentic gold coins and gold bars sourced directly from leading global mints, which are then shipped directly to a secure bullion depository. If you make a direct cash purchase, your gold can be sent directly to your doorstep.

With over a decade of experience, over $3 billion in precious metals placements, and more than 8,000 5-star customer reviews, Goldco is an industry leader in precious metals wealth preservation. Contact Goldco’s specialists today to request your free gold and silver guide and put physical precious metals to work in helping safeguard your long-term financial security.

This article was originally published in July 2021 and was updated in September 2026.