Fisher Investments Founder, Ken Fisher, Debunks “With Gold, You’re Golden”

TL;DR

Gold is a poor long-term investment because it delivers half the returns of stocks with higher volatility and far less consistency.

Key Points

• 1.Returns vs. volatility: Since 1974, gold's annual return is roughly half that of the S&P 500, yet gold's volatility is over 20% higher than stocks — and more than twice the volatility of bonds, which actually outperform gold in total returns.
• 2.Positive years: Gold is only positive in about 50% of years historically, versus 81% for stocks (1974–present) and ~65% for stocks going back to 1925 — making it the least consistent of the three.
• 3.Brutal losing streaks: Gold peaked in 1980, then fell irregularly for 20 years, and didn't recover to that 1980 price for 28 years (until 2008) — illustrating how long investors can be underwater.
• 4.Boom-bust pattern: Gold's gains come in short, steep spurts (runs to 1980, ~2012, ~2020 peaks), meaning you must be an excellent market timer to profit — buying after a big run typically locks you into another long decline.
• 5.Ken Fisher's bottom line: Gold can work as jewelry or a small ornamental holding, but as an investment it fails the core standard of strong returns, low volatility, and consistent yearly gains — stocks and bonds beat it on all three measures.