Gold vs Stocks: The 10-Year Reality Check

Did you sleep on gold a decade ago? If you threw $1k into it in 2015, you’d be sitting on ~$2,360 today. That’s a clean 136% gain.

Sounds solid until you realize S&P 500 crushed it with 174% returns over the same period. Ouch.

Here’s the thing: gold doesn’t “do” anything—it just sits there looking shiny. It only pops when the economy freaks out. Case in point: 2020 pandemic? Gold jumped 24.43%. 2023 inflation spiral? +13.08%. But in calm markets? Gold averaged just 4.4% annual returns since 1980.

The play: Gold isn’t about beating stocks. It’s insurance. When markets crater, gold usually goes up—that’s your portfolio hedge. It doesn’t move with stocks, which is literally the point.

2025 forecast? Analysts expect gold to climb another ~10%, potentially hitting $3k/oz. So if you’re building a diversified portfolio, throwing some gold in there makes sense. Just don’t expect it to replace your equity positions.