In the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, consumer confidence in our banking system has been shaken. Many Americans are no longer certain whether their deposits are safe and have turned to other assets like gold to help diversify their portfolios should their financial institution of choice run into any trouble.
This reduction of consumer confidence, combined with concerns over “sticky” inflation, has helped push gold prices to near-record highs, over $2,000/oz. But I believe there may be a third reason supporting higher gold prices and demand—and that reason is financial literacy.
April is National Financial Literacy Month—and having a better understanding of your portfolio has never been more important.
Many analysts believe that we’re still facing a possible recession. On April 14, 2023, The New York Times wrote that while some data is pointing to a strong economy, “Economists remain worried that a recession is on the way or that the Federal Reserve will cause one in trying to rein in inflation.” Meanwhile, on April 15, 2023, Bloomberg pointed to the diesel market as a sign that we may already be in a recession, writing that “signs of an economic slowdown are flashing in the global diesel market.”
In times of economic volatility, understanding the ins and outs of your finances may make a huge difference in how you weather that storm. Increasing your knowledge of diversification in particular may be helpful because you may wish to find ways to help protect your wealth and reduce your overall risk exposure while not taking too big a bite out of your profit potential.
This is why it’s so helpful that April is National Financial Literacy Month: Financial websites are taking the opportunity to share tips and information that may help you increase your understanding of the financial world. And as always, U.S. Money Reserve provides a massive library of free educational materials related to precious metals, including videos, executive insights, special reports, our free Gold Information Kit, and more. To learn more, visit our Resource Library.
When push comes to shove, it can be helpful to know that you can rely on your own knowledge when shaping your financial future.
This is something I strongly believe. As a CEO, I make sure to surround myself with those who I can rely on and ask for help—but at the end of the day, I strive to make sure that I know as much about our industry as possible. It’s why I keep a constant eye on financial headlines and stay in constant communication with our president and former U.S. Mint Director Philip N. Diehl, our Senior IRA Strategist and also former U.S. Mint Director Edmund C. Moy, our director of education Brad Chastain, and our master numismatist John Rothans. Every day we discuss the latest market news and learn from one another’s unique knowledge and experience—which we then pass on to you each week through our “Gold News & Views” and “Market Insider” emails and other educational materials (also available through our Resource Library).
Even after decades of working in this industry, I can tell you that there’s always more to learn—and that the more you learn, the more confident you can become in knowing you’re making well-researched and educated decisions regarding your portfolio.
Financial literacy is all about taking back control. The same goes for self-directed IRAs.
This is what increasing your financial literacy is all about: taking control of your financial future. With more knowledge backing every decision, your confidence grows, and you can feel more empowered to make decisions for yourself. That’s not to say you should never seek outside counsel or speak with a financial advisor—but you’ll be better equipped to have those conversations and speak to what you want for your portfolio.
This is also why so many of our clients also add physical gold to their retirement portfolios through a precious metals IRA. As self-directed IRAs, these accounts allow you total control over your asset mix—and thus more control over the future of your retirement savings. If you’ve explored the protective and growth potentials of gold and prefer making your own decisions, you my find a precious metals IRA to be a good choice for your retirement portfolio.
If you’re done your research and are ready to diversify with physical precious metals, give us a call—our dedicated Account Representatives are ready and willing to help you build a unique precious metals portfolio tailored to your financial goals. And if you’re unsure whether gold, silver, platinum, and/or palladium is right for your portfolio (whether in or out of an IRA), I encourage you to take advantage of National Financial Literacy Month and call today to request your free Gold Information Kit or Gold IRA Information Kit. There’s no better time than right now to take action and begin taking a more active role in shaping your own financial future.