Gold has beaten the total return (including dividends) of the S&P500 ETF, SPY, by a significant margin since the turn of the century.

9.3% vs 6.8% CAGR, respectively.

Meanwhile, M2 has risen by 6.9% annually over the same period of time.

Meaning that SPY has more or less protected your wealth, while gold has allowed it to grow by 2.4% each year *in real terms*.

Sources:

- https://ingoldwetrust.report/gold-compass/monthly-gold-compass-august-2023

- https://dqydj.com/etf-return-calculator/

- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2NS