I agree for the most part, however I have to respectfully disagree in some respects. Land is usually a good idea, but not always. In 2003, I bought some acreage in Naples, FL as an investment because the area was really growing and real estate was getting hot there. My property doubled in value in 3 years and then, bam, the bottom fell out and that property was worth 25% of what I paid for it. I had to hang onto it for over 15 years just for the value to get back up to about what I paid for it. It was supposed to be a 10 year investment (and predicted to be a good one). I unloaded it at that point just to get my money back and be rid of it (I had to pay RE taxes every year, of course). Even now, it's not worth very much more than I bought it for - lesson learned - land can be good, but it's far from a sure bet. I wouldn't recommend putting ALL your spare cash into gold, however, it has ALWAYS increased in value to hedge inflation, which cash in a bank or a safe cannot do. Of course, I keep a chunk of cash around, but diversification is the thing. Eggs in multiple baskets.