I looked at the actual yield as stated by VanGuard (pre-tax). I'm confident their numbers are accurate. But hey I'll agree, if you put 10K in VSPIX ten years ago you would have gained a whopping 10K Vs the 58K gain with the same investment in Gold over the same period.
So you admit your "7.5% over the last ten years" number was wrong. Well that's a start. A 10k gain on a 10k investment is a doubling of money as I said. Invest the same 10k in gold 10 years ago and you say it would be worth 58K, but put the same 10k in Apple stock (AAPL) 10 years ago and it would be worth 410k today. Hindsight is fun game, but offers limited value for investing.
VIPSX and funds like it are a low risk way of hedging against high inflation that many are worried about without exposing themselves to the downside risk of gold. If you really believe the worst case scenario is coming, then buy the things you need to survive now rather than buying gold in hopes you can buy the things you need in the aftermath of a disaster.
Here's some
up-to-date information from Jon Nadler Senior Metals Analyst � Kitco Metals
ETF stands for Exchange Traded Funds. Unlike small time hoarders who buy physical gold in anticipation of an economic collapse, gold speculators go the gold ETF route so they can get in and out of the market in a flash come spike or crash. Those are the folks who will make money and leave the physical gold buyers holding the bag.
International funds huh. Maybe you should buy NBG. Let the guys know (at least those who are not ignoring you) how it works out.
I'll pick my own stocks, but if you think NBG (National Bank of Greece) is good, go for it.
