Gold Falls, Credit Card Debt Rises

After breaking through resistance points of more than $1,300 an ounce, the gold market rallyhas come to a halt and a sell-off has ensued due to the improving outlook of the globaleconomy. Equity markets around the globe have put up impressive numbers since thebeginning of the year. Leading the collection is China with a whopping 25% gain, with Franceand the U.S. up 11% and other markets up over 8%.In our local market, the Nasdaq rallied for 11 weeks in a row, which is its longest run since1999. With the market continuing to rise, it is hard to see any short-term push in the gold pricewithout any emerging catalysts.In other news, the U.S. has set a new record of indebtedness. According to data from thefederal reserve, as of December 2018, credit card debt has eclipsed $870 billion – the largest ithas ever been.Out of a total of 480 million credit cards in circulation today, almost 37 million accounts aredelinquent 90 or more days. To make matters worse, these 37 million accounts hold roughly$68 billion in debt. $68 billion is past due for 90 days or more!In a recent article on Bloomberg.com, writer Alexandre Tanzi notes, “At the end of last year,credit cards were the fourth-largest portion of consumer debt in the U.S. after mortgage,student loan and auto debt. But the quarterly increase in credit card debt was faster than theother categories. Overall debt reached a record $13.5 trillion.”What is surprising is the age group breakdown of total debt. Those who are 40-59 years oldaccount for roughly 46%, and even more shocking is that those above the age of 60 hold nearly30%. That leaves 18-39 year-olds with the remaining 24%. What has the older generation donewrong that they are carrying this much debt into retirement?Our focus is on educating our clients to make wise choices for their retirement by protectingtheir wealth for generations to come. One of the best ways to do this is through “wealthinsurance.” Physical gold and silver play an inverse role to equity markets, cash and real estate,so when turbulent times come, like those seen in the 1980s, 2000s and the 2008 recession,clients are able to weather the storm without acquiring debt to maintain their lifestyle.Physical gold and silver are as easy to liquidate as they are to purchase. We are here to helpyour clients position themselves correctly into physical gold and silver, and we’re availablewhen they are ready to exercise their exit strategy. There will always be a time to buy and atime to sell. With the current global economic outlook, now is the time to buy. Contact us todayto get started.