As gold’s price soars, its pros and cons are worth looking into – The Prosperity Project

The price of gold has risen in 2025. Photo / NZME

As the price of gold continues to hit new highs, investors are being warned to carefully consider how much they invest in the precious metal.

Trade tariffs, war, economic uncertainty and volatile US markets have created a potent cocktail of investor nervousness that has driven the so-called “safe haven” asset above US$3000 ($5240) an ounce.

Investment director at Craigs Investment Partners, Mark Lister, told Nadine Higgins on The Prosperity Project podcast that gold can be a useful tool.

“The times when it tends to be rising are when other things are falling, so it’s most useful, in my opinion, when it’s added to other assets because when things zag, it zigs.”

But Lister warns nervy investors against going all-in on gold.

While it’s important to seek personalised advice, he says, in general he doesn’t believe gold should make up more than 10% of a portfolio.

“When I hear about people that are thinking about 20, 25%, it starts to make me a little bit more nervous and I think, ‘well, I hope you know what you’re doing, because that’s too much as far as I’m concerned’.”

Gold doesn’t provide any income via dividends or interest, and owning the physical metal comes with other costs, such as storage and insurance.

Financial adviser Louis Boulanger focuses almost exclusively on gold bullion, and says investors need to be careful where they choose to buy it.

“I’m not saying that there are scammers everywhere, most retail operators are honest, but it’s very easy to fake gold whenever there’s a good run on gold and people start being interested.”

He advises checking who the producer is and buying from a Mint – for example the New Zealand Mint, or from the London Market.

Boulanger says most investors don’t own gold but he believes more should consider it.

“I think gold is just getting started again, to be honest. I mean, all the reasons for gold going up so fast remain in place.”

Listen to the full episode of The Prosperity Project for more

The podcast is hosted by Nadine Higgins, an experienced broadcaster and a financial adviser at Enable Me.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Monday.