Stuff Rich People Love

#50 - Gold

Gold
Price: $955.40 per oz

Rich people love gold. There are many ways to own this precious metal such as jewelry, watches, gold toilets, gold bricks or holding it in a trading account as an investment. While it is nice to have an enormous gold Rolex adorning one’s wrist this is hardly appropriate small talk at a cocktail party. As any good stock broker will tell you, if you truly want to make friends with the rich it is important to understand why investing in this metal is so important to the wealthy. Simply put, gold represents exclusivity and a safe harbor for their wealth.

Gold has played an important role in wealth starting in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece and now plays a central role in global stock markets. As with other rare metals, there can never be any more or any less of this element on the planet and unlike other substances such as oil, water and even diamonds which are constantly being producing and eliminated by Mother Earth, the amount of gold is finite. It is estimated that the volume of gold refined in the history of mankind would fill a room no more than 66 cubic feet or roughly 25 grams per person alive today. With these trivia tidbits in hand you can contribute to discussions about inane yet popular topics among the rich like the validity of the gold standard and why investing in gold is an important hedge against inflation. You don’t need to know anything about these topics because once you get your wealthy counterpart started, there will be no shutting them up.

It is imperative not to confuse owning gold with wearing gold as a trait among the wealthy. To some, wearing gold chains is a means to advertise that they are rich. Think Mister T or your corvette driving, insurance selling neighbor. They are not rich! Your neighbor’s chains represent his entire net worth unless you include the sound system that makes his license plate vibrate when he pumps out “Ice Ice Baby” as a sign of his virility. The only value those chains have is selling them at a steep discount to the loud mouth on TV that screams “WE BUY GOLD!” Steer clear of these people or you will be labeled a douche bag with no chance of gaining access to the influential elite. As a final note, gold is so exclusive that the good people who created the table of anniversary gifts pushed gold out to the landmark 50th celebration to save most people from having to spend that kind of money. Note, emailing this post to someone reaching a half century of marriage will not suffice. If you do, you may as well buy yourself a silk shirt, a new shark’s tooth pendant and invest in chest hair plugs.

Don’t miss new posts! Sign up for our RSS feed, post to your iGoogle page or subscribe by email and receive updates anytime there is a new post!