Are you investing in geopolitical uncertainty?

Wait. Let us rephrase:

Are you investing in gold?

Because some people seem to think gold and silver are THE investment play to make in 2026.

But why? What purpose does gold serve in your family’s investment portfolio other than looking shiny?

Today, we’re going to walk you through the top reasons to invest in gold so you’re better equipped to make decisions for your family’s financial future.

In this edition:

✅ Why gold hit all-time highs (and what's driving it)
✅ Silver's 279% rise and why it's different from gold
✅ Why investors think copper is the next supply crisis
✅ Should your family actually own any of this stuff?

Bon appétit! 🧑‍🍳

Presented by our partner Fisher Investments

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Whether you’ve been a gold investor for years, you’re just recently interested in it, or you have no idea why anyone would want to buy a shiny rock, this rundown has something for you.

Recently, gold and silver have hit all-time highs again and again, and they don’t show any signs of stopping (although nothing’s guaranteed, and who knows what might happen).

Why are precious metals seeing such a historic run?

The answer is mainly geopolitical volatility, US Dollar devaluation, and the AI boom.

Recently gold reached $5,300 per ounce for the first time ever. 

Five years ago, it sat at just $1,847.

That’s a 187% rise since 2021.

What’s going on?

Well, the biggest explanation is the huge amount of geopolitical instability we’ve been experiencing. I.e., Trump invaded Venezuela, threatened to buy Greenland, sent an armada to Iran this morning, and has set and removed tariffs more times than we can count. 

That’s a recipe for volatility, and gold loves uncertainty. It’s a “safe haven” asset where you don’t need a stock market or a bank to fulfill a promise for your gold to have value.

The second reason is that the US Dollar is getting weaker. In the past year alone, the dollar’s value has dropped by 11%. People who want to protect their money from losing value will place it in gold, and clearly, a lot of investors have done that in recent years.

So if that’s what’s going on with gold, what makes silver different? Other than that it’s worth less than gold?

And why has silver risen 279% in just the past year?

Well, silver’s good for the same reasons gold is good for, but it has a key additional quality: it’s useful.

Like, useful beyond just looking shiny and geopolitics.

Silver is used in:

So there’s a lot of practical demand for silver in addition to its value as a hedge against the weakening dollar and shifting international politics.

But if you think that’s a lot of practical uses, check out our third metal:

Now, copper is not a precious metal like gold and silver.

But man, is it becoming important.

A bunch of investors see Copper becoming the next big “supply constraint” of civilization, meaning: there will not be enough copper. Which will make copper very expensive if it happens.

Here’s what copper’s used for:

If gold is an investment against dollar debasement and geopolitical volatility, and silver is a mix between that and practical uses, copper is only for practical use.

Here's the honest answer: Maybe, but probably not a lot.

Precious metals and industrial metals have a place in diversified portfolios, but they shouldn't dominate. Here's why:

The case FOR owning some metals:

The case AGAINST owning too much:

All of these metals can find a place in a respectable portfolio; it just depends on how you want to go about it.

Remember to do your own research, and that none of this is financial advice.

For gold and silver, you might buy pure, actual bars of the metals. You could also buy gold, silver, or copper ETFs (exchange-traded funds) like SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM), iShares Silver Trust (SLV), and Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX).

You can also invest in the companies that mine those metals. Here are some examples:

Here’s an example of how someone might set up an investment portfolio to include precious metals and copper:

If you want more exposure to gold, silver, or copper, you could reallocate some of the total market ETFs or mutual funds to more metals.

This is actually an interesting teaching opportunity. Metals investing introduces concepts that stocks and bonds don't:

Lesson 1: Not all investments produce income

Stocks pay dividends. Bonds pay interest. Real estate generates rent. Metals just sit there. They only make money if someone pays more for them later than you paid. This is "speculation" vs. "investment."

Lesson 2: Diversification means owning things that move differently

When stocks crash, gold often rises. That's the point. The point isn’t to  maximize returns on every dollar; the point is to protect your overall wealth from different types of risks. Gold has just happened to have an insane run over the past year.

Lesson 3: Physical scarcity creates value

There's only so much gold, silver, and copper in the earth. You can print more dollars, but you can't create more metals. Scarcity plus demand equals value.

Lesson 4: Sometimes insurance is worth the cost

Gold is financial insurance. You hope you never "need" it to save you, but you're glad you have it when chaos hits. Just like you hope you never need your homeowner's insurance, but you still pay for it.

The metals craze has taken the investing world by storm. You don’t have to get caught up in the hype, but we wanted to let you know what’s going on so you can make the best decision possible for your family’s wealth!

We hope this was helpful. Cheers to getting 1% better each week! 🥂

We’d love to hear about it—and your investment story could help someone else.
Just hit reply and share.

Thanks for reading,
—Your friends @ Future Funders 🍽️

P.S. Forward this to a friend who’s only invested in bonds. 😁