Are You Prepared for Another Wave of Gold Buying?

In recent weeks, gold climbed above $4,600 an ounce, surging 15% in 25 days. What’s driving gold higher? The same underlying forces that boosted the precious metal to above $5,500 in January. These key drivers for gold include persistent inflation, historic levels of rising U.S. debt and geopolitical risks around the globe.

Let’s take a look at these three factors and what they mean for gold ahead.

Inflation Costs You More Every Week

The July consumer price index (CPI) inflation stood at 3.4% annually, well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate. Inflation has been above the Fed’s target for 5 years now. Americans feel this pinch to their wallet every time they go to the grocery store or fill up at the gas station.

Did you travel for the holiday weekend? You probably discovered that Labor Day gas cost you more than last year, 87 cents a gallon more than in 2025, according to GasBuddy. They saw the 2026 holiday weekend national average for gas at $4.03, which marked the highest Labor Day gas in history. The previous record stood at $3.83/gal in 2012.

What this means for gold:

“Since the United States abandoned the gold standard more than 50 years ago, the precious metal has been viewed as a hedge against inflation and the “debasement” of “fiat” (government) currencies issued by central banks. And over the past half-century, gold prices have risen much faster than the Consumer Price Index (CPI)—the most closely watched measure of inflation,” according to Charles Schwab research.

Investors are buying gold today as a hedge against a loss in their purchasing power. You see it every day. A dollar in your wallet is worth a lot less today than it was five years ago. Gold’s price increase protects you for a loss in purchasing power. The longer inflation stays above the Fed’s target, the more investors are incentivized to buy gold.

U.S. Crosses Historic $40 Trillion In Debt

Our nation recently crossed into uncharted territory, as our nation’s debt hit a historic record of $40 trillion. The U.S. pays over $1 trillion in interest on our debt about every five months. The level of our debt is spiraling out of control and policymakers in Washington D.C. have been unwilling to take the hard measures to reign this in.

Investors have been turning to the safety of gold in recent years on concerns that policymakers will try to handle the debt burden by artificially holding down interest rates and eroding the dollar’s value. The U.S. Treasury’s recent plans to buyback our own government debt fueled fresh concerns about inflation and dollar weakness, igniting a fresh wave of buying into gold as an alternative store of value.

What this means for gold:

Investors are buying gold as protection against currency debasement, as a way to get rid of counter-party risk and to grow their wealth. During historical periods of high inflation, gold has grown sharply.

Gold makes up a relatively small share of Western investor’s portfolios. Goldman Saches estimated in May 2025 that even a modest shift away from U.S. assets, moving just 0.56% of foreign investor’s U.S. asset holdings into gold, could lift prices by above 18% annually. This means as global investors own less U.S. paper assets even a small shift into gold will substantially boost the price of the precious metal in the years ahead.

The World Is More Dangerous Today

The 2026 Global Peace Index revealed that armed conflict is the major driver of falling peacefulness around the world today. In 2026, there are more state-based active conflicts than any point since World War II. The Peace Index also found that today’s geopolitical risks exceed levels of the Cold War, driven by heightened military spending, the diminished roles of multilateral institutions, the tripling of trade restrictions and increasing competition among major powers of the world.

What this means for gold:

Individual investors, family offices, pension funds, hedge fund managers and central bankers are all buying gold to help protect against rising geopolitical risk.

In August, the People’s Bank of China bought 650,000 ounces of gold, marking the 22nd month in a row that they have bought gold. Notably, the PBOC is buying gold even as prices rise, signaling that they expect the precious metal to continue to gain in value.

What Comes Next for Gold

In the short-term gold prices could remain volatile amid Fed actions around inflation. If you see a dip in gold prices, it will be a historic buying opportunity. Any pullbacks in gold have been short-lived as long-term buyers swoop in to scoop up precious metal at lower prices. Major banks predict gold to climb above $5,000 to as high as $6,300 in 2027. The long-term trend for gold points higher. Are you ready to take action? Gold is on the move and big picture drivers all point higher.