Ray Dalio Says Investors Should Hold More Gold as Prices Top $4,000

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, says investors should hold a larger share of gold in their portfolios as the precious metal continues its record-breaking climb above $4,000 an ounce.

Speaking at the Greenwich Economic Forum in Connecticut on Tuesday, Dalio said the current global financial environment bears a striking resemblance to the early 1970s, a period marked by surging inflation, mounting debt, and waning faith in fiat currencies. “It’s very much like the early ’70s,” he said. “Where do you put your money in? When you are holding money and you put it in a debt instrument, and when there’s such a supply of debt, it’s not an effective storehold of wealth.”

Dalio recommended that investors allocate as much as 15% of their portfolios to gold, far higher than the standard 2% to 5% typically advised by wealth managers. “Gold is a very excellent diversifier in the portfolio,” Dalio noted. “If you look at it from a strategic asset allocation perspective, you would probably have something like 15% of your portfolio in gold because it is one asset that does very well when the typical parts of the portfolio go down.”

Gold prices have surged more than 50% this year, driven by investor flight to safety amid rising global tensions, expanding fiscal deficits, and monetary easing by major central banks. Gold futures for December delivery were last seen trading at $4,005.80 per ounce, continuing a strong upward trajectory that began in early 2025.

Dalio’s comments come as investors increasingly question the reliability of traditional 60-40 portfolios, the conventional mix of 60% equities and 40% bonds, in the face of persistent inflation and volatile markets. His call for greater exposure to gold echoes that of Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital, who recently suggested gold could make up 25% of a diversified portfolio, citing similar inflationary and dollar-weakness concerns.

For Dalio, gold’s appeal lies in its independence and reliability as a hedge against systemic risk. “Gold is the only asset that somebody can hold and you don’t have to depend on somebody else to pay you money for,” he said. “It stands apart as a hedge in times of monetary debasement and geopolitical uncertainty.”

As global markets adjust to rising debt levels and shifting monetary policies, Dalio’s warning underscores a growing sentiment among top investors: the era of paper wealth may be giving way to tangible stores of value, and gold, once again, is leading the way.