Two very popular questions on Landlord Facebook groups

“10% annual return on cash investments, without exposure to stock market volatility.” sounds a bit unrealistic.

OK, there may be no exposure to stock market volatility, but presumably there is some risk somewhere because a plain vanilla cash investment is very unlikely to have a consistent 10% annual return.

Reply to the comment left by Ryan Stevens at 07/05/2026 – 12:03
A 10% return will definitely involve risk

“I also find shocking the number of comments from people suggesting Gold.. and other volatile investment classes.” Really???!! You are out of touch with this statement Mark, sorry but gold is what central banks use to store wealth and it is NOT considered a volatile investment class. It appreciates in times of inflation… guess what times we are living in?!

Reply to the comment left by Ed Regent at 14/05/2026 – 12:35
Indeed, I hold gold bullion, silver, ETFs and crypto as part of my investment portfolio.

I wouldn’t recommend them to everyone, but provided you are able to hold them long term, are not likely to be a forced seller and they only form a small proportion of investment portfolios they are all legitimate as investments.

Generally you can sell at a drop of a hat – try that with property – and are taxed at a lower rate than property profits (especially geared property portfolios held personally) and gains. Likewise, very low or no Stamp Duty compared to property.

Warning. Do not buy from the Royal Mint. I’m not sure if I’m encountering fraud or complete incompetance

Reply to the comment left by Ryan Stevens at 15/05/2026 – 10:38
Also if you hold UK bullion coins there is not VAT to pay on purchases and any profits are CGT free. As you say, it makes sense to hold some within a balance portfolio.

Reply to the comment left by Ed Regent at 12:35
Bingo.
Gold isn’t the answer to all woes but it is a genuine store of wealth, coins have massive tax advantages and a 12.5kg bar (which I wouldn’t recommend) is more than most people’s pensions so easy to store.
It’s not that gold has some wonderful properties it that it represents ‘real assets’….oil or wheat maybe a good store of wealth but no one can store them as easily.
Now markets can be manipulated so it can fall in and out of favour but unlike porcelain dolls over a period of time gold always finds its price.
So it’s not volatile….people think that because they are measuring it in their own currency ie pounds, dollars, euros, yen etc….but it is the currency that is volatile. It’s like viewing the stars and thinking they spin around the earth…when infact it’s the earth spinning. Gold is the stationary point (well, to an extent)
So effectively a few tubes of gold coins can store wealth outside the whole banking system and unlike ‘cash’ it shouldn’t depreciate over decades.
Of course this won’t be mainstream because if we used gold to store wealth we would NOT need pensions, ISAs and all the things that make up our pretend GDP. Because effectively you would get paid in gold for a days work and you could hold that gold for 15 years and then spend it…..and it would buy you the same as it would have done 15 years before. Whereas the cash system is designed to lose value because they print more and it loses value (they say prices rise but they don’t….cash loses value)
And what’s funny is we buy property, it goes up in value and we sell and pay CGT….but often the property hasn’t gone up in real terms but only kept up with inflation, maybe a little more. But the bank and the tax man win. That’s why they let inflation continue.
And for those that like silver….thats different. That’s for when the system collapses and you need food. You can’t buy food with a gold coin because you are more likely to get mugged than fed.
How money truly works, how good is money and everything is credit….is a long long story and learning curve. I’ve given a flavour.
So in its simplest terms the balance for those with real wealth is something like:
Property, cash, gold, physical assets and equities.
That should survive all scenarios. I was 85% in property but since 2015 and the gov meddling I forced myself to readjust. And I’m now much more mobile, able to have retired, set up the kids and grandkids with houses….and I’m out.
Job now is to empty that pension because of IHT changes. The more I feel the tax system is unfair the less I will give.
Aim to is try get to 80 years old…and have nothing left and all wealth past on so I can watch my family enjoy it.
There lots of tax planning, trusts, etc but I’m past that. If my kids and grandkids want to spend my money so be it. My only aim is to ensure it doesn’t spoil them.
IHT is for those who trust the government more than their families. I past that stage along time ago….and controlling their spending of my money is a risk I’m happy to take. And if they get married and partner runs off with half…that’s on them. Better than me giving 40% to the government to spend on quangos, think tanks and jobs for their daughter in laws.

Gold is volatile, nope not for me….depends what you are measuring it against. Rather like the rock sticking out from a shallow stream, it stays still…it’s the currencies around it (the water) that moves and sometimes alters our perception of gold. Reality is it hasn’t moved or altered what it does….it stores wealth.

Okay, rather simplistic because like everything its value can be (and has been) manipulated.

Reality is gold is money, a store of wealth….whereas cash is printed by governments and loses value. It loses value fast if you store it outside the system.

Gold can sit in a vault for 20 years and then buy almost the same thing it could have bought when you take it out.

Think about that…if you were paid a gold coin for a days work and when given it know that money could buy you the same thing in 20 years as it could today. No ISAs, pensions, no need to invest etc….thats why they hate it.

As JP Morgan said, Gold is money….everything else is credit.

Gold isn’t the be all and end all….really it’s a proxy for things in the real world. Wheat, oil, energy etc….but they are too hard to store.

So for me…anyone with decent amount of wealth needs to split their assets between:
Property
Cash
Gold
Equities
Some physical assets.

I was 80% in property and have been selling since 2016. Now almost at 25% property which is much much better. Plus the other stuff is earning me as good as the returns I got from property with non of the hassle.

But it’s a very individual choice dependant upon personal circumstances.