How much gold belongs in your portfolio.

The first question isn't what another investor holds. It's what job the metals portion is meant to do. Some buyers treat gold and silver as a hedge against inflation. Others hold it as insurance against a banking or currency event. Still others use it as long-term savings that sits outside every paper system. Each of those reasons leads to a different size.

A small hedge and a full reserve-style holding are solving different problems. The buyer who wants a modest diversifier may hold five to ten percent. The buyer who is building a reserve against systemic risk may hold twenty or more. Neither is wrong. What matters is that the number follows the reason, not a headline.

The purpose of the allocation sets the size. The size does not set the purpose.

Within the metals portion, gold is usually the anchor — steadier, more liquid, and the one most central banks hold. Silver appeals to buyers who want a lower cost per ounce and more room to move on the upside. A common starting split leans toward gold for the core and adds silver as the growth piece. Platinum and palladium play a smaller, more industrial role and aren't part of every plan.

Many buyers start small — an ounce or two of gold, a few hundred ounces of silver — to learn the product and the handling before sizing up. Others use dollar-cost averaging: a fixed dollar amount each month, which smooths out timing. The allocation question is less about the first buy and more about what share of the whole the metals hold over time. A Self-Directed IRA can hold IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium at an approved depository. The tax treatment follows the IRA type: Traditional distributions are taxed as ordinary income, Roth qualified distributions aren't. The household reader should ask: what is the metals portion for, what does the rest of the portfolio look like, and does the size match the reason? That's the plain starting point.