Gold is, however, an excellent store of value.

When people recommend buying gold in times that seem to be leading up to an economic crisis, they are essentially saying that inflation or hyper-inflation is a big danger.

If you already have wealth and want to try to dodge the financial bullet, then putting your money in gold can preserve its value.

Why? Inflation is literally currency losing its value (in terms of purchasing power). Transfer your wealth from one denomination (dollars) to another (gold) if you think dollars aren't a safe way to store your wealth -- that is, if you think high-digit inflation is a looming hazard.

Every financial decision has risks, though...

If one was so paranoid about the economy collapsing that you put all of your money in to gold, you might lose out on growth investment opportunities while your cash was tied up in yellow metal.

If you put $10k in gold, that's $10k you don't have available to put to work elsewhere. You'd be passing up all those potential opportunities in order to take advantagfe of the perceived safety of gold.