🥇 Gold ETFs: Tickers, Costs, and Strategic Allocation

Inside NurseMoneyDate®, we don’t talk about gold in theory.

We look at structure, cost, and portfolio role.

Because once you move from “Should I own gold?”
to “How would I own gold?”

Details matter.

1️⃣ Major Gold ETFs (With Real Tickers & Costs)

Here are some of the largest and most commonly used gold ETFs available through major brokerages like Fidelity and Vanguard:|

A few important notes:

• These ETFs hold physical gold bullion in vault custody
• They charge annual expense ratios
• That expense ratio slightly reduces long-term returns

For example:

If gold returns 6% in a year and the ETF expense ratio is 0.25%,
your net return is roughly 5.75%.

Fees matter more over decades than over months.

What About Vanguard or Fidelity “In-House” Gold ETFs?

Neither Vanguard nor Fidelity currently offers a low-cost, pure physical gold ETF of their own.

However:

• Vanguard brokerage clients can buy GLD, IAU, GLDM, etc.
• Fidelity brokerage clients can also buy those same ETFs

Fidelity does offer gold-related mutual funds (like FSAGX, which invests in gold mining stocks), but that is not the same as owning gold bullion.

Mining stocks introduce:

• Company risk

• Management risk

• Equity market correlation

That’s structurally different from bullion-backed ETFs.

2️⃣ Tax Treatment (Often Overlooked)

Gold ETFs that hold physical gold are typically taxed as collectibles when held in taxable accounts.

That means:

• Long-term capital gains may be taxed up to 28%, not the lower 15–20% equity rate.

Inside an IRA:
• That issue disappears.
• Growth is tax-deferred (Traditional) or tax-free (Roth).

This is one reason some investors choose to hold gold exposure inside retirement accounts instead of brokerage accounts.

Structure matters.

3️⃣ What Allocation Do Professionals Typically Use?

Gold is rarely a core holding.

In institutional portfolio construction, gold allocations often range between:

• 0–5% in traditional balanced portfolios
• 5–10% in more inflation-sensitive or alternative-heavy models

It is not common to see:
• 20%
• 30%
• Or portfolio-overweight gold allocations in disciplined long-term plans.

Why?

Because gold does not compound.

Equities grow through earnings expansion.
Gold’s price depends on demand and macro narratives.

4️⃣ What Gold Is Designed to Do

Gold is typically used for:

• Diversification
• Potential downside cushioning in crisis environments
• Currency debasement hedge

It is not designed to:

• Fund retirement income
• Outpace equities long-term
• Replace diversified stock exposure

Your pension compounds. Your index funds compound. Gold does not compound.

That’s the structural difference.

5️⃣ The NurseMoneyDate® Filter

Before adding gold exposure, we ask:

Are you:

• Fully funding your emergency reserves?

• Maximizing employer match?

• Consistently investing in diversified index funds?

• Managing high-interest debt?

If those systems aren’t stable, gold becomes noise.

If those systems are stable, a small, intentional allocation (often 2–5%) can be discussed strategically.

Not emotionally.

🧠 Big Picture

Gold ETFs made gold easier to access.

They did not change what gold fundamentally is:

• No earnings
• No dividends
• No internal compounding
• Periods of long underperformance

It can diversify.
It can stabilize in certain macro conditions.
It can also lag equities for a decade.

The question is not “Is gold safe?”

The question is:

Does a small allocation improve your portfolio structure or are you reacting to fear headlines?

Because disciplined investing is not about chasing protection.

It’s about building a structure that holds through cycles, even after a 12-hour shift.