5 years deep into my Gold IRA - reflections on returns & some questions for the group

• •Hard to believe it's been five years since I first opened my Gold IRA.
• •Time flies when you're watching the markets, I guess.
• •My 401k is still solid, but I just had this gut feeling about diversifying beyond paper assets.

Hard to believe it's been five years since I first opened my Gold IRA. Time flies when you're watching the markets, I guess. I tossed about $350k into it back then, opting for a mix of physical gold and some silver thrown in for good measure, mostly American Eagles and Canadian Maples. I own a logistics company here in Memphis, and with succession planning starting to ramp up over the next 5-10 years, I wanted something truly outside the traditional financial system. My 401k is still solid, but I just had this gut feeling about diversifying beyond paper assets.

My returns have been decent, nothing to write home about compared to the NASDAQ on a good year, but certainly not losing money. I'd say I'm up roughly 35-40% on my initial investment when factoring in the physical holdings. Feels good to see that capital preserving its value, especially with all the talk of inflation and global instability lately. I’ve always been someone who likes to see and touch what I own, so having those physical assets in a vault feels right. It's a different kind of peace of mind than watching a stock chart.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about rebalancing a bit more towards silver. I stumbled across this tool, "Silver vs Stocks" (https://silvervsstocks.goldirablueprint.com/?period=10Y), and it's got me wondering if I should up my silver allocation. For the last 10 years, it’s still lagging gold but the volatility is something I’m considering – maybe there's more upside there if I play it smart. I’m thinking about pulling another $50k from a less exciting mutual fund and funneling it into more silver through the IRA. My financial advisor is a bit gold-skeptical, but he respects my decisions given my overall portfolio performance.

So, for those of you who have been in gold/silver IRAs for a while, particularly if you're holding more silver – what are your thoughts? Has anyone here made a significant pivot towards silver after seeing good gold returns? And for my fellow business owners, how are you hedging your bets with your retirement funds ahead of a potential exit strategy?