5 years in with my Gold IRA - reflections & returns. Anyone else seeing similar?

• •Hard to believe it's been five years since I first allocated a piece of my portfolio into a self-directed Gold IRA.
• •I remember the conversations with my advisor – a lot of head-scratching on his part, honestly.
• •Decided to pull the trigger and move about $750k from a fairly aggressive growth fund into physical gold within the IRA structure.

Hard to believe it's been five years since I first allocated a piece of my portfolio into a self-directed Gold IRA. I remember the conversations with my advisor – a lot of head-scratching on his part, honestly. Most of my peers in Greenwich were chasing the latest tech unicorns or highly illiquid alternative funds, but I had this nagging feeling about inflation and geopolitical instability. Decided to pull the trigger and move about $750k from a fairly aggressive growth fund into physical gold within the IRA structure. Best decision I made that year by a mile.

The first couple of years were a bit flat, I'll admit. You know how it is; you see other assets flying and you start to second-guess. But staying the course has paid off handsomely. Especially over the last 18 months, the returns have been exceptional and frankly, have significantly outpaced some of my more "sophisticated" hedge fund plays. I'm sitting on roughly a 45% unrealized gain on that initial allocation, which puts the current value somewhere north of $1.08 million. Not too shabby for what many consider a "barbarous relic." The peace of mind, knowing a portion of my wealth is insulated from market volatility and currency debasement, is almost as valuable as the monetary gains.

My total portfolio now is hovering around the $3.5 million mark, and I'm honestly considering increasing my gold exposure further, maybe even adding some platinum given its industrial demand and relative undervaluation right now. Anyone else feeling bullish on platinum as a long-term hold in an IRA? What are your thoughts on allocating beyond just gold and silver?

I'm curious to hear from others who've been in the gold/precious metals IRA game for a while. What's your journey been like? Any regrets? Or are you, like me, feeling pretty smug about being contrarian? Would love to hear some diverse perspectives here.