Diversifying with Gold Rounds - Recession Proofing My Portfolio

• •Been seeing a lot of chatter lately about a looming recession, and frankly, it's got me thinking.
• •I've been in the steel industry for decades here in Birmingham, so I understand commodities and market cycles better than most.
• •Given my background, I see gold as a fundamental store of value, especially during uncertain economic times.

Been seeing a lot of chatter lately about a looming recession, and frankly, it's got me thinking. I've been in the steel industry for decades here in Birmingham, so I understand commodities and market cycles better than most. My current IRA is sitting pretty at around $380k, and a decent chunk of that is already in precious metals – mainly physical gold and silver, with a focus on gold rounds for the past few years. I felt good about that decision back when I first started moving some funds over, but now I'm wondering if I should be doing more to recession-proof.

The logic behind the rounds is straightforward: lower premiums than coins, still easy to verify and store, and you get more bang for your buck in terms of pure metal weight. Given my background, I see gold as a fundamental store of value, especially during uncertain economic times. It's not about making a quick buck for me; it's about preserving wealth and having a rock to cling to if the broader market takes a nosedive. The thought of watching my portfolio evaporate like it did for some folks in '08 gives me actual heartburn.

So, here’s my question for the group: For those of you who’ve been through a recession with a significant precious metals allocation, what did you learn? Did your gold and silver perform as you expected? And for those newer to this, are you looking at increasing your metal holdings right now? I’m specifically wondering if I should be adding more gold rounds, or diversifying into other forms like bars, or even looking at platinum/palladium given potential industrial demand shifts. I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore, so capital preservation is becoming paramount.

I’ve been playing around with that "Retirement Planner" tool at https://retire.goldirablueprint.com/?forum to model different scenarios, especially what a 10-15% increased allocation to gold might look like for my overall retirement picture. It's actually pretty handy for stress-testing various scenarios. What are your thoughts on increasing exposure to physical metals now versus waiting? Is there such a thing as too much gold when recession fears are rampant?