Is anyone else feeling super uneasy about the economy right now? My gold is making me sleep better.

• •Okay, serious question for this community: is anyone else just getting this creeping sense of dread about the economy?
• •All the chatter about inflation, interest rate hikes, and frankly, some of the wild headlines coming out of D.C.
• •makes me feel like we're balancing on a knife-edge.

Okay, serious question for this community: is anyone else just getting this creeping sense of dread about the economy? All the chatter about inflation, interest rate hikes, and frankly, some of the wild headlines coming out of D.C. makes me feel like we're balancing on a knife-edge. I've got most of my ~~$180k retirement portfolio spread across a few different buckets, but honestly, my gold holdings in my Gold IRA are the only part that doesn't keep me up at night these days.

I started really diving into precious metals back in 2020 when things started looking weird. As an entrepreneur down here in El Paso, I see firsthand how quick things can turn, especially with cross-border trade and the global supply chain wobbles. We survived some pretty gnarly times during COVID, and it just hammered home the need for real, tangible assets. I moved about $60k of my retirement savings into physical gold and a smaller amount into silver through one of the big custodians. Seeing that physical gold certificate in my online portal just feels… secure, you know?

I'm not trying to be a doomsayer here, but it almost feels like the writing's on the wall for a pretty significant economic slowdown, if not an outright recession. My question to you all is: what specific economic indicators are you watching most closely? And for those who've been through a few recessions, how have your precious metal investments performed for you during those downturns? I’m particularly interested in hearing from folks who've used precious metals to truly recession-proof their nest egg, not just as a small hedge.

I'm debating whether to add another $10k-$15k to my precious metals allocation this year. Part of me thinks it's a no-brainer, especially with how volatile everything else feels. The other part wonders if I'm over-indexing on the fear. Any thoughts from experienced investors on this? What are your strategies for navigating this increasingly uncertain economic climate with physical assets?