Physical vs. paper gold - my take as someone who literally liquidated a tech company for bullion

• •I see a lot of chatter here about physical vs.
• •paper gold, and as someone who went all-in on the physical, I figured I'd share my perspective.
• •Sounded like a good way to stay diversified while I figured out my next move.

I see a lot of chatter here about physical vs. paper gold, and as someone who went all-in on the physical, I figured I'd share my perspective. Back in '21, after selling my Columbus-based tech startup for a tidy sum – think somewhere in the low 8-figures – my financial advisor (who, bless his heart, still tries to get me to invest in "disruptive tech") was pushing me towards ETFs and futures. Sounded like a good way to stay diversified while I figured out my next move. But honestly, my gut was screaming for something tangible.

For me, the peace of mind holding actual bullion in a secure vault just can't be replicated by a certificate or a digital balance. I mean, I spent a decade building a company from scratch, staring at lines of code and spreadsheets. When it came time to protect that wealth, the idea of owning something I could touch felt… real. I’m thinking about my kids, and the idea of passing on actual gold eagles rather than a stack of quarterly statements from some fund manager just resonates differently. Plus, living just outside Dublin, OH, it’s not exactly a hotbed of financial innovation. I like having my assets out of the traditional banking system's shenanigans, especially with all the talk of central bank digital currencies. It’s a bit of a contrarian move, I know, but that’s kind of been my M.O. my entire career.

The liquidity argument for paper gold is valid, I'll give you that. Cashing out a huge bar of gold isn't as simple as clicking 'sell' on Robinhood. But for me, this isn't about day trading. It's about wealth preservation over the long haul. I'm not planning on selling this stuff for at least another 15-20 years. My main concern now is making sure I nail the RMDs when the time comes. I’ve actually been using the RMD Calculator at Gold IRA Blueprint to project what those distributions will look like – super helpful tool for planning ahead, especially with larger sums like mine. It helps me visualize the tax implications and how much I'll actually need to liquidate year-to-year.

So, for those of you wrestling with the decision, ask yourself what truly makes you sleep at night. Is it the potential for faster gains and easy trading, or is it the foundational security of owning physical wealth? And for the other long-term physical gold holders here, what are your biggest concerns or advantages you've found?