Starting to feel a bit antsy with the Fed and my gold holdings...

• •I'm a history prof at VCU here in Richmond, so I tend to look for patterns, and frankly, the current environment feels...
• •less predictable than historical models suggest it should be for precious metals.
• •I mean, on one hand, higher rates typically make non-yield-bearing assets like gold less attractive, right?

Okay, so I've been doing a deep dive (as one does with a $350k portfolio, most of it retirement savings) into the recent Fed policy changes, especially with interest rates and inflation, and how that's really going to hit my gold IRA. I'm a history prof at VCU here in Richmond, so I tend to look for patterns, and frankly, the current environment feels... less predictable than historical models suggest it should be for precious metals. My gold coins have been a stable part of my portfolio for a while now, largely as a hedge against the very inflation we’re currently seeing, but the Fed's rhetoric sometimes feels like they're trying to walk a tightrope without a clear path.

I mean, on one hand, higher rates typically make non-yield-bearing assets like gold less attractive, right? Opportunity cost and all that. But then you have this persistent underlying inflation that suggests holding some hard assets is a necessity. I've got a significant chunk in physical gold coins, probably close to 15% of my total portfolio, which I've always thought was a reasonable allocation for diversification and real value preservation. My wife (she's in biotech, so very data-driven too) and I have been debating pretty heavily if we should be re-evaluating that percentage given the current economic signals.

What are others here seeing or thinking? Are you adjusting your allocations based on the Fed's stance? Is anyone leaning into it more, or pulling back? I've been using that Retirement Planner tool to run some different scenarios with varying inflation and interest rate assumptions, and it's helpful for visualizing things, but it still feels like there's a lot of uncertainty. Especially when you're looking at a 15-20 year horizon for retirement.

I’m particularly curious about how people are interpreting Powell’s recent statements about being "data-dependent." Does that imply a quicker, more aggressive shift if inflation doesn't cool, or are they more likely to be measured even if it lingers? Because that distinction, I think, makes a huge difference for gold's short-to-medium term prospects. Would love to hear some diverse perspectives here.