When people think of Wall Street, they often picture a flurry of floor traders in color-coded vests barking bids at one another. Or they think of riding a hot tip they got from a guy who "knows something" and then seeing an immediate windfall.
That's not how it works. Or rather, that's not how it should work.
We don't want speculative excitement in our investment accounts. We don't want risk, drama, or to be spending all of our time sitting in front of a computer watching our brokerage account.
We want to put our money to work for us.
After all, we've got enough to worry about in times of crisis... And we want our wealth to be a buffer against that, not another thing to worry about. We want to invest so we're free to enjoy our lives.
There are two things you need to do to make that happen...
First, you need to plan ahead and manage your risk.
We've talked about ways to do that before... Buy the stocks of high-quality businesses... Diversify with low-cost funds... Allocate to stocks, bonds, and other real assets... And limit your speculations to sizes you can handle.
These ideas aren't original to us. They can be dull, and they can get repetitive...
But every panicked investor today wishes they did those things three months ago. The simple work of building a sturdy portfolio pays off in a crisis... even if it doesn't excite in a boom.
The second thing you need to do to invest involves your mentality.
You need to accept that stocks are volatile. Stocks build wealth over time... But they don't do it in a straight line. If you want the money, you've got to be willing to walk the uncertain path.
At its core, the key to investing is simple: Buy great businesses at reasonable prices and hold for a long time.
It doesn't have to be any more complex than that. You can find great businesses all around you... all the time.
Of course, some moments offer more opportunity than others. For example, the folks at TradeSmith – our corporate affiliate – have found that October 22 is the start of a historically reliable seasonal surge. And they believe this year's setup could trigger one of the biggest market moves in more than a decade.
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Now, let's get to this week's Q&A... And as always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. My team and I read every e-mail.
Own Gold and Silver
Q: Do you recommend silver over owning gold? – B.T.
A: Longtime readers know I recommend keeping a portion of your wealth (somewhere between 1% and 15%) in chaos hedges. These are hard assets like gold, silver, timber, and even farmland, which historically provide comfort and protection during rough political and economic times. Often, we see the prices of gold and silver rise as stocks fall.
I typically recommend a mix of both gold and silver, but it depends on what kind of chaos you want to prepare for. If you're worried about a total societal collapse where you'd need something to use as currency, silver coins are your best bet. The price of an ounce of silver is a fraction of the price of gold (about $48 versus $4,000, as I write). So it'd be easier to break down into manageable pieces to buy what you'd need.
One warning, though... the value of these more commodity-like assets can change quickly. Take the collapse of gold in 1980 when it fell 40% in just two months. That's why I urge people to hold only a small portion of their assets in these sorts of hedges. And silver prices tend to be more volatile than gold – typically rising faster than gold when both are doing well and falling faster when both are struggling.
But I don't just recommend owning physical silver and gold...
You see, you can make a killing with silver and gold stocks, because they magnify the gains in the underlying asset. And the good news is, the setup for a precious metals rally is now more explosive than ever.
That's why I recently shared the name and ticker of a terrific silver stock with my Retirement Millionaire subscribers. It's a leveraged way to play the silver rally I see coming.
I also named my No. 1 gold stock to buy now.
If you're already a subscriber, you can check those reports out right now. If you're not already subscribed but want to learn more about this rally and how to set up your portfolio to profit from it, click here.
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? Sorry, Shakespeare.
- Something different: Americans are turning against sports betting.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 10, 2025