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Gold in Your Trust Portfolio or Your Florida Estate: think again

Uncategorized Oct 29, 2013

Today, the Wall Street Journal wrote in its “Money & Investing” section of that financial paper that the “gold rush” by investors to the precious metal may be slowing.   The Wall St. Journal article is a good starting point to consider gold or other precious metals in your Florida trust portfolio.  What is your Florida trust invested in?   Does gold or precious metals have a place as an investment in a Florida trust or a Florida estate?  Remember two things:   1) the Florida prudent investor rule guides all trustees’ and executors’ conduct.  You need to invest prudently.  What does that mean?  It means that Florida trustees need to have a plan, a strategy.  Can gold be a part of that plan?  Sure.  2) Florida law, the prudent investor rule, does not per se prohibit any investment.  So, you can invest in gold…… as long as there’s a really good reason to invest in gold.   Florida trustees can’t invest on a hunch.   Gold and other precious metals may be a good inflation hedge, or flight to safety when the financial world is collapsing.  The point is: you need to know why you want gold in  your investment portfolio and how it is part of your overall plan.  You also need to explain why you chose to invest in gold and not other assets, like the S&P 500 index which just hit a new all time high yesterday.  Florida trustees can make an argument that a small percentage of gold and precious metals may be an appropriate part of your investment portfolio, to go along with a diversified basket of dometic and international equities and fixed income instruments, real estate, cash and alternative investments.   To track those assets or read about other investment ideas, I’m sure the Wall Street Journal has further thoughts.