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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn’t known for bold pricing.
But in an interview in late 2025, when asked whether he thought gold was overvalued or undervalued, Dimon made some pretty strong claims.
Dimon first said: “I don’t know. I mean, I’m not a gold buyer – the cost of owning it is 4% (1).”
What he means is that physical gold may come with additional holding costs, such as storage fees, custody fees and insurance fees. To the unwary, this can come as a surprise and weaken the value of the precious metal—especially during periods of slow economic growth.
But despite Dimon’s initial quips, he wasn’t completely dismissive of gold — far from it.
“In this environment, it could easily be $5,000, $10,000,” he said. “This is one of the few times in my life where you can add something semi-rational to your portfolio.”
But is he right to be so bullish on gold?
Here’s why gold may be enjoying a resurgence, an assessment of its competitiveness in 2026, and how to protect your finances during uncertain times.
Dimon’s comments come as economic and geopolitical uncertainty are prompting many investors to turn to traditional safe havens. For example, in an interview with CNN (2), Dimon expressed concern that the U.S. job market is in trouble, a key indicator of an economic slowdown.
“Asset prices are a little high,” he added. “In my mind, that pretty much encompasses everything.”
The comments echo growing unease among market watchers: Valuations across multiple asset classes have surged after years of easy monetary policy and resilient investor appetite. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently warned that stock prices are “pretty high (3).”
One of the biggest reasons investors are turning to gold is that it is widely viewed as the ultimate safe-haven asset. Gold is not tied to any single country, currency or economy, and when financial markets are volatile or geopolitical tensions rise, investors tend to flock to gold, pushing up prices.
Additionally, gold has long been hailed as a reliable hedge against inflation, which has been quietly eroding the purchasing power of Americans’ currency for decades.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, $100 in February 2026 has the same purchasing power as $11.63 in February 1970(4).
Gold is considered a natural hedge because, unlike paper money, it cannot be printed at will by central banks. This scarcity is part of the reason for the metal’s enduring appeal.
Perhaps it was the combination of these factors that caused gold prices to hit an all-time high of $5,589.38 per ounce in January 2026(5). Although as Dimon said, to reach $10,000, gold’s value would need to increase by 131% (based on spot prices in early January), especially after the recent pullback.
To be clear, gold has broken out of Dimon’s lows, but the question remains: Can it soar higher?
Dimon isn’t the only one to point to gold’s potential. Prominent investors have long highlighted the metal’s role in building resilient portfolios.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, told CNBC that “people generally don’t have enough gold in their portfolios,” adding, “When the economy is down, gold is a very effective diversifier (6).”
One way to acquire gold that offers significant tax benefits is to open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.
A gold IRA allows investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets in a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold. This could become an attractive option for those looking to hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainty.
To find out more, you can get a free informative guide to find out if gold is right for you and your portfolio. If you’re ready to commit, you can also get up to $10,000 in free silver with qualifying purchases.
Read more: I’m almost 50 and have no retirement savings. Is it too late to catch up?
Read more: Non-millionaires can now invest in this $1 billion private real estate fund, starting at just $10
In addition to market volatility in 2025, the economic downturn caused by the recent war with Iran has left many market experts uncertain about what’s next.
Conventional wisdom holds that gold is a safe bet when markets boom during wars, and especially during times of political unrest.
However, as of 2026, this will not be the case.
Although uncertainty about Trump’s tariff policy has led to increased demand for gold in 2025, market uncertainty has increased and gold prices have not continued to rise.
According to an article published by Deutsche Welle, there are several possible reasons why gold prices have not yet exploded after the Iran war (7). They range from central bank reluctance to buy gold to changes in demand in the jewelry industry.
Ultimately, only time will tell if gold prices will experience another historic surge, or if its record-breaking run is over.
That’s why it’s best to remember, as Dalio said, that gold is generally best used as part of a diversified portfolio. It’s simply a high-value asset you can use to escape volatile markets.
When it comes to alternative assets, there are plenty of other options available during wartime.
In 1999, the S&P 500 index peaked and it took 14 long years to fully recover.
today? Goldman Sachs predicts annual returns from 2024 to 2034 of just 3%. That sounds bleak, but it’s not surprising: The S&P’s price-to-earnings ratio is at its highest level since the dot-com boom. Vanguard’s share isn’t far behind either, expected to be around 5%.
In fact, prices for just about everything are near all-time highs — stocks, gold, cryptocurrencies, you name it.
That’s why billionaires have long carved out a portion of their portfolios in asset classes with low correlation to the market and strong rebound potential: postwar and contemporary art.
This may sound surprising, but since 2019, more than 70,000 investors have followed suit through Masterworks. Now you can own a stake in the work of Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso and more.
So far, Masterworks has sold 27 works of art, with annualized net yields of 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8% respectively.
Masterworks’ recent sale highlights another trend – faster exits outside of more typical medium-term holding periods. Just 17 days after purchasing the Elizabeth Peyton painting for $1.16 million, the painting sold for $1.5 million — a 22.9% return for investors who bought quickly.
Moneywise readers get priority access to Arts Diversity: Skip the waitlist here.
Please note that past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risks. Please see important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd
Art and gold are not the only assets investors turn to during times of inflation. Real estate also proves to be a powerful hedge, with the added benefit of generating passive income through rentals.
When inflation rises, property values typically rise as well, reflecting rising costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to rise, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts for inflation.
For example, according to RealPage, a provider of software to the real estate industry, the average effective rent for market-rate apartments in the United States is expected to increase through 2026(8).
In fact, RealPage predicts that national rents will rise 2.3% this year. If true, this would contrast with a 0.7% drop in rental prices in 2024.
That said, high home prices can make buying a home more challenging, especially if mortgage rates remain high. Being a landlord isn’t a completely hands-off job—managing tenants, maintenance, and repairs can quickly eat up your time, not to mention your returns.
Good news? Today, you don’t have to buy a property outright or deal with a leaky faucet to invest in real estate.
Mogul is a real estate investment platform that offers fractional ownership of blue-chip rental properties, providing investors with monthly rental income, real-time appreciation, and tax benefits without the need for a large down payment or late-night phone calls to tenants.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team handpicks the top 1% of single-family rentals in the country for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional quality products at a fraction of the usual cost.
Overall, the platform’s average annual IRR is 18.8%. At the same time, their cash yields average between 10% and 12% per year. Products typically sell out within three hours, and investments typically range from $15,000 to $40,000 per property.
Getting started is a quick and easy process. You can register for an account and browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like a tycoon in just a few clicks.
If you are interested in diversifying into multifamily or industrial leasing, you may consider investing in Lightstone DIRECT, a new investment platform from Lightstone Group. Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the United States, with more than 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.
Because they eliminate intermediaries (brokers and crowdfunding middlemen), accredited investors investing at least $100,000 have direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This simplified model helps reduce expenses while increasing transparency and control.
Through Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily transactions with a true partner, Lightstone, who invests a minimum of 20% of its own capital in each product. All investment opportunities at Lightstone undergo a rigorous, multi-stage review before being approved by Lightstone principals, including founder David Lichtenstein.
How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to evaluate your investment opportunity. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to start investing.
Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns across market cycles, with a historical net internal rate of return of 27.6% on realized investments since 2004 and a historical net equity multiple of 2.54x. All told, Lightstone manages $12 billion in assets — including industrial and commercial real estate.
So even if multifamily rentals don’t interest you, Lightstone may still serve you well as an investment vehicle in other real estate verticals.
Start investing with Lightstone DIRECT today with experienced professionals.
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@Fortune (1); CNN (2); CNBC (3); Bureau of Labor Statistics (4); CBS News (5); @CNBCInternationalLive (6); Deutsche Welle (7); Real Page (8)
This article provides information only and should not be considered advice. It is provided without any warranty of any kind.
