I'm a Financial Expert: What Retirees Should Do Next If Gold and Silver Keep Falling Over the Next 12 Months Angela Mae Watson Wed, October 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM EDT 4 min read GC=F -1.12% manassanant pamai · iStock.com The market rises and falls throughout the year, but gold and silver both saw a significant drop this summer.
According to Trading Economics, gold fell from $4,309.70 per ounce in mid-June to $3,976.20 per ounce one month later. That's a 7.7% decrease. During that same period, silver fell from about $70 per ounce to $55.50 per ounce, a 20% drop.
For retirees who've invested heavily in these assets, these dips were definitely cause for some concern. And while prices have since corrected, there's always the chance they'll fall again.
So, what should you do if prices start falling again and you're relying on these commodities to help get you through retirement? Here's what Ernie Wingard, advisor at Capital Choice Financial Group, told MoneyLion.
Since everyone's situation is different, and there's no one-size-fits-all rule, you might want to start by asking yourself if taxes are a concern. If so, and if you've experienced losses due to holding silver and gold, Wingard said it could be an opportunity to harvest some losses.
"Tax loss harvesting with non-qualified assets is, I find, a very underutilized strategy and rarely do people take advantage of these losses to offset other gains, and even some taxable income in economic downturns," he said.
Just be aware that tax loss harvesting comes with its own rules. Specifically, the IRS won't let you sell at a loss, then buy back in within a 30-day period while still claiming that loss. You could, however, sell at a loss and buy a different type of investment within that time frame.
It also depends on whether you own gold and silver in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or as a physical commodity.
"The 30-day rule is a securities rule, so it hits the ETF," Wingard said. "With physical metal, the bigger problem is that if [you're] going to take advantage of tax loss harvesting, that has to be squared with how you document it, and if you just bought it and all you have is a receipt, that has to be handled with kid gloves to a certain extent."
Speaking with a financial or tax professional could help you decide if selling at a loss is a smart move for you.
Risk tolerance is hugely important when it comes to your investments. And while you might have had, say, a higher tolerance in your younger days, things might have changed in your retirement years.
"Everybody's a little bit different in that regard as far as risk tolerance goes, but generally people who are invested in precious metals are invested in it as a hedge against inflation," Wingard said. "If you over concentrate on that hedge, you miss out on diversification, and your risk starts to go up as a result."
Wingard noted that if someone's total net worth is 10% or higher in a specific commodity (like gold) or stock, it might be cause for concern. This doesn't mean you should automatically sell if prices fall, but nor does it mean that over-investing in one asset is the best move. Again, a professional can advise you on your options.
The market may have corrected itself, but what do you do if gold and silver prices continue to fall for a longer period? Depending on where you're at in life, you might not have time to wait it out. That's where having diversification comes into play, especially liquid assets (like cash) and mutual funds or dividend-paying stocks.
"If you're a retiree, [these assets] could be income for you," Wingard said. "If you're a pre-retiree, then that is now money you can use to buy additional shares, and now those shares are selling for less than they did before, and you can at that stage obtain more shares for less cost than you ordinarily would have."
Over the past 10 years, gold has risen from about $1,324 per ounce (late August 2016) to $4,604 an ounce (late August 2026). Silver went from $19.40 per ounce to $69.38 an ounce. There were fluctuations during that period, of course, but the market has a tendency to rise on the whole.
Avoid panic selling just because of a dip, even if that dip lasts longer than you'd like. Instead, try to focus on something else.
"Depending on the day of the week, probability says more often than not you're probably going to watch [the market] on days that it goes down," Wingard said. "The best thing you can typically do instead of tracking it every single day is to distract yourself with something else that you can control."
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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