Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.
It’s been more than 170 years since California’s Gold Rush — but locals are once again finding gold dust, flakes and even nuggets glittering in the state’s rivers.
“Gold’s all around,” said Manny Goza, a prospector sifting through the Bear River as he was being interviewed by FOX40 News (1).
For Goza, a builder by trade, panning for gold has paid off.
“I did it every day. I’ve been here since 2005, bought a house in 2010 because I could pay my bills off the gold,” he said. “When I’m not contracting, I’m here digging gold.”
With gold prices up by about 75% in the 12 months leading to February 2026 (2), you can hardly blame him and others for trying. The precious metal is drawing renewed attention from California locals looking for opportunity in their own backyard.
Goza said an “amateur” treasure hunter can expect to make around $50 a day, while a more serious prospector might bring in “anywhere from $100 to $15,000.”
However, just like the original Gold Rush nearly two centuries ago, striking it big often comes down to dumb luck. One prospector recalled a moment when a golden nugget “just rolled out — it was completely round like a baseball and it was half gold.”
And it’s not just in the United States. Angus James, a treasure hunter based in Victoria, Australia, uncovered a mid-19th-century Japanese coin earlier in January 2026 (3). Elsewhere, in Poland, a metal detectorist group called Denar Kalisz unearthed an 1,800 year old Roman gold necklace, among other treasures, in the summer of 2025 (4).
Still, hunting for treasure is often grueling. As another prospector put it, gold “doesn’t jump into the pan.”
And payday is never a sure thing.
“It’s emotional, some days you find $15,000, some days you don’t find anything,” Goza said.
Of course, not everyone has the time — or the back muscles — to dig for gold in a riverbed. But you don’t need a pan to get in on the action. Gold has long been prized as a store of value — and some of the biggest names in finance are urging investors to make room for it in their portfolios.
Here are some reasons why gold fever is spreading among investors.
Gold has long been viewed as the ultimate safe haven, and for good reasons.
Unlike fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar, gold can’t be printed in unlimited quantities by central banks — making it a natural hedge against inflation. It’s also not tied to any one country, currency or economy. When markets wobble or geopolitical tensions flare, investors often flock to gold, pushing prices higher.
And the current situation is no different.
The tumultuous market backdrop of late has investors rushing toward gold — making it one of the best-performing assets of 2025 (5). And even though bullish sentiment has cooled a bit in February 2026, experts are still betting on the yellow metal over the long term.
“Gold remains a dynamic, multifaceted portfolio hedge and investor demand has continued to come in stronger than our previous expectations,” said Gregory Shearer, strategist at JPMorgan, who predicts gold prices to hit $6,000 per ounce by the end of 2026 (6). And UBS predicts gold will reach as high as $6,200 per ounce by the end of 2026 (7).
Others like Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, have already been pounding the table on gold’s importance for quite some time.
“People don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” Dalio told CNBC (8). “When bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”
On LinkedIn, Dalio added, “I think most people make the mistake of thinking of gold as a metal rather than as the most established form of money,” explaining, “Unlike fiat currency debt, gold doesn’t have the same inherent credit and devaluation risks (9).”
Even Jeffrey Gundlach, founder of DoubleLine Capital and widely known as the “Bond King,” echoed that sentiment. He recently said that a 25% portfolio allocation to gold “is not excessive,” calling the metal “an insurance policy” that’s likely to remain “in a winning mode” amid ongoing dollar weakness (10).
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that in this environment, gold can “easily” rise to $10,000 an ounce (11). Considering that the gold spot price surpassed $5,000 in January 2026, we’re already nearly halfway to Dimon’s prediction.
There seems to be a new consensus on Wall Street: gold is good.
If you’re looking to capitalize on gold’s potential but also want to secure some tax advantages, one option is to open a gold IRA with the help of Thor Metals.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
So, if a gold IRA seems like a good idea to you, consider booking a free private consultation with specialists at Thor Metals for a better understanding.
The best part? You can get up to $20,000 worth of precious metals when you make a qualifying purchase with Thor Metals — plus a free wealth preservation guide on sign up.
At the end of the day, gold’s rise in value is a reflection of the declining value of fiat currency — the U.S. dollar, in America’s case.
That much is clear from the math. For example, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, $100 in 2025 has the same buying power as just $12.06 did in 1970 (12).
Suddenly, that Benjamin in your pocket doesn’t have the same weight it once did.
But gold isn’t the only asset that has helped investors preserve wealth. Real estate has also proven to be a powerful hedge.
When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts for inflation.
According to data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, housing prices have skyrocketed by more than 225% over the past 30 years. And in more recent years, those price increases have been stark (13).
“Since the pandemic, home price appreciation has outpaced wage growth, making starter homes less attainable for many,” according to Bill Merz, who is head of capital markets research for the U.S. Bank Asset Management Group (14).
However, many Americans still require multiple income streams to buy a home. For instance, Goza, the gold prospector in California, eventually bought a house after years of striking gold alongside his contracting job.
That’s why it’s important to get creative with real estate.
High home prices and elevated mortgage rates make buying a home challenging.
And if you’re looking to buy a home to rent out, then be prepared for loads of hands-on work — managing tenants, handling paperwork and taking care of maintenance and repairs, all of which can quickly eat into your time (and returns).
The good news is, you don’t need to buy a property outright — or deal with leaky faucets — to invest in real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100, all without the hassle of mowing lawns, painting and plastering, or handling difficult tenants.
The process is easy: browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.
Beyond residential real estate, you might also want to diversify your portfolio by investing in inflation-resistant sectors of commercial real estate.
If diversifying into multifamily rentals appeals to you, you could consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investing platform from the Lightstone Group, one of the largest private real estate companies in the country with over 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.
Since they eliminate intermediaries — brokers and crowdfunding middlemen — accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This streamlined model can help reduce fees while enhancing transparency and control.
And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone — a true partner — as Lightstone puts at least 20% of its own capital into every offering. All of Lightstone’s investment opportunities undergo a rigorous, multi-stage review before being approved by Lightstone’s 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 assess your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to begin investing.
Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns across market cycles with a 27.6% historical net IRR and 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004. All told, Lightstone has $12 billion in assets under management — including in industrial and commercial real estate.
As such, even if multifamily rentals don’t appeal to you, Lightstone could still serve you well as an investment vehicle for other real estate verticals.
@fox40 (1); BBC (2); Fox News Digital (3), (4); The New York Times (5); CNBC (6); Reuters (7); @CNBCInternationalLive (8); @RayDalio (9); @DoubleLineCapital (10); @CNBCtelevision (11); Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (12); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (13); U.S. Bank (14)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
