9 Apr 2026 · GoldTruth
The ten percent test
The ledger’s sharpest line is not “you should have bought gold.” It is: what would a tenth of that purchase weigh in metal, and what is that weight now?
People remember the car, the wedding, the deposit. They rarely remember the gold price that week. The ten percent test is a way to look back without rewriting the past.
Take the price you paid. Take ten percent of it. Convert that slice into ounces at the gold (or silver) price for that year. Then value those ounces at today’s live spot. Compare that with the original slice.
Sometimes the metal slice would now cover a large part of the item. Sometimes it would not — gold had long quiet decades. The test is honest about both. That is why the app uses yearly averages, not a victory lap.
The savings calculator asks a related question going forward: a monthly amount in a bank versus the same monthly amount as ounces along the historical path. Past paths are not a promise. They are a record.
Share your own example in this journal if you want. Year, item, what you paid, what surprised you. Staff will edit for length and publish the ones that teach. No one here will tell you what to buy. The numbers are enough.