The latest Gallup survey shows that gold prices have made their mark when they took the second place in the most favorite long-term investment portfolio in the US, behind only real estate.
The survey, conducted from April 1 to 14, showed that Americans' confidence in stock safety has declined in the second half of Donald Trump's second term, while the appeal of gold has increased, allowing the two types of assets to swap their rankings with each other.
Currently, 23% of respondents believe that gold is the best long-term investment channel, up 5 percentage points compared to 2024. Only 16% of respondents chose stocks, down 6 points compared to last year.
Still at the top of the list with 37% of opinions, real estate has maintained its position for 12 consecutive years, unchanged compared to last year. Ranked next, 13% of Americans believe that savings or deposit certificates (CDs) are the best long-term profit channel, 5% prioritize bonds, and 4% choose cryptocurrency, all are close to last year's results.
Although gold is on track to attract more and more investors, the pessimism towards stocks may be temporary. The survey timing coincides with the peak of concerns after the Trump administration's announcement of new tariffs on April 2, causing the stock market to plummet.
Although real estate is currently leading with a gap of 14 percentage points over gold, history shows that gold can still take the number one position.
In 2011 and 2012, gold was voted the top long-term investment channel, before real estate reached the peak in 2013 and continued to lead from 2014 to present with an optional ratio of 30-45%.
The peak of gold in a Gallup survey was 34% in 2011, the post- toan cau financial crisis period, when investors sought safe assets amid high unemployment, a gloomy real estate market and financial fluctuations.
The 2025 survey also shows the trend of income differentiation. People with an income of $100,000 or more are more likely to choose stocks, while low-income groups prefer safe or tangible channels such as gold and savings. The differences in this income group have been repeated for many years.
Gallup also asked which financial issues were most worrying to parents, and nearly three in 10 (29%) said inflation or high living costs were the biggest challenge, down from 41% last year and 35% in 2023 but still higher than before inflation started to soar from 2021.
"The results show that people are closely following economic developments, including tariff policies and market fluctuations to adjust their assessment of investment risks.
Real estate is still voted the best long-term investment channel, while stocks have declined due to recent fluctuations and gold has attracted a large part of the capital flow out of stocks" - the report concluded.
According to Gallup, although the share ownership ratio seems stable, history shows that investors may change their strategies if the economy continues to fluctuate.
