vand

Cannot be too harsh on anyone sold their Gold in the past our education systems does not teach about finance/money/investing/protecting wealth/central banking/fiat currencies/inflation/stock markets. IMHO depending on where in the business cycle you are their is a time to be more heavily invested in property/stocks/bonds/precarious metals/cash. On reflection I made the right call last year wanted to diversify and allocate percentage net worth into Gold/Silver but my mistake was the allocation was to small of a percentage. Last year when purchasing Gold I knew I eventually wanted a larger percentage of net worth into the metals but only purchased smaller percentage. Original poster maybe kicking themselves in the teeth sold their gold on reflection of current prices but by the same token I am also regretting not buying more after all the research time/energy/effort put into holding physical metal.
April 2018 Gold moved from $1360 down to $1160 August 2018. I started purchasing September/October 2018 price $1200 but Gold is no exception like everything else when prices tank people get fearful and start to sell and when prices rise people don't want to miss out and start buying. It is very hard to fight our baser human instinct regardless where investing our money.
Financial Markets: When Fear & Greed Take Over: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/030701.asp

Most people don't "get" gold at all.  They see it as an unproductive asset with no cashflow, therefore they are willing to unload it at the earliest opportunity which will show them a profit.   They are way over-exposed to stocks and ignoring the warning signs that the bond and gold markets are flashing.
 

The OP had absolutely no business buying gold in the first place as it was clear that he did not understand the nature of gold, and you should never invest in anything you don't understand. 
But that's alright... there isn't an investor alive who hasn't made a tonne of screw ups. It's how we learn. I have learnt more from my failures than I have from any of my successes. 

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

Most people don't "get" gold at all.  They see it as an unproductive asset with no cashflow, therefore they are willing to unload it at the earliest opportunity which will show them a profit.   They are way over-exposed to stocks and ignoring the warning signs that the bond and gold markets are flashing.
 

Most people don't "get" gold at all.  They see it as an unproductive asset with no cashflow, therefore they are willing to unload it at the earliest opportunity which will show them a profit.   They are way over-exposed to stocks and ignoring the warning signs that the bond and gold markets are flashing.
 

The last 3 months is nothing in the overall scheme of things.
Sentiment will take YEARS to swing around to a point where PMs are eagarly positioned in the wider investment community. Don't underestimate how dumb the dumb money is; there is still huge distrust of PMs and a total misunderstanding of their role within an investment portfolio.  At this point of the cycle we have the institutional investors who are starting to accumulate gold. The "retail investor" stage is still years away.
All I see right now is people who are taking advantage of the recent bump to sell their gold and swap it for VTSAX. They will be the ones missing out on the next great bull market. Their expectations are clouded by what stocks have done vs what PMs have done for the last 5 years.
 

Within the course of this cyclical bull market. It will take as many years as it needs to take.That may be 5 years or it may be 15. Markets do not operate on a schedule, and people who have expectations for them to do so inevitably end up disappointed...

The last 3 months is nothing in the overall scheme of things.
Sentiment will take YEARS to swing around to a point where PMs are eagarly positioned in the wider investment community. Don't underestimate how dumb the dumb money is; there is still huge distrust of PMs and a total misunderstanding of their role within an investment portfolio.  At this point of the cycle we have the institutional investors who are starting to accumulate gold. The "retail investor" stage is still years away.
All I see right now is people who are taking advantage of the recent bump to sell their gold and swap it for VTSAX. They will be the ones missing out on the next great bull market. Their expectations are clouded by what stocks have done vs what PMs have done for the last 5 years.
 

Current Price £15.02 5 Year High £15.78 3.8% away
 
 

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

Current Price £15.02 5 Year High £15.78 3.8% away
 
 

Current Price £15.02 5 Year High £15.78 3.8% away
 
 

Within the course of this cyclical bull market. It will take as many years as it needs to take.That may be 5 years or it may be 15. Markets do not operate on a schedule, and people who have expectations for them to do so inevitably end up disappointed...

My view is that top is likely to be >£50, possibly >£100, and yes there will be pullbacks along the way, some of them deep and scary

Yes - and the GSR falling. All signs of precious metals in a bull market.

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

i fully expect a return to some sort of gold backed currency system. We can see it in Asia. Governments buying gold at unprecidented levels as they move away from the USD. i hear plenty of rumours about the Chinese and Russians backing their currencies and State cryptocurrencies. i am involved in Kinesis which Indonesia is fully onboard with and is making it 'obligatory' to save in Kinesis and so save in gold.
There is a new dawn for precious metals. i will not be sitting on my hands - i will be more active than ever before. i see the selling section is very active like it gets when prices get high - it won't be a seller. i understand those who are selling - we have seen false dawns before and it was a prudent move to take some profits but not today i think. When the going gets tough, gold gets going. Recessions are good for real money - even deflation when the buying power of currency goes up in the face of falling asset prices. Gold initially fell in 2008 as we saw distressed sales and the necessity to liquidate assets to bail out crumbling paper asset positions. Then we saw QE gear up and the run up to 2011.
Have you noticed how gold gets a smack down and then quickly comes back - it wasn't like that before - we would have seen prices tumble for months. The world is changing. Gold is coming out of the shadows - we have seen the dawn of a golden age.

While I am a fan of PMs, I am also scrupulously fair to other investments, and what you say is not entirely accurate. Gold tends to be more volatile than stocks, which tend to be more volatile than bonds.
Yes, gold is proven very long term store of value, but its shorter term cycle swings can be wild.
That is why in most asset allocation plans they allocate quite a small chunk to gold and much larger quantities to bonds. It is because of the inherent volatility of these assets classes.
 
While I think PMs are well positioned to deliver strong gains, it will be a wild ride with plenty of corrections, and you should not hold more than your risk tolerance allows. This is true of any asset. Humans are emotional creatures; losses hurt more than gains make you feel good, meaning that most people are best served with a balanced and well diversified portfolio that smooths out the ride while still capturing much of the upside.
 

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

I hang out on reddit investing way too much. I can confirm. Sometimes it pays to be the contrarian. That being said my net worth is more in silver than it is in gold however the recent rise has made me realise that my gold allocation is way too small so I'm buying purely on the basis of diversifying more and increasing my allocation percentage.

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.

A plea to you all: sit on your hands.
We stand on the breakout of what will very likely be one of the greatest bull markets of our lifetime. Think about what has happened over the last 10 years: unprecedented level of stimulus into a monetary system that is no longer fit for purpose. This is much worse than the abuse of the system that drove the prior PM bull markets of 1971-1980 and 1999-2011. 
The fallout from this crazy experiment will drive the price of gold by similar factors over the next decade, just as it did during the previous bull markets. Bull markets always run longer and further than nearly all their early adopters think is possible.
PMs will be valued many multiples higher in the years to come. Scoot on over to a "mainstream" investment site like MrMoneyMustache or MoneysavingExpert and gold doesn't even figure on the radar. They are ALL about passive index funds and chasing the stock market. They worship VTSAX. If you are lucky you might find someone holding 20% bonds. They won't even look at gold until it has at least doubled from current levels, and even then they will be some of the earlier adopters. 
There will come a time to sell your PMs and buy something that is better value, but that time is still years away. It will be when everyone thinks it is a good time to be overweight on gold, when Dow/Gold is somewhere between a half to a quarter of its current level.