85-year-old man brought all his assets to buy gold, the gold shop saw something unusual and immediately called the police.

According to Guangming Daily , the Xidan Road Police Station (Xicheng District, Beijing) recently received a report from a gold shop in the area, saying that an elderly man over 80 years old suddenly came to buy a large amount of gold - an unusual thing that made the shop suspicious and reported to the police.

Deposit money for life, interest is not equal to price increase in 1 month

According to the investigation, the 85-year-old man surnamed Tan said that the entire amount of money he spent buying gold was his life's savings.

Sharing with the media, the old man could not hide his disappointment. Because the bank's savings interest rate was too low, he decided to switch to buying gold to preserve its value. After many years of saving, Mr. Tan saw that the money in his account not only did not increase much but also felt like it was gradually losing value.

Figure 1 (1).png — The incident of an old man carrying a bag of cash containing nearly 2 million yuan to buy gold caused a stir on Chinese social networks. Photo: Baidu

The police quickly contacted Mr. Tan's son, then returned to his house with the father and son to check on the situation. When they arrived, Mr. Tan personally brought out 5 gold bars weighing a total of 1.6 kg that he had bought earlier. Only after seeing the gold with their own eyes did the police feel secure enough to leave.

In China today, the interest rate for a 3-year term deposit is only about 1.25% while the non-term interest rate is only 0.2%/year. With nearly 2 million yuan (about 7.3 billion VND), if deposited at the current interest rate, Mr. Tan will only receive less than 40,000 yuan (145 million VND) per year. This amount is not enough to pay for a few months at the nursing home, not to mention the escalating medical and living expenses.

Meanwhile, despite the potential risks, Mr. Tan still considers gold a "safe haven" to preserve asset value in the context of prolonged inflation and low interest rates.

The domestic gold price in China fluctuates around 423 NDT (about 1.54 million VND)/gram or more than 1.5 billion VND/kg if converted to Vietnamese currency.

From 2020 to now, the world gold price has fluctuated around 2,000-3,000 USD/ounce, recently reaching over 3,300 USD/ounce.

However, Chinese experts also warn that gold is not a “one-way street” that goes up forever. Gold prices can adjust at any time, not to mention the costs such as storage fees, resale discounts and risks when storing at home.

What is more noteworthy is that the old man has invested all his assets in gold and has no other reserves. This is a big risk because the principle of “not putting all your eggs in one basket” is always a classic lesson in personal finance.

Online community: '85-year-old man invests smarter than many young people'

The old man’s story quickly spread on Chinese social media, attracting many mixed comments: “He is really brave. I wouldn’t dare do that. Gold also has its ups and downs, it’s not always safe,” one person commented.

“This is the right investment! Saving money in the bank doesn't pay much interest, gold is still the safest place to hide.”

“I can’t blame you. The interest in the bank is not as high as the rate of depreciation, who wouldn’t worry?”. “I also love gold, but putting all my money in one place is very risky. What if the price of gold goes down?”

“At 85 years old and still managing finances so tightly, what an investment expert!”

Mr. Tan’s story is not unique. In China and many other countries with aging populations, more and more seniors are quietly withdrawing their savings and shifting them to investment channels such as gold, real estate or foreign banks as a way to protect against inflation and prolonged low interest rates.

Although savings interest rates have shown signs of increasing, they still cannot keep up with the rising cost of housing, healthcare, education , or basic living expenses. Therefore, bank deposits are no longer considered the “absolutely safe channel for storing assets” as they once were, according to Chinese media.

The problem lies not only with depositors but also with financial institutions. In the race for profits, many banks have designed complex, high-risk products, causing people, especially the elderly, to gradually lose confidence.

Meanwhile, not many banks proactively build “easy-to-understand, easy-to-use” financial products for the elderly, such as flexible savings, combined investment packages (gold + deposits + bonds) or simply basic financial guidance.

(According to Quang Minh Daily News, Baidu)

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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cu-ong-85-tuoi-vac-7-2-ty-dong-di-mua-vang-chu-tiem-bao-canh-sat-2424091.html