I just realized something quite interesting about gold that many people overlook. The price of gold today has reached 5,600 USD/oz, which is many times higher than in 1982. But if you look at it through real purchasing power instead of nominal figures, then gold in 1982 was actually “more expensive” than it is now by about 16%.

Why is that? Because money is printed faster than gold prices rise by many multiples. In 1982, 1 ounce of gold could buy a small house. Back then, the amount of money in society wasn’t much, so gold was very “expensive” compared with the scale of the money supply. Now 1 ounce of gold equals 5,200 USD, but a similar house has risen to 500,000 USD. So gold can no longer buy a house the way it used to, even though the nominal price is much higher.

This is precisely the consequence of money being printed faster than assets increase in value. Those who own assets that are sensitive to new money—such as real estate in Vietnam from the 199x—have become very wealthy very quickly. But those who only hold gold to preserve value stand still. Meanwhile, people who hold cash fall behind.

When money continues to be issued, these “high” numbers will become normal. You’ll find that a 20 billion VND house is no longer shocking, a 5 billion VND car is normal, and gold at 10,000 USD/oz is nothing unusual. But the danger is that wages can’t keep up. The feeling that “everything has gotten more expensive” is actually money losing value, not assets naturally becoming more expensive.

Buying gold only helps you preserve the value of your assets; it doesn’t help you get better off within the dollar system. You might even fall behind relatively as money keeps swelling.

If you want to escape the “dollar slavery” regime, you need to find an asset with more momentum and more sustainable growth than gold. In Vietnam, from those 199x years, it was real estate; now it’s Bitcoin. These are assets that not only preserve value but also strengthen their position within an expanding monetary system. Understanding this will help you avoid getting “legged” again in this monetary game.