Central Banks in Russia, China, India, and Brazil are moving away from buying U.S. Treasuries and buying huge amounts of gold.  Faith in the U.S. dollar is diminishing worldwide. In the past all oil trade differences were settled in the U.S. Dollar (petro-dollar), now over 20% of the oil trade differences are settled in gold.  Today the U.S. Dollar is nothing more than a piece of paper with a dollar amount printed on the corner. According to US government data, the US dollar has lost over 90% of its purchasing power since 1971, the year President Nixon ended the gold standard. Since 1971, gold prices have gained from $40 an ounce to around $2,300 dollars currently.

Inflation not only means an increase in the prices of goods and services, but a devaluation of the currency. This is because, with inflation, it will take more dollars (or whatever the currency is) to purchase the same goods or services in the future. Unless your wages go up by the same amount as inflation, your buying power is being reduced.

Gold locks in your purchasing power !   For example a gold $20 dollar gold piece in 1920 would buy you a very nice tailored suit, today a $20 dollar gold coin will buy you a very nice tailored suit.