Mother leaves entrepreneur sons awestruck with her 45 taels of gold investment

My mother, 69, lives alone in the countryside. Her house is close to those of me and my two brothers.

My business deals with construction materials, while my older and younger brothers sell furniture. Considering our locality, we can be considered accomplished entrepreneurs as we have proper stores and businesses.

A few years ago, my mother sold a plot of land, earning over VND3 billion (US$118,000), because it was too far away to manage. The money was essentially her retirement savings.

At the time, my siblings and I jokingly told her to invest in our businesses and we would pay her the same interest rates offered by banks.

But my mother only laughed, shook her head, and then used all the money to buy 45 taels of gold bars and put them in a safe. At the time, gold bars were priced at VND59 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

Back then, we chuckled to ourselves, thinking she was just being overly cautious. But over the years, our business slowed down and we found it difficult to secure capital. Customers still owe me hundreds of millions of dong for construction materials. Before the recent Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, I had to plead with them just to get a partial payment.

All of us struggle to collect money from our customers. Only now do we realize how wise our mother was as she does not have to worry about inflation or scramble to keep business afloat like we do.

She has made quite a profit since gold bars are now priced at VND90 million per tael, leaving us completely awestruck. People used to say: "Buying gold is a loss, buying land is a gain." However, times have changed and investing in land is no longer as profitable as before.

Seeing my mother hold onto her gold without ever using it for years, I have learned a lesson: as you get older, you should keep your money to yourself instead of entrusting it to your children, and convert your assets into something easy to manage and preserve.

Moreover, do not blindly follow any investment strategy. Be flexible, adapt to changing times, and choose what works best for you.

What do you think about gold as an investment?

*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.