Gold savings plan calculator.
Model a monthly bullion accumulation plan including the two costs most calculators ignore: the dealer premium paid on every purchase and the annual storage fee taken in metal.
| Year | Invested | Grams held | Value | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,800 | 19.44 | $2,873 | +2.6% |
| 2 | $4,600 | 31.04 | $4,861 | +5.7% |
| 3 | $6,400 | 41.91 | $6,958 | +8.7% |
| 4 | $8,200 | 52.10 | $9,170 | +11.8% |
| 5 | $10,000 | 61.66 | $11,502 | +15.0% |
| 6 | $11,800 | 70.61 | $13,963 | +18.3% |
| 7 | $13,600 | 78.99 | $16,558 | +21.7% |
| 8 | $15,400 | 86.84 | $19,294 | +25.3% |
| 9 | $17,200 | 94.18 | $22,181 | +29.0% |
| 10 | $19,000 | 101.04 | $25,226 | +32.8% |
| 11 | $20,800 | 107.46 | $28,437 | +36.7% |
| 12 | $22,600 | 113.45 | $31,823 | +40.8% |
| 13 | $24,400 | 119.04 | $35,395 | +45.1% |
| 14 | $26,200 | 124.26 | $39,163 | +49.5% |
| 15 | $28,000 | 129.12 | $43,137 | +54.1% |
How this model works — and what it cannot do
What a Goldsparplan actually is
A gold savings plan converts a fixed cash amount into metal at regular intervals, usually monthly. Because the amount is fixed and the price is not, you buy more grams when gold is cheap and fewer when it is expensive. That is cost averaging, and its value is behavioural as much as mathematical: it removes the decision of when to buy.
What it does not do is guarantee a better outcome than a lump sum. In a market that rises steadily, investing everything on day one wins. Averaging pays off in volatile and sideways markets, and it protects you from committing your whole position at a local peak.
The three costs the model charges
The entry premium is applied to every contribution, so it is not a one-off — a 3% premium on a monthly plan is a 3% haircut every single month, permanently reducing the grams you accumulate. This is why premium matters far more in a savings plan than in a single purchase.
Annual storage is charged on the value of the holding, so it grows as the position grows. The third cost is the one the model cannot show: the spread you pay when you eventually sell, which on retail physical product is typically a few percent below spot.
Why the growth input is not a forecast
The appreciation rate you set is an assumption you are testing, not a prediction this site is making. Gold has delivered long stretches of flat or negative real returns — most of the 1980s and 1990s — alongside decades of strong gains. Any single number smooths that away.
The honest use of this tool is comparative: hold the growth rate constant and change the premium and storage inputs to see how much of your outcome is decided by costs rather than by the market. On a twenty-year plan, the cost inputs frequently move the final figure more than a full percentage point of annual return does.
What the model excludes
It ignores tax, which is jurisdiction-specific and can dominate everything else: physical investment gold is VAT-exempt across the EU and UK, capital gains treatment varies enormously, and some countries exempt holdings after a minimum period. It also ignores FX conversion costs if you save in one currency and buy metal priced in another.
Minimum monthly custody charges are excluded too, and they matter at small balances — several platforms in our comparison levy a fixed monthly floor that makes their headline storage rate misleading below roughly $40,000.
Frequently asked
- What is a Goldsparplan?
- A gold savings plan: a fixed monthly amount converted into physical gold at whatever the price is that month, accumulating metal rather than timing the market.
- Which costs does this model include?
- The dealer premium applied to every contribution, and the annual storage fee taken in metal — deducted monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate on the whole holding, which is how vaults actually bill. Most consumer calculators omit both and overstate a ten-year outcome significantly.
- What appreciation rate should I use?
- There is no correct answer. Gold has no yield, so any figure is an assumption about monetary conditions. Run a pessimistic case alongside your base case.
- Is the projection a guarantee?
- No. It is arithmetic applied to assumptions you choose. Actual outcomes depend on the gold price, which nobody can forecast reliably.
Continue on YourGoldHub
Your projection is only as good as your dealer.
Premium and storage fee are the two inputs you control. Compare them across every tracked platform before you commit to a plan.