Gyroscopic Investing

Most of my portfolio is now PP, but a portion of it remains invested in a VP with a bogleheadish "age in bonds" split, using broad bond and equities mutual funds.

But after being impressed by the Permanent Portfolio book's argument for owning gold as inflation and crisis insurance, I have a goal of 10% of the yellow stuff for my VP.

What do PPers think of this 10% allocation in a VP? Comments appreciated.

i started out with a (mutated pp) boglehead portfolio + gold and transitioned it to a PP.
i still have a bit of "extra" gold left over in my VP, but since i cant predict the future i have no real quality reason for keeping it there, other than i bought it so long ago it is sentimental, and i am waiting to have a large enough contribution to the PP that it is worth the effort required to figure out how to account for it when it gets integrated into my PP... 

l82start wrote: i started out with a (mutated pp) boglehead portfolio + gold and transitioned it to a PP.
i still have a bit of "extra" gold left over in my VP, but since i cant predict the future i have no real quality reason for keeping it there, other than i bought it so long ago it is sentimental, and i am waiting to have a large enough contribution to the PP that it is worth the effort required to figure out how to account for it when it gets integrated into my PP...

If the sh*t never hits the fan as many people predict, then a boglehead portfolio with 10-15% gold will probably be the right way to go. 

I like having tail insurance so I am ok with a lower return for less volatility and more insurance that the PP gives us.

swapping out the bond index for LTT was the hardest part of going PP for me, it took about a year for me to wrap my mind around government bonds and to have the tax deferred space available and some contribution funds to make it a smooth switch. i kinda fell bassackwards into a PP by having gold, then discovering the bogleheads then realizing bogleheads + gold was an "almost PP"

i don't mind having a gold and silver VP, i bought them when i was a young man, decades before i got interested in investing, mostly as a store of wealth, and to hang onto some money in a way that i would be unlikely to cash it out for partying, road trips, and the sports equipment i was inclined to spend all my money on at the time. I have the price i payed written down on a scrap of paper somewhere, but i haven't looked at it in over 15 years i don't track or keep tabs on my VP.... 

Well, the VP is anything you want it to be. If you want to take 10% of it as gold and mark it as speculation, I don't think that's any crazier than doing the same with Apple or Google stock, or any investment, for that matter.

My VP is mostly leftover individual stocks, and also some corporate bond funds and muni funds.