JAKARTA - The crowded queue to buy gold, social media posts about saving precious metals, and various stories of profits from the recent increase in gold prices have made more and more people interested in buying gold.
However, behind this trend, financial planners and investment educators warn that buying gold just because of fear of missing out (FOMO) can actually be a less wise decision.
The FOMO phenomenon of buying gold arises when someone buys the asset solely because they see others doing it. In fact, without understanding the purpose and function of gold in financial planning, impulsive purchases risk not providing optimal benefits for the owner.
Interestingly, recently, public interest in gold is indeed high. Based on the Populix survey in January 2026, gold is the asset that the Indonesian people trust the most in the midst of uncertain economic conditions. As many as 80 percent of respondents chose gold as a safe haven asset or a protective asset.
The high public confidence in gold does not mean that everyone should immediately buy without understanding their financial goals.
According to Star Founder Master Dealer Public Gold Indonesia, Annisa Yuniarti, the FOMO phenomenon often makes people buy gold because they are influenced by the environment or social media trends.
"Sometimes people buy gold because they see other people queuing, see social media discussing gold, then buy it. In fact, the more important thing is to understand why we store gold and what the purpose is," said Annisa in the celebration of a decade of Public Gold Indonesia in Jakarta, recently.
Amid the rampant narrative of rising gold prices, Annisa assessed that there are still many people who misunderstand the function of the precious metal. According to him, gold is not an instrument designed to provide instant profit in a short time.
"Gold is not an investment that makes someone immediately rich. Its main function is to maintain the value of assets so that it is not eroded by inflation," he said.
He gave an example of a mother who wanted to prepare funds for her child's education. If you just save cash for years, the value of the money has the potential to decrease due to inflation and rising education costs.
On the other hand, gold is often chosen as one of the long-term value-preserving instruments because its value tends to be able to follow the increase in the cost of living in the long term.
Therefore, Annisa assessed that the public needed to change their mindset from merely chasing trends to understanding the financial goals they wanted to achieve.
"If people understand the purpose of storing gold, they don't need to be told to buy. They will realize for themselves that gold can be one way to maintain the value of their savings," he said.
Another mistake that is still often encountered in the community is the assumption that all types of gold have the same function.
According to Annisa, jewelry gold and precious metal gold actually have different uses. Jewelry gold is more suitable for those who want to use gold as an accessory or supporting appearance.
Meanwhile, for long-term financial goals such as education funds, worship, buying a house, or retirement funds, gold bars or precious metals are considered more efficient.
"If the goal is to decorate, please buy jewelry. But if the goal is for long-term needs, precious metals are usually more recommended because the difference between the buy and sell prices is smaller," he explained.
According to Annisa, the discount when reselling jewelry gold is generally larger than that of precious metals due to the design and production costs inherent in the product.
In addition to increasing public awareness of the importance of hedging assets, ease of access is also a factor that drives the trend of saving gold.
Currently, people no longer have to buy gold in large quantities to start saving. Various platforms allow for the purchase of gold gradually according to each person's financial ability.
This condition makes gold easier to reach by various layers of society, including the younger generation who are just starting to build the habit of managing finances.
Since its arrival in Indonesia in 2016, Public Gold Indonesia, for example, has developed various educational programs to help people understand the function of gold as a long-term asset.
Founder and Executive Chairman of the Public Gold Group, Dato' Seri Louis Ng, said education was an important part of increasing people's financial literacy.
"We want the public to understand that gold is not just jewelry, but can also be part of long-term financial strategies and safe haven assets," he said on the same occasion.
In this case, good financial decisions, especially planning for the future, should not be born from FOMO, but from an understanding of the financial goals and needs of each individual.
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