What today's gold prices could mean for your retirement savings

Retirement portfolios are typically built for the long haul, but short-term market moves can still create important decisions for savers. And right now, one of the biggest moves is happening in the gold market. After soaring to a record $5,589.38 per ounce in January, the price of gold has spent much of this year trading well below that peak. That doesn't mean gold has stopped moving, though.

As of early September, spot gold was trading at about $4,400, or about 22% below its recent record-high price — but the price of gold has also ticked up substantially at many points over the last several months before dropping back down. These price swings have been fueled, in large part, by rising Treasury yields, persistent inflation and ongoing geopolitical and rate uncertainty.

And, those competing forces matter, particularly for retirement savers. After all, gold can serve a different purpose in a portfolio than traditional retirement assets, and the significant shift in gold's price this year may change how some investors view that role. So, what could today's gold price environment mean for the money you're setting aside for retirement? That's what we'll examine below.

Gold's current price doesn't automatically mean you should buy, sell or change your retirement investments. However, it can, and perhaps should, affect the decisions you make about gold within your portfolio. Here's what today's gold prices could mean for your retirement savings:

For retirement savers who have been considering gold but haven't bought yet, today's lower price could make it easier to add the precious metal to a portfolio. After all, gold is trading well below the record high it reached in January, which means new investors aren't facing the same elevated entry point they would have earlier this year.

That doesn't necessarily mean gold is cheap or that prices can't fall further, however. Gold can and often does move significantly over relatively short periods, and buying simply because an asset has dropped from its peak can be risky. But if you've already decided that gold has a place in your retirement strategy, the pullback could provide an opportunity to start building that position at a lower cost.

You don't have to make that investment all at once, either. Gradually adding gold over time can help reduce the risk of putting a large amount of retirement money into the market immediately before another price decline.

Find out how Goldco can help you add precious metals to your portfolio .

Today's gold price has a different implication for retirement savers who bought their gold assets when prices were closer to their January peak. If that's the case, the value of those holdings may have fallen considerably since you purchased them, and that can be especially uncomfortable if you're approaching retirement and have less time to recover from market losses.

But a lower price alone doesn't necessarily mean it's time to sell your gold assets.