I have been making regular investments in gold every year, and this habit has continued for over a decade. In the early years when I didn't have much money, I bought gold beans, and later when my cash flow became more comfortable, I bought investment gold bars.

I don't look at macroeconomic indicators or technical analysis when buying gold, because I'm not doing it for trading. Rather, it's to prepare for any environmental changes or major disasters—to have a stash of hard currency in my family reserves that could be lifesaving. Or perhaps to leave this accumulation to my children in the future.

Why do I only buy physical gold and not paper gold or index funds? Because I'm afraid I won't hold on to it. With those instruments, you can sell with just a mouse click—the liquidity is too good. But with gold bars stored in a bank safe deposit box, they can almost be forgotten. I would never think of selling them unless absolutely necessary.

I typically make my annual purchases at year-end, which feels more auspicious. However, if gold experiences a significant pullback before then, I'll buy early—every 20% drop triggers an advance purchase. As of today, gold has retraced from the 5400 high to 4365, which meets the criteria.

But I just discovered that investment gold bars have disappeared from the apps of all major state-owned banks including China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Bank of Communications—either delisted or sold out. I'm not sure why? Could it be that so many people are buying the dip that they've actually run out of stock?