Voima Weekly #23 – Reflections on the Year

Rembrandt - The Parable of the Rich Fool

When I wrote the first Voima Weekly, the starting point was simple: if you held one unit of gold in the year 2000, its value in euros today is roughly tenfold. If, on the other hand, you held one euro, its purchasing power has shrunk to a fraction of that.

This was neither a provocation nor a market call. It was an observation about a monetary system whose defining feature is the continuous expansion of money supply and, as a result, the slow but steady erosion of purchasing power.

The Weeklies were not created as a campaign or marketing messages, but out of a need to make sense of a world in which the measuring sticks are moving — and with them, wealth and purchasing power. Over the course of the year, five observations have emerged that continue to carry weight.

1. Money rarely collapses – it is more often diluted¹

One of the recurring themes of the year was that money rarely loses its value through a sudden crisis, but rather through a process. Inflation does not shout — it whispers. It rarely shows up clearly within a single year, but becomes unmistakable over decades. Historical examples — the nominal value of 19th-century coins, the mark, the euro, the pound, the yen — all tell the same story. Nominal values remain, while purchasing power slowly drains away. Not by accident, but by design.

Gold’s role in this is not mysterious. It does not generate cash flow, nor does it innovate. But when the measuring stick itself remains stable, its value becomes more pronounced as what is being measured weakens. Gold makes visible what happens when money is created faster than real value.

2. Liquidity is everyday reality, not theory²

Throughout the year, I repeatedly returned to the topic of liquidity; not as an abstract concept, but as a practical reality. Good liquidity means freedom: you can sell when you choose and access your capital without having to compromise on price. Poor liquidity only becomes visible at the moment of need, when funds are required, they are either unavailable or available only at a materially weaker price.

Real estate markets, closed-end funds, and various private structures illustrated this concretely. Returns without liquidity often exist only on paper — they work as long as nothing needs to be done. Gold stands out here in a unique way. Its global trading volume on any given day exceeds the annual turnover of all domestic asset classes combined. It does not sail under any single flag, which makes it a truly universal asset class - one whose relevance becomes even more pronounced when looking ahead.

3. Taxation, debt, and culture³

Several Weeklies examined Finland and Europe, not as political statements, but as economic systems. The common denominator was clear: the single greatest drag on purchasing power is not inflation, but taxation. And despite high taxation, debt continues to grow.

When the economy fails to grow but the state continues to expand, the contradiction cannot be resolved by adding more regulation or more debt. It can only be addressed if individuals and businesses are left more room to breathe: more freedom, more responsibility, and less administrative burden.

In the end, the economy is not just numbers. It is culture — the moral value placed on work, the willingness to carry responsibility, and the ability to look beyond the next budget cycle.

4. Gold is not an alternative – it is the foundation⁴

Over the course of the year, it became increasingly clear that gold does not fit neatly into modern portfolio theory, not because it is a poor asset class, but because the theory itself was built for a world in which money was a stable unit of measurement.

Today, money is a political variable. Debt defines markets. Real returns and nominal returns drift further apart. In this environment, gold is not an “alternative asset.” It is the base form of money - the reference point against which others are measured. Gold does not promise returns. It promises that the measuring stick itself does not change.

5. Physicality does not disappear, even if banknotes do⁵

Even as cash declines and payments become increasingly digital, physicality will not disappear. Ownership will be structured in ways that preserve redeemable, real value - without the need to carry coins in the bottom of one’s pocket. Technology, in itself, is not value.

Off the balance sheet

When I look at all of this year’s Weeklies as a whole, one thought rises above the rest: purchasing power is not protected by promises. It is protected by structures and choices. No one makes those choices on your behalf - not the state, not central banks, not asset managers. In the end, the responsibility rests with you: with the individual, the family, and the company.

Building a company from zero to one has taught me, through both successes and failures, that real responsibility is rarely light or comfortable. It is often heavy, slow, and at times lonely work: thorough problem-solving and an uncompromising commitment to seeing even the smallest details through, especially when everything else weighs in and those around you no longer have the energy or willingness to carry things all the way to the finish line. Responsibility is not power; it is the obligation to see, to carry, and to stay alert even when it would be easier to look away. Fortunately, our company is filled with people who genuinely carry responsibility. Without them, many things would not have moved forward, and many successes would not have been possible.

The Rembrandt painting shown here, The Parable of the Rich Fool, reflects this same truth from another angle. In the parable, the problem is not wealth itself, but the illusion that arises when a person shifts their full attention to storage and numbers - and in doing so loses sight of what truly requires presence. Putting one’s finances and work in order demands effort and sometimes uncomfortable decisions. So does a life lived with those closest to us.

Relationships do not remain intact on their own, not even when intentions are good. Family requires time - above all, presence, and sometimes also the willingness to pause again, regardless of how the past weeks, years, or the longer road to this moment have unfolded.

Voima Weekly will now pause for a few weeks. We will return in January with new Weeklies, guided by the same principles, but with fresh observations.

I want to thank all readers for this year. A special thank you as well to those who have taken the time to send feedback, questions, and comments.

Wishing you calm and meaningful holidays, and a restful season for you and those close to you.

–Marko Viinikka
Founder, CEO
Voima Gold Oy

¹ This theme appeared repeatedly throughout the year. The core framework was introduced early on and later deepened through discussions on money supply, velocity, and debt-driven economic structures. See Voima Weekly #8 – Velocity of Money (7 Sept 2025), Voima Weekly #10 – Game of Thrones (21 Sept 2025), and later the change of the measuring stick itself in Voima Weekly #22 – The Atomic Stack Beat the Human Machine.

² Liquidity was approached as a practical, lived reality rather than a theoretical financial concept. In particular, the differences between real estate, closed-end funds, and gold were illustrated through concrete examples. See Voima Weekly #5 – Liquidity (17 Aug 2025), Voima Weekly #9 – Land Cruiser (14 Sept 2025), and, regarding structured investment products, Voima Weekly #11 – Not Everything That Glitters Is Gold.

³ The erosion of purchasing power was repeatedly examined as a structural issue, where taxation, debt accumulation, and cultural incentives intersect. The topic was addressed from both Finnish and broader European perspectives. See Voima Weekly #3 – Toward an Upswing (3 Aug 2025), Voima Weekly #7 – ¡Cambio, cambio! (31 Aug 2025), Voima Weekly #9 – Land Cruiser (14 Sept 2025), Voima Weekly #14 – The Bill Always Comes Due, and, from a cultural angle, Voima Weekly #21 – Culture at the Palace – Backbone in Everyday Life.

⁴ Gold was not treated as an “alternative investment,” but as a reference point of the monetary system and a foundation of trust. This perspective ran consistently throughout the year from multiple angles. See Voima Weekly #2 – A Worn Coin? (27 July 2025), Voima Weekly #6 – The Swiss Franc (24 Aug 2025), Voima Weekly #12 – The True Price of Gold, Voima Weekly #15 – Alternative Investments, Modern Portfolio Theory and Gold,

⁵ The importance of physical ownership, redeemability, and privacy became particularly clear in discussions around the decline of cash, digital payment systems, and property rights. See Voima Weekly #2 – A Worn Coin?, Voima Weekly #18 – Can Gold Be Confiscated?, Voima Weekly #19 – The Anatomy of Premiums, and Voima Weekly #20 – Financial Privacy: Cash, Banks, Bitcoin and Gold.

Disclaimer: Voima Weeklies are the personal writings of the undersigned. They do not necessarily represent the official view of Voima Gold Oy or any other company, nor do they constitute investment advice or a recommendation to purchase securities.