Is Gold the quickest way to ALL our hearts now?

With the downturn of the economy and stock market, I would think it safe to say that many people (like myself) are looking for safe investment vehicles to put what money they have (left) into. While there are many investment opportunities that may be considered “safe”, many people a) have failed to invest at an early age and are now behind the eight ball when it comes to retirement, and b) don’t really have a lot of excess liquid capital to invest. When someone like this makes the decision to invest, they can be riding a lot on the performance of the investment.
What about Gold? Is this a smart decision at this time? It has been hitting record levels recently. Will this trend continue, or will it be the next investment that will take a sled ride.
There is also the issue of price. Most individuals don’t have enough money to invest that would make the investment a retirement helper. What about gold start-ups like Silver Falcon Mining (SFMI.PK)? Could this be a possibility?