Learn about the benefits and risks of investing in gold. Find out how gold fares in comparison to mutual funds. Use Cube to invest in digital gold by Safegold.
December 22, 2020
Schedule a call based on your convenience. And get an expert to help you invest.
Gold is considered to be both auspicious and precious in India for various reasons. If you’ve grown up between the 1950s and 1990s, you’d know that gold was a benchmark of societal standing and worth.
However, investors can now buy assets that can generate lucrative long term returns, like stocks, and passive income, like mutual funds or P2P lending.
There are several benefits and risks to owning gold, as we’ll see in this story. But gold prices fluctuated a lot in 2020. So without further ado, let’s find out if gold is a good or bad investment in 2021.
5 Benefits Of Investing In Gold
1. Stable price
Gold prices do not fluctuate much even during a crisis compared to other assets like stocks. Investors thus prefer to add gold to their portfolio to take advantage of the stable price and steady growth in value.
2. Easy to buy
It’s easy to buy gold from any trusted jeweller if you have the capital required. But it’s important to buy gold that has assured purity. You can buy gold in the form of jewellery, gold coins, or gold bars.
3. Does well against inflation
Fixed deposits cannot outperform inflation like gold even though both of these investment options are preferred traditional assets. Historical data suggests that gold does well against inflation during economic highs and lows.
In fact, when the economy goes down, currency prices go down. If the currency has little to no value, gold prices will soar simply because gold will be priced using the same currency unit. This implies that gold is one of the best ways to hedge against inflation.
4. Steady growth
The fact that it is a finite metal doesn’t seem to affect the price of gold. Its value is known to consistently rise over the long term. However, gold prices can be volatile over the short term.
5. Easy Loans
Gold can be used as collateral for secured loans. It is easier to get a loan against gold because it is a tangible asset with a high value. This can be helpful in the time of an emergency.
Apart from these 5 benefits, the sentimental value of gold cannot be overlooked. Gold is often passed on through generations and it is associated with weddings and other such meaningful events.
Risks Of Investing In Gold
Gold investments come with their own limitations. Here are some of them:
1. Security Concerns
Physical gold assets like jewellery are always prone to theft due to high prices and value. Digital gold could be an option for investors who want to get the same benefits of physical gold without security concerns.
For example, you can invest in digital gold by Safegold using Cube. Every gram of gold you buy is backed by physical gold that is secure.
2. Storage Concerns
Storing physical gold in the form of jewellery or coins can be a hassle since:
there’s always the risk of theft and robbery
It may need a dedicated safe
Digital gold does not carry this concern. The digital gold that you buy using Cube is stored in a safe and secure vault by our partner, Brinks.
3. Making charges
Gold may be easy to buy and sell, but it comes with commission issues. Making charges may increase the overall cost of your gold jewellery purchase. You might even have to pay a fee while selling your gold.
Gold ETFs fare better in this aspect. Gold ETFs invest in gold bullion and can be bought and sold like shares. In general, ETFs carry a low expense.
So if you want to invest in gold without paying the making charges, you can invest in either Gold ETFs or Digital Gold. A wealth coach will be able to help you out with this.
4. Purity concerns
The actual value of gold lies in its purity and is measured using ‘Carat’ (K). 24K is the purest form of gold available. Purity concerns can be avoided if you purchase gold from a reputed and trustworthy seller.
The easiest way to buy 24K gold would be in the form of digital gold by Safegold using Cube with a few clicks. Each gram of gold you buy is backed by physical 24K gold with assured purity.
5. No passive income
Physical gold investments do not generate passive income like stocks, mutual funds, or P2P lending. This could be a concern if you’re thinking of retiring early or looking for a way to supplement your income with your investments.
The only way to get a profit out of your physical gold investments is by selling them.
Historical Returns Of Gold Investment
Source: Google
The data above indicates that the value of gold has the potential to grow over the long term with periods of short term fluctuations.
Gold vs Mutual fund Vs Digital Gold: How Should You Pick?
Physical gold has its benefits and can be a potential long term investment. It can be used to hedge against inflation and to get an easy loan.
But physical gold is a finite commodity that carries a certain amount of risk like theft, storage, making charges, and more. Mutual funds, Digital Gold, and Gold ETFs carry none of these risks.
So the answer to this question lies in whether you value gold as an asset that you’d like to touch, feel and see or something that you just want to invest in for profits over the long term.
If you’re interested in the latter, you can invest in digital gold by Safegold using Cube. Safegold has 2,000,000+ clients and an AUM of 300+ kg. You can buy and sell 24K gold with assured purity that is stored in a secure vault backed by Brinks.
Shriram is a Consultant at CubeWealth. He has developed cutting edge IT products for over 2 years before turning to his passion for the written word. His love for philosophy, developing products, and empowering people through quality content is what got him to CubeWealth.
Top 4 Reasons To Try Our Powerful Investment App!
Schedule a call based on your convenience. And get an expert to help you invest.
on stock picking, poring over excel sheets, financial news, analyzing market trends, tracking the Sensex, researching company fundamentals, comparing mutual funds, reading financial reports, trying to predict the future & losing your sanity!