What is the best way to invest in gold this Akshaya Tritiya?

Usually during Akshaya Tritiya my family buys some gold jewelry which doesn’t generate any returns. For a change I wanted to know if there are any avenues of investing in gold which can which can generate some returns.

The best way to buy gold this Akshaya Tritiya - Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2017-18 – Series I

e-Gold is an electronic form of holding gold, issued by Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India.

The issue price of the Gold bonds is Rs.2901 per gram which is lesser than the nominal value. These gold bonds are in demat form, and unlike physical gold gives you an interest of 2.50% annually additional to whatever appreciation happens on the underlying gold value.

The link to apply for these bonds through Zerodha is here.

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There are various avenues to invest in Gold like ETFs, Gold MFs, Bullion etc, but the best avenue for you to invest in gold would be in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB).
Advantages of investing in SGBs:

  1. You earn an interest 2.50% on the capital invested and capital gains when you redeem if the price is higher
  2. You can use these bonds as collateral for loans
  3. Secure, since the bonds are held in demat form
  4. No management fee and expense ratios. In the case of gold ETFs, you pay nearly 1% expense ratio.

Returns of various gold instruments under different scenarios.
Source: ET

If you are a Zerodha user Click here to invest in invest in Sovereign Gold Bonds.

Why buy gold on Akshaya Tritiya.
Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious time to buy gold and other precious metals. It is believed that investments on this day are lucky and can bring one wealth and prosperity.

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I think the above post has failed to mention that SGBs have lock in of at least 5 years. One can sell units only in the 5th,6th and 7th year. Also SGBs can be purchased only when govt announces a new tranche periodically. So if liquidity is a concern, then SGBs are not a great option.
I also see that SGBs are exempt from capital gains if held to maturiy while other instruments are subject to 20% LTCG (with indexation) if held > 3 years.

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Some interesting details on the ongoing Sovereign Gold Bonds issue -

  1. Discount - You get a discount of Rs.50/- over the issue price. So essentially you are buying the bond at Rs.2951- 50 = Rs.2901/- per gram of Gold. This is also called the nominal value of the bond.

  2. Interest - You are entitled for an interest of 2.5% over the investment you make. This is essentially Rs.2.5/- for every 100 Rupees you invest in the bond. This interest is paid to you semi annually. So you will get Rs.1.25/- for every 100 invested, twice a year.

  3. Capital Appreciation - Along with the Interest rate you can also enjoy the capital appreciation on Gold.

  4. Indexation Benefit - Capital appreciation is exempted from capital gains tax, this is assuming you hold the bond for its full tenure i.e 8 years. If you decide to sell it after 3 years, the you will have to pay 20% capital gains after indexation

  5. Tax -Interest earned from these bonds are taxable

  6. Lot Size- The minimum you need to buy is 1 gram, for which you pay Rs.2901/- maximum that you can buy (during the year) is 500 gms, which will cost you Rs.14,50,500/-

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I couldn’t see the purchased Gold bonds in my demat account though it is said that it will reflect by 13th Nov when sent by RBI

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Why to buy a piece of paper when you can buy a real gold

ETF does not have Indexation benefit. is there any other way to buy gold apart from SGB ?