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How to Invest in Gold Online?

How to invest in gold Online
Isn’t it difficult to find a person in India who haven’t bought gold in his/her lifetime? Yes, it is. Indians are gold lovers. They treat gold not only as jewelry but also as a form of Investment. Usually many buy gold offline i.e., by going to shops. In this article let us learn how to invest in gold online.
First, let us see the advantages and disadvantages of buying gold offline and then we will forward to our main topic.

Advantages of buying gold offline

  • You can feel your gold.
  • You can buy whatever design you want.
  • You can wear it as jewelry.
  • You can use it as a form of investment.

Disadvantages of buying gold offline

  • Lack of purity. It is difficult to determine exactly which quality gold you are buying.
  • Lack of security. Remember thieves love gold too.
  • You have to bear making charges, polishing charges.

Let us get into our Topic
These are two ways by which you can buy gold online

  1. Sovereign Gold Bonds.
  2. Gold ETF (Exchange Traded Fund)

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

In India, Sovereign bonds are issued by Reserve Bank of India on the behalf of Government of India. You can buy these bonds through a registered broker ex-ICICI Direct, Zerodha, etc., After that, you get your gold in dematerialized or paper form.

So how this works
By this scheme, you can buy gold as low as 1 gm and maximum up to 4 kgs. Gold will be stored in demat form. Whenever you sell those bonds you will get money based on that current day gold price. The money will be directly deposited into your bank account which is linked to the demat account.

Key Feature

  • The most important feature of SGB is that it pays you an interest of 2.5% per annum on the amount you invested to buy these bonds.
  • Maturity period is 8 years but anyhow you will be paid interest amount only if you want to exit after 5 years If you exit before 5 years no interest will be paid.

Advantages of SGB

  • Secure. Can’t be stolen because bonds will be stored in demat form.
  • No tension of impure gold as it is linked to the price of 24-carat gold quality.
  • Higher return than actual gold.
  • Along with returns from gold, you invested you can also get an interest of 2.5% which will be deposited in your bank account semi-annually.
  • You can use this bond certificate to get a loan in the bank.
  • SGB can be traded on Stock Exchanges.
  • No Tax Deductions on the interest earned.
  • Long term capital gain applicable after 3 years.
  • Best for the one who wants to invest in the long term.

Disadvantages of SGB

  • You can’t feel your gold.
  • You can’t get gold in physical form.
  • You can’t buy SGB whenever you want. Bonds are issued only on a few occasions by the government.

Gold ETF (Exchange Traded Fund)

Now let us know how to invest through Gold ETF. Gold Exchange traded fund is similar to mutual funds. This is an open-ended mutual fund scheme.
Let me take this opportunity to explain what is Open-ended Mutual Fund scheme. This is a scheme through which don’t have any maturity period that means you can buy and sell whenever you want.
So you can buy and sell gold funds whenever you want. To buy you need to have a demat account and trading account. Just place the order in your trading account and then the ETF will be stored in your account in demat form.
Expense ratio will be charged for maintenance of the fund. You also charged by the broker every time you buy or sell funds but these charges are far less when compared to expenses involved with physical gold.

Advantages of Gold ETF

  • Secure. It can’t be stolen because bonds will be stored in demat form.
  • No tension of impure gold as it is linked to the price of 24-carat gold quality.
  • Higher return than actual gold.
  • Long term capital gain applicable after 3 years.
  • ETF can be traded on Stock Exchanges.

Disadvantages of Gold ETF

  • Returns slightly lesser than actual gold because of charges associated with this.
  • You can’t feel your gold.
  • You can’t get gold in physical form.

Advice – If you are buying gold as investment purpose then do it online because this mode of investment has more advantages when compared to offline mode.

2 Comments

  1. Nicely explained. Any investment is subjected to market risks. Gold is no exemption. As a toddler in investment, I could understand your explanation. Thank you Avinash

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