Gold As An Investment Option

Dear Friends,

We Indians invest in gold in the form of jewellery which is usually not pure 24 carat gold. It is 22 carat gold with some copper added to give it shape and as pure gold is not so strong.

There was and is such a craze in buying gold all the time irrespective of what price it is selling per gram. Many resort to exchanging old ones for new. Hidden costs are added in new purchases and a few grams hived off from the total weight while selling old gold. Old gold never fetches ready money. These are days of 'exchange of new for old'. In this sense is this really an investment at all? Yes, one can mortgage gold and get a gold loan.

In today’s times keeping gold at home could be risky as it could get stolen and overnight one could become poor. Keeping them at a bank’s safe locker has no purpose and on top, we have to rent a locker which means spend additionally on locker rents every month.

Usually these are gold ornaments - necklaces, bracelets, chains, bangles, earrings, finger rings, etc., which come in various designs. A woman wears them when she goes visiting relatives, friends, to show off her worth at functions such as marriages and other auspicious occassions.

There have been instances where families having worked hard to save and buy up on gold for their daughters' weddings given away as 'stree dhan' which means the personal assets of the bride, had lost it to thieves.


Everyday wear should be simple and minimum as it is cumbersome to attend to household chores with all that jewellery on person. So much of the possession is usually locked away in a safe place like an almirah or wardrobe for easy access at any time.

Since women tend to show off their personal worth through gold ornaments they do attract attention to themselves. Gold is a precious metal having value and the have-nots are tempted to steal jewellery if there is a chance to. Many burglaries get reported in the newspapers day in and day out. In states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala gold jewellery is flaunted at weddings, etc., burglars and thieves are always on the look out for women who bedeck themselves. I see so many women wearing so much jewelley even while travelling on overnight journeys in trains and buses. There is so much risk involved in such acts.

Previously it was only house breaks we used to hear. These are days of daring daylight robbery where chain snatching when women walk on the road alone or even when they are accompanied by men as escorts occurs more often! The chains are jerked off the necks of women. Most times there are minor injuries on the neck due to this. More than the physical injury it is the mental injury which cannot be cured in a long time.

It is normal for ladies to wear a single gold chain, gold ear-rings and a pair of gold bangles as everyday wear. Even these are not spared by gold snatchers these days. It is not safe anymore to flaunt jewellery at all without attracting unwanted attention.

The mistakes women commit is to 'talk' about how much gold they have and where they have kept safe!! Someone who overhears such conversation will know where to find and how much to find.
There was an instance of a couple travelling to some other city out of Chennai. They hired an auto. Since there was heavy luggage the man of the house got the auto home to load and on the way, the couple started having deep conversations about whether the other had locked this and that at home and whether the key was kept in a particular place 'safely, etc., etc. They were blissfully unaware that there was a third and unknown person travelling in the same auto - the auto driver. Now this driver had to just drive back to their home after leaving them at the railway station to clean up their place of all valuables!! He did just that. It was another matter that the police could reconstruct events and caught hold of the auto driver who confessed to the crime and revealed how he came to know about the exact location where the keys and the valuables were kept.
In many households similar is the thing with talking or flaunting wealth before servants at home. Even if she is trustworthy she may be talking about it to someone else innocently.
Some wear lots of jewellery and try to hide it from everyone by covering it all up with their saree ends! Why wear them in the first place at all?
Some like to wear but get fidgety when others look at their jewellery even if it be for admiring the beauty of the gold!
Yet many put their kids to risk by decking them up with gold chains and necklaces while attending functions. Many are instances of the kids getting lost altogether or kidnapped or harmed by thieves. Kids being kids, they get tempted by sweets or chocolates offered by these strangers.
An element of risk is always there in gold and keeping it at home adds to sleepless nights. If kept in a bank safe, when brought home on occassions, many are instances where they get stolen between wearing them out and keeping them at home for a day or two before finding time to go to the bank to lock them up yet again.
There are instances of theives knowing well in advance about the ripe time to target their victims/houses. Festivals like Vishu (Tamil and Malayalam New Year's day), Navratri, Diwali, weddings at home, etc. when jewellery is taken out to be worn and shown around. These are seen as opportunities to make away with valuables by theives.
Is this all worth buying gold? Why this mad rush for this metal? Should we show our worth only by our possessions such as gold and platinum? Is our social standing so much more important than our personal and physical safety at all times? *Why should we wear gold on our person? *(More on why we wear gold in my next blog!).

Men used gold as a measure of their riches by decking up their women in as much gold as she could carry.

Now men have started competing with women in wearing thick chains, finger rings, bracelets, watch straps made in thick gold, etc. Men too have been attacked and their valuables stolen in recent times as prices of gold keep soaring.
When compared to gold as investment, shares are a good option to invest in provided they are long term ones. One can see money in shares and stocks provided we have free money to invest with no future need for locking it up at least for 2 to 3 years. The returns are good, the liquidity is high, you may maintain a low profile too at the same time.

Even then any investment in too much gold or too much in shares has its own risk. Play it safe, never having to feel sorry about losing it what you worked hard to save.

Cheers!
Mahalakshmi