How Well Would You Have Done if You Had All Your Savings In Gold?
December 27, 2012 3 Comments
Today financial planners and daily wage earners speak of ” investing” in gold.In fact,given the dream run of gold in the last decade,most people can’t see past gold.Never mind that between last Diwali and this one there was no substantial increase in the price of the metal and that there was a fall in price in between and then it struggled to rise for a while.
There is no denying that in the dark days after the stock crash of 2008 and the poor economy thereafter, gold provided good comfort for all of us who worried about our financial health.And the fact that gold price rose fantastically in uncertain times was the icing on the cake.
Also gold has helped us hedge against inflation.Here is the link to an older post.
Gold also does superbly well when the equity markets and debt markets are giving negative real returns.
So should you just have all your savings and investments in gold?Far from it!Aside from the wealth tax you might be forced to pay every year on an asset that will give no returns till it is sold, at which point it might attract capital gains tax,keeping your money in gold over the last three decades wouldn’t have given you stellar returns.Check out the chart here:Long Term Returns from Gold Vs SENSEX While gold keeps up with inflation,just buying and holding it for long is unlikely to make you rich any time soon.So be certain to enjoy the touch and feel and beauty of your gold.
Age is going to affect all of us differently.Some of us are going to live longer than others and in great good health.And each of us has a different idea of what would be a perfect lifestyle in our old age.Health permitting, there will always be the people who prefer to simply read or garden,others who would travel the world and the few who would pilot jets for fun.Knowing yourself and what you want and knowing your family and what they would prefer is the basis of retirement planning.
The Reserve Bank of India is worried about the rapid rise in housing and gold prices, out-running the inflation rate.
wealthymatters 