Is this investment safe?  

hi arun, how are you, well, i save money for my kids, i open RD account belongs to my kids, and i save some gold also for the future.. and we have one own flat also.. yeah, well set arun,, this is very important for everybody in future purposes.. in our place the gold rate 1700rs.. per gram..so,almost.. now a days how will goint to buy yaar...it became so high. thankyou for your nice topic, have a nice day.

Gold is usually a good long-term investment. The advice is to buy in the cheapest form (bullion, Krugerrands or Sovereigns). If you buy as jewelery, you are paying a premium for the workmanship and design. It makes sense to buy when gold is low, of course. You should compare the prices you are paying over and above the gold price as percentages. When calculating your actual return, you need to include the costs of storing, whether you are paying a bank to keep it for you or you take out insurance against theft. There will always be a differential when you buy and sell (every transaction must pay the dealer for the work they do). If you are buying 'virtual gold' (that is, gold that you don't personally handle) you should be absolutely sure of the veracity and reliability of the dealer you choose.

Speculation on future prices always carries some risk, of course. Gold is still probably one of the safest and most convenient investments. Other good long term investments are property and art, antiques and collectibles. Property investment generally requires substantial capital or the ability to make more on rental than the mortgage cost; the latter category (art, antiques and collectibles) requires caution and good specialised knowledge and it must be remembered that, if one buys or sells at auction, one pays quite a high premium to the auction house (it is usually split between the buyer and the seller).

it is always a good idea to have savings in the bank, it may have the least return but it is regarded as the safest with only inflation as the enemy (whereas in other investments, the value could go down to a lower amount). allocate some savings first for the bank and the rest in investments. you could consider stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, etc. but each has their corresponding risks and rewards (generally, the greater the risk, the higher the reward/loss and so on). take time to study investments and plan for your future ahead, just be sure to know what you are doing first before you get into it.

Hello Arun,

Yes gold is good option, but buying in physical will be more costly compare to other option which is called Gold ETF.. (gold exchange traded funds)

It works similar to gold, but in this u don't have physical form of gold, but like buying units of gold (for that u require the demat account to buy any gold ETF Fund)
u check in Google for more on gold etf and why it is better than the physical gold..

Even investing in diversified large cap mutual fund scheme is also best option, if ur investment horizon is 5-10 years..

If u take any diversified large cap mutual fund, in last 5 years it has generated 25-30% compound annual return.. Higher the period the possibility of loosing money is very less..

I have never traded in gold coz we think it inauspicious to sell off gold so that’s a strictly no-no. other than that, we are middle class hardworking people and whatever little money we have, we don’t want to gamble on it. We have some money in FDs, some in NSCs and KVPs and some LIC policies. One sum in LIC is maturing soon and I’m really at a fix as to how to reinvest it. It’s a little extra money and I am thinking of really investing it ….as this is going to be my first investment (my husband is strictly against it)…I am looking at all options. I don’t want very high returns but a guaranteed sum. Can you suggest anything?

I have had various investments.In my earlier days, many of them did well.
Then came 9/11. Well, to be honest, the market was falling before then.
Last year and earlier this year was disastrous.
I still havent recovered my full confidence in most forms of investments.
The only ones I would say are safe now, are property and banks.
If I get a smaller amount to invest, I would put it in a 12 month deposit. Some of ours are earning 6% now.

Too High in India the Rates of Gold and Silver.Yes this is your wise decision to invest on gold,silver because its rates always going to rise so you shouldn't need to worry for that all Stuff.
Other than that I would prefer you to Invest in Life Insuarance policies they do play a safe role in your Life.

Hi arun, I came up the hard way, so I took more risks than the rest, and I continue to do so. At your age, fixed deposit is fine. But gold, I am not too sure. The present phenomenon is temporary. Gold will slip and may slip as low as 15000 or so. At least I believe so. The problem is gold cant be used for anything other than as security. Physical form that is. Moreover, there are security issues with gold. I'd invest in it, but through exchange traded funds. That way I would be able to sell in smaller denominations. I find nothing better than real estate, even after the real estate bubble burst. It is not easy to steal in the first place. :) Nor is it possible to coerce anybody into giving it away. Therefore, security wise it scores. Secondly, the capital appreciation bit does not entail any taxes for as long as the property is not sold! Third thing, it can be mortgaged and you can take a loan on that, whatever be your age. If you are running short of funds, you could opt for reverse mortgage as well. Alternately, you could consider taking a mortgage and using those funds to buy some other properties and keep on paying the installment on mortgage, saving on taxes. Oh! there are many options with real estate. :) Now, since the amount you mention is not enough to buy real estate, you could have invested in Gold ETFs, and Real estate ETFs. I am presuming you've already filled up your senior citizen's quota of 1500000. I think that is due a revision upward. That earns 9 percent interest payable evey quarter. You could combine that with RD, and effective rate of interest touches almost 11.5 percent! Worth it, isn't it?

I did save its all gone.
DOnt know anything about the gold prices but do think it is a good investment if you can afford to buy it.
I just have a life Ins on me that the kids get when I go to the other side!

As long as countries continue to print money 24 hours a day, and not back the money with something like gold or silver, there will always be the threat of your savings becoming worthless due to devaluation of the money and inflated prices of goods.
Having gold or silver as an investment? If you feel that gold will continue to rise in value, then it is not a bad decision...having gold or silver as a hedge against a failing dollar can be very smart.
India recently spent several billion dollars buying gold as insurance against a shaky US dollar...they feel it's a very solid investment. I do also, and you are correct, it is very easy to sell if you need money quickly.
The last I saw, the price of gold was a little over $1,100 per ounce in the US (earlier this week) and in my opinion, it will probably go back up in 2010.