Gold

Gold is the most popular commodity in India. It has been traditionally used by Indians as a measure and store of value. In fact India is the largest consumer and second largest importer of Gold in the world. I came across an article which stated that India has more Gold than the US Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, and European Union combined. Itis the only investment instrument which remains stable during turbulent times such as war or political or economic crisis. During such periods stock and financial markets usually crash. If you have to liquidate your equity or debt instruments in such periods, you will be selling them at very low valuation. It is the only instrument which will give you a good price during such phases. Of course, you can wait for the crisis to resolve but if the situation demands liquidating your investments immediately, than you may have to suffer heavy loss.

Hence we recommend investing a certain part of your monthly savings into gold, irrespective of your age. It has historically appreciated only to the extent of inflation. From 1979 till 2014, it has appreciated by only 3.94 % after adjusting for inflation. In spite of this we recommend investors to take certain exposure to it.