Top investment return tips for 2021 : A company’s ability to sustain healthy dividend payouts is greatly enhanced if it has consistently low debt levels and strong cash flows, and the historical trend of the company’s performance shows steadily improving debt and cash flow figures. Since any company goes through growth and expansion cycles when it takes on more debt and has a lower cash on hand balance, it’s imperative to analyze their long-term figures rather than a shorter financial picture timeframe. In order to ascertain the investment merits of gold, let’s check its performance against that of the S&P 500 for the past 10 years. Gold has underperformed compared to the S&P 500 in the 10-year period ending Jan. 26, 2018, with the S&P GSCI index generating 3.27% compared to the The S&P 500, which has returned 10.36% over the same period.
Return rates of physical gold are never profitable if you invest in the gold jewellery. The reason being that the price of jewellery is not only determined by the gold rates but it also includes the making charges and this is the just the half story i.e. when you purchase the gold. Now, when you sell the gold, the story is totally different, the making charges are not considered and you get the money only for the pure gold based on the gold rates of that particular day. Take for example; the gold rate in Mumbai during December 2015 was 27000 Indian rupees for ten grams of 24 karat gold and assuming that you bought a gold necklace of 20 grams for about 60,000 Indian rupees which include the making charges too. Now, due to some reason you want to sell it and you go to a shop who quotes the price only for the gold that necklace contains and not for the stones it has or the copper which weighs it down to only 13grams and the cost of 13 grams of pure gold in 2020 is only 40000 Indian rupees in 2020, obviously, it is a loss deal for you and thus, poor return rates are one of the downsides to keep in mind while investing in physical gold.
Harry Schultz’ International Harry Schultz Letter (a paid subscription investment service) has gold going up eventually to $6,000 saying “We (collectively) are poised at a heart-stopping moment in economic times. On the one extreme side, the world is on the edge of massive deflation and depression. At the other extreme is – hyperinflation. My view is that both these extremes are possible. Certainly deflation is, on balance, in play today and gaining ground as money supply is actually declining! Hyperinflation seems impossible when there is not much inflation in most economies. But … hyperinflation is a monetary event, not an economic one, and will happen on an overnight basis, not via a general uptrend in inflation data… As I write, gold is holding very near its high, as most stock markets are bungee jumping. This implies the unexpected hyper is pending, because if it were exclusively deflation ahead, gold action would be less buoyant.”
The idea that gold preserves wealth is even more important in an economic environment where investors are faced with a declining U.S. dollar and rising inflation. Historically, gold has served as a hedge against both of these scenarios. With rising inflation, gold typically appreciates. When investors realize that their money is losing value, they will start positioning their investments in a hard asset that has traditionally maintained its value. The 1970s present a prime example of rising gold prices in the midst of rising inflation. The reason gold benefits from a declining U.S. dollar is because gold is priced in U.S. dollars globally. There are two reasons for this relationship. First, investors who are looking at buying gold (i.e., central banks) must sell their U.S. dollars to make this transaction. This ultimately drives the U.S. dollar lower as global investors seek to diversify out of the dollar. The second reason has to do with the fact that a weakening dollar makes gold cheaper for investors who hold other currencies. This results in greater demand from investors who hold currencies that have appreciated relative to the U.S. dollar. See even more info at https://medium.com/@ken_poirot/investing-return-for-investment-5a305dcc156c.
Unlike paper currency, coins or other assets, gold has maintained its value throughout the ages. People see gold as a way to pass on and preserve their wealth from one generation to the next. Since ancient times, people have valued the unique properties of the precious metal. Gold doesn’t corrode and can be melted over a common flame, making it easy to work with and stamp as a coin. Moreover, gold has a unique and beautiful color, unlike other elements. The atoms in gold are heavier and the electrons move faster, creating absorption of some light; a process which took Einstein’s theory of relativity to figure out.
You may be familiar with the popularity of gold coins from infomercials and other advertisements. This form of buying and selling gold is well-known, and often more convenient than gold bars due to their smaller size. Investors can purchase gold coins from collectors or private dealers, and eventually sell for a profit. Dealers are located in most cities making gold coins easy to come by. Occasionally, you may run into gold coins that are marked up due to their collector’s value. The collector’s value can make them more expensive than the actual base value of the gold. Most casual investors will avoid these and focus on more widely circulated coins unless they are interested in becoming collectors as well. A few common examples are the U.S. eagle and the Canadian maple leaf.