The yields of physical gold tend to be low. If you buy gold jewelry, for example, you may not earn as much when you sell it as you paid when you bought it. Storing physical gold securely can be difficult because it is vulnerable to theft. An alternative to physical gold is an American Gold IRA, which can provide a passive and constant source of income. Physical gold is an expensive commodity in any form.
Storing it requires a safe space, such as a locker at home or in a bank, due to the risk of theft, and that involves a cost. In addition, every time you need the gold, you'll have to physically go looking for it. It won't “come” to you like other financial products do. Any investment is made for the purpose of making a profit.
In recent years, gold yields have been much lower than, for example, stocks. In the past decade, in rupees, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 percent, physical gold yielded much lower returns than Nifty's 15.5 percent. For comparison, Treasury bills returned around 1%. The inflation-adjusted return on long-term bonds was 2.9% during that period and stocks achieved a return of 7.4%.
