Everything gold, in one place.

Physical gold (coins/bars)

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price directly — no additional yield on top of price movement.

Liquidity: Least liquid of the options here: selling means finding a buyer or going through a jeweller, and any making charges paid on purchase are usually not recovered.

Risk: No issuer or counterparty risk — you hold the metal directly. Theft/loss and purity-verification risk apply.

Jewellery

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price, but making charges and wastage paid on purchase are a sunk cost, not recovered on resale.

Liquidity: Similar to physical gold — sell through a jeweller. Resale value depends on purity re-verification and the jeweller's own buyback deduction, on top of the making-charge loss.

Risk: Same as physical gold, plus design/fashion doesn't affect resale value the way it affects a piece's use as jewellery.

Digital gold

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price, minus the platform's buy/sell spread.

Liquidity: Easy to buy and sell in small amounts through an app; converting to physical delivery usually attracts making charges at that point.

Risk: Backed by the platform's gold custody arrangement — depends on the provider's own credibility and regulation, unlike directly held physical gold.

Gold ETF

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price closely, minus a small annual expense ratio charged by the fund.

Liquidity: Most liquid option here — trades on the stock exchange during market hours like any listed security, with no storage or purity concerns.

Risk: Fund/tracking risk (fund could deviate slightly from spot price) and requires a demat + trading account, but no purity or storage risk.

Gold mutual fund

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price (usually via an underlying gold ETF), minus a fund management fee — typically a bit higher than a direct ETF's expense ratio.

Liquidity: Bought and sold at end-of-day NAV through the fund house or a platform — not instantly tradable like an ETF, but no demat account required.

Risk: Same fund/tracking risk as an ETF, plus an extra layer of fees from the fund-of-fund structure in some cases.

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB)

Returns: Tracks the gold spot price, plus a small fixed interest (around 2.5% p.a.) paid on top — the only option here with a stated additional yield.

Liquidity: Has a multi-year tenor with limited early-exit windows — less flexible than an ETF, though it can be traded on exchanges in limited volume. Subject to government issuance windows, not available to buy at all times.

Risk: Backed by the Government of India — no purity, storage, or fund-tracking risk, but you're exposed to gold price risk and the multi-year lock-in.