Should you buy 22 & 24 karat gold jewelry?

US-PDGov

 By Sarah Kumar

 

Pure gold is too soft for making jewelry that will actually be worn.  It is too easily bent and damaged.  For this reason, most jewelry is 14 to 18 karat, and is alloyed with base metals such as silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to make it stronger, and more durable.  Copper is the most commonly used base metal, yielding gold with a redder color, or rose gold.  White gold is made with palladium or nickel.

Coins made of pure gold are generally only for investments or collectors and would be displayed, but not handled, as the gold will wear down too readily.

Carrots, carats, karats

Carrots are a crunchy orange vegetable, Carats are units of weight for gemstones, and Karats, when talking about gold, are a measure of its purity, not it’s weight.  Each karat is 1/24th of the whole, so 24 karat is 100% or pure gold.  Legally, in the United States, to be called gold, it must be a minimum of 10 karat, even though that is less than half.

The reason you are more likely to find jewelry made from 14kt gold, it that it is much more durable than purer forms of gold and is more suitable for high wear situations.  Rings are more often made of 10kt because softer gold worn on the hands will be damaged to easily.

Shopping for gold jewelry in India

Just like shopping in the Gold Souk in Dubai, gold in India is sold by weight in grams, plus an additional charge for workmanship, they call this “making charges” depending on the intricacy of the jewelry.  The making charge will be an amount in rupees multiplied by the weight in grams of the piece.  Most jewelry will be made of 22 karat gold, as this is the quality preferred by Indians.  You will find pieces made in yellow or white gold, though the white is still not as popular there.  

The price of gold fluctuates from day to day, so you can find out the price that day before you go shopping.  Normally, shopkeepers will not budge on the price per gram, that is set internationally, but you can haggle over the making charge.  In fact, the first amount a shopkeeper will offer is set higher, sometimes even double, because it is assumed you will negotiate for a lower price.  You’ll see a vast difference in the making charge, with simple items like bangles having a lower price than jewelry set with stones.

How to identify hallmarked jewelry

According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, there should be five visible marks on all jewelry indicating that it is hallmarked.  These are, the logo of the Bureau, the year of hallmarking, the purity of the gold, a mark identifying the jeweler, and the logo of the lab that hallmarked the piece.  The purity is represented by the number 916 for 22 kt.  Jewelers will provide you with a magnifying glass so you can see the markings on the back of the jewelry.

Always insist on a bill of sale which will breakdown the price of the jewelry into the price of the gold content and the making charge.

About the author: Sarah Kumar is a writer with a passion for Hindi culture and luxury. She writes about fashion, hospitality and accesories.

The benefits of converting part of your 401(k) to gold

By David Matthews

Using your 401(k) funds wisely will allow you to have the most ideal retirement possible. After a few successful investments you could earn enough profit to make a down payment on a beautiful property and take an amazing vacation as soon as you’re able to walk away from your job. On the other hand, if you leave your 401(k) funds untouched and let them depreciate along with the value of the dollar, you’ll probably have a lacklustre retirement, living month to month off of a substandard income that isn’t much better than the revenue you were generating as part of the workforce. Make your retirement worth the wait by taking advantage of the following 3 benefits of converting part of your 401(k) to gold.

Cashing in on the Gold Boom

As the global economy continues to struggle more inventors are buying gold to safeguard their assets, resulting in a higher demand. Mining companies are expanding their operations in order to keep up with the supply, increasing their cost of operations, and since gold is finite resource the supply is ever-dwindling. Rising demand and decreasing supply is contributing to gold’s continual rise in value and is setting up a situation that will probably make thousands of smart investors very rich. If your current 401(k) plan with your employer allows for gold investments you can initiate the process very easily. If not, all you need to do is open an IRA and rollover some of the funds in your 401(k) into the new IRA account to begin investing.

Increased retirement funding

At the moment your 401k fund is a bit like a fireplace mantle, it is sitting there collecting dust until you’re able to use it. If you choose to withdraw it early you’ll have to pay a 10 percent early withdrawal fee, and you’ll also have to face other taxes and penalties depending on the situation. However, you can choose to put those funds to good use right now without withdrawing them by investing in gold and capitalizing on the inevitable gold boom. Imagine being able to buy whatever you want and living like you’re permanently on vacation! This is the type of lifestyle you can have during retirement if you take advantage of the gold boom and buy a large amount of gold before the price peak occurs during the next decade.

Portfolio protection

Instead of investing in risky instruments like stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or mutual funds, consider the advantages of securing a portion of your retirement investment portfolio by purchasing gold with it. Once you have the gold bullion in your possession, or stored in an online holdings account, you can be sure that those assets will not depreciate over time. In fact, your funds will most likely continue to grow until the price of gold peaks between 2015 and 2020. Essentially, investing in gold lets you protect your retirement form mediocrity by safeguarding a percentage of your portfolio from depreciation and facilitating optimal returns.

David Matthews is a 401(k) investment specialist and retirement advisor who conducts market analysis and writes for Gold-401k.org.