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Seven tools that price what gold actually costs you — the making charges, GST, spreads and compounding that decide whether you keep the move in the metal. Everything runs in your browser and each result is shareable by URL.
The same money in gold against a bank fixed deposit. · values are saved in the URL, so the link is shareable.
At these assumptions, the gold leg is ahead.
Both legs are projections from rates you enter. The FD compounds quarterly on the usual bank convention; gold is projected annually because it has no compounding convention of its own — so at the same nominal rate the FD ends marginally ahead. Gold gains are also taxable and the FD's interest is taxed at slab, which this ignores. A bank FD is a contractual promise; gold is not.
Method
Gold has no contractual return, so every projection rests on an input you set. Here is exactly what the tools do with your numbers.
Pre-filled assumption of 9% a year for illustration. Gold pays no interest or dividend and its price can fall — this is an input you should change, not a forecast. It is not derived from a live price feed (LetsInvest has none). For reference, 9% a year is the default in the gold SIP, gold-vs-FD and gold-vs-silver tools.
The jewellery calculator charges 3% on the value of the metal and 5% on making charges when they are billed separately. A single composite price for ready-made jewellery is taxed at 3% throughout — flip the switch to model that.
Source: CBIC — CGST rate schedule for goods (gold 7108 / jewellery 7113)
A bank FD compounds quarterly by contract; gold has no compounding convention, so its leg is projected annually. At the same nominal rate the FD therefore ends marginally ahead — the tool shows that rather than hiding it. Neither leg is taxed in the projection, and a bank deposit is a contractual promise while gold is not.
LetsInvest has no gold, NAV or market-data feed. Nothing here is a quote, and the gold-vs-silver tool compares two assumptions rather than a modelled historical window. The only figures the site states as fact are the framework rules with a dated source.
The allocation tool reports what you hold and deliberately does not suggest what your allocation should be. LetsInvest is a research publication, not a registered investment adviser — see our methodology and the comparison for the cost structure behind each type. Assumptions reviewed 2026-09-20.
FAQs
Both give gold exposure without metal in hand. A gold ETF is a listed scheme whose units you buy on the exchange in a demat account; its price can drift from NAV when the scheme is thinly traded. A gold mutual fund is an unlisted fund of fund that you buy and redeem at NAV, which is what makes a monthly SIP straightforward — but it carries its own expense ratio on top of the underlying ETF's. Neither is better in the abstract; the trade-off is demat-plus-exchange execution against SIP convenience and a second layer of cost.
Gold metal attracts 3% GST. Making charges attract 5% when they are billed separately. If a jeweller bills a single composite price for ready-made jewellery, the whole bill carries 3%. Buy-sell spreads and making charges usually matter more to your eventual return than the GST rate.
This is framework, not filing advice. The Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 removed indexation and set a uniform 12.5% long-term capital gains rate. The default long-term holding test is 24 months, and listed securities use a 12-month test — so listed gold ETFs are long-term after 12 months while unlisted gold fund units use 24 months. Jewellery is a capital asset, not a personal effect, so it is taxed on the same capital-gains basis. Exchange-traded derivatives are generally treated as business income at slab rates. Confirm your position with a tax adviser.
No. LetsInvest has no gold price, NAV or market-data feed, so nothing on this site is a live quote and we do not pretend otherwise. The calculators run entirely on inputs you enter, and the product information is framework facts with a dated source.