Next: Work and retirement
EPF, NPS and the retirement machine
Where 24% of your basic pay goes every month, why EPS takes a slice, what a UAN is really for, and why withdrawing at a job change costs more than the money.
22 min
beginnerelevated risk
Gold, and the honest way to own it
Making charges, purity and hallmarks on jewellery; what Sovereign Gold Bonds did and why they stopped; ETFs, digital gold, and holding a claim not metal.
3 lessons · about 21 minutes · written for reading age 13 · last checked 2026-08-11
Reading a jewellery bill properly
Gold is the default Indian family asset and almost nobody is shown what the bill is actually charging for. Four separate things hide inside one number.
7 min
Sovereign Gold Bonds, and why they stopped
A bond measured in grams of gold that paid interest on top of the metal — plus the tax rule at maturity, and the honest position on buying one today.
7 min
ETFs, digital gold, and who owes you
Four ways to own gold, one question that separates them: if the thing on the other side of your holding disappeared tomorrow, what would you be left with?
7 min
Check yourself
5 questions at the end. Every wrong answer explains itself.
Tools for this
Sources
- Bureau of Indian Standards — hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts, and the HUID — Bureau of Indian Standards · checked 2026-08-11
- Reserve Bank of India — Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, issuance and redemption — Reserve Bank of India · checked 2026-08-11
- Securities and Exchange Board of India — gold exchange traded funds and electronic gold receipts — Securities and Exchange Board of India · checked 2026-08-11
- Income Tax Department — capital gains on assets other than listed equity — Income Tax Department, Government of India · checked 2026-08-11
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs — GST rates and rules — Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs · checked 2026-08-11