Forget about Bitcoin. Invest in gold to stay financially secure

Photo credit: Pixabay.

If you had invested in gold a decade ago, the value of your investment would now have increased by a substantial 82 percent.

If you had chosen to put that cash in the bank instead, then you would have actually lost money. People in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia suffer from negative real returns due to spiking inflation and taxes. Folks in Malaysia and Japan fare slightly better – their banks will give them an annual return of approximately 0.5 percent.

Malaysian entrepreneur Robin Lee started HelloGold  to help households prepare for retirement and make it easier to secure loans.

He noticed how high net worth individuals used gold to hedge risks.

The fintech startup democratizes access to gold purchases. People can buy nuggets from as little as US$0.22 (1 Malaysian ringgit) through the app. That’s significantly cheaper than banks or gold merchants that demand people buy in increments of an entire gram, or more.

Gold is now at US$39.81 per gram.

HelloGold’s Robin Lee. Photo credit: HelloGold

Robin says the idea for the app came to him during his previous stint as the CFO at the World Gold Council, a consortium of some of the world’s leading gold mining firms. Part of his role was to oversee a US$30 billion gold fund. He noticed how corporates and high net worth individuals used gold to enhance returns, hedge risks, and as a form of collateral.

“I believed that HelloGold, in turn, could use these same principles to help mass market consumers,” he says.

All that glitter

HelloGold functions as a hybrid virtual marketplace where consumers can buy and sell gold. It’s also possible to have the physical gold shipped to your address – but the minimum is at least one gram. In this scenario, certain costs will apply – to cover delivery, insurance, and associated premiums.

Robin explains the startup earns money every time a transaction is made on the platform – there’s a two percent commission. Additionally, it also charges a two percent annual maintenance fee.

Ordinary people are far more comfortable with gold than a virtual currency.