Gold Price Surge Fails Investors Who Chose Physical Bars Over Exchange-Traded Funds
Gold prices rose nearly 5% in a month, yet two investors who each put ₩10 million into gold saw their account balances diverge by more than ₩1.6 million depending on how they invested.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) Gold Market and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) generated around ₩430,000 in gains, while physical gold bars actually lost ₩1.2 million, or 12% of principal.
The key difference wasn't the price of gold itself but taxes, transaction costs, and how buy and sell prices are set from the start. This is why picking an investment product based solely on gold's price appreciation can backfire.
KRX Gold Market investors enjoyed a 4.33% return with no taxes. The market's advantage comes down to its tax structure: capital gains from on-exchange trading are exempt from capital gains tax and dividend income tax.