What are some good investment options for beginners?

As a 29-year-old IT professional, you should start by building an emergency fund. Then, consider investing in retirement plans like NPS or EPF. For long-term growth, use SIPs in equity mutual funds. PPF or recurring deposits are good options for short-term goal

Gold has traditionally been considered a safe haven asset, and it can be a good diversification tool. You can invest in gold through physical gold, gold ETFs, or gold mutual funds.

For investing 80k you can try one of these as per your convenience . 1.ETF - eg. Nifty bees 2. Any SIP 3. In stocks through smallcase

Great to hear you're looking to build an emergency fund! Have you considered mutual funds or fixed deposits? What are your thoughts on risk vs. returns?

you don't want any market risk on Your emergency fund, so your best options are fd's with sweep facility, post office schemes are safe too, they provide higher interest rates than banks. You can keep it in debt liquid funds, they are less riskier than equities but that too depends on your risk tolerance. Keep an amount aside that would be enough to cover all your bills and expenses for about a year atleast.

You can try investing in real estates as the asset would be tangible and secured