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Precious Metals IRA - How To Invest For Retirement With Gold, Silver, Platinum And Palladium
What Is a Precious Metal IRA?
An individual self-directed precious metal IRA is a unique type of self-directed retirement account. You can invest in a wide variety of unconventional assets with self-directed IRAs. These include precious metals like gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Investors who are looking for a diversified retirement portfolio will love gold IRAs. A gold IRA also known as precious metal IRA can be added to a retirement portfolio as an insurance policy against inflation, since gold prices tend to move in the opposite direction from paper assets. This balanced approach reduces risk, especially in the long-term, making it a smart investment choice for retirement investments such as IRAs.
Precious metals IRAs are only worth considering if you have a solid portfolio and wish to diversify your investments.
Gold IRAs: A Growing Trend
A precious metal IRA also known as a gold IRA, allows investors to have physical gold, silver, palladium and platinum instead of cash, stocks and bonds. This is a different type of IRA than regular IRAs. Congress created the possibility to use gold and other materials in an IRA in 1997.
Gold IRAs have grown in popularity since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession. Investing in a gold IRA is easy thanks to record gold sales and the availability of more companies that can handle and simplify transactions. This has led to a strong growth in the gold IRA.
Some investors look for safe-haven investments such as precious metals when the stock market is volatile. Although gold, silver and platinum are all subject to volatility, many investors believe they make better long-term investments.
What are the benefits of investing in a retirement account for gold investment? You're literally turning a portion of your retirement nest egg into money. Is it the right decision to have a gold IRA? Although not all IRA accounts permit gold investments, this article will help you to understand what to look out for in your IRA so you can determine if you have the opportunity to create a golden retirement nest egg.
Should I Invest in Precious Metals? Here Are The Golden Rules
You must meet certain requirements to have the actual metal in your IRA. Precious metal bars or coins must conform to IRS standards. They must be held by an IRA trustee, not the IRA owner. The IRS approves the storage of gold in a depository.
The bullion and coins cannot be stored in safe deposit boxes, home safes, or closets. You could be subject to additional taxes or penalties if you do. All rules regarding IRA contributions, disbursements and taxes are applicable.
The Internal Revenue Service has strict rules about the precious metals that you can use for your gold IRA. Any gold must be at least 99.5% pure to remain compliant. The 99.9% purity requirement for silver is even stricter. The purity standards for platinum and palladium rise to 99.95%.
You can convert IRA funds to gold by setting up a self-directed IRA. This type of IRA allows the investor to manage their own investments and has a greater selection of products than other IRAs. A broker is required to purchase the gold, and a custodian is needed to administer and create the account.
Custodians can be banks, trust companies or credit unions that are approved by the federal and/or State agencies to provide asset custody services for individual investors and financial advisers.
Finding a Broker or Custodian
Setting up a gold IRA account is more difficult than setting up a traditional IRA account. This account can be set up by most investors. However, many people rely on top-rated gold IRA companies to help them.
You can roll over any or all of your existing IRAs or 401(ks, regular or Roth) funds to a gold IRA. The rollover process known as a gold IRA rollover, is just like any other retirement plan. Usually, you fill out an application online or by paper. The account is established usually within 24 to 48 hours after receipt.
After all parties have signed the transfer request, they will communicate with one another to transfer the funds to their new custodian. They will also fund a new gold IRA. An account representative will look at the available precious-metal options a customer can buy once funds have been transferred to the new IRA account. They will ask you for the type of metal that you are looking to buy and lock up prices.
Untrustworthy custodians that might steal customer accounts or commit fraud by selling precious metals they don't have or are not planning to purchase are out there and one must be careful to avoid an encounter with such companies. You can reduce these risks by selecting a custodian with good reputation. Look for dealers that are members of industry trade groups such as the American Numismatic Association (ANA), Industry Council for Tangible Assets ICTA, and Professional Numismatists Guild.
How Much of Your IRA Should Include Precious Metals?
A financial advisor can help you determine how a gold IRA would fit into your overall portfolio goals. In general, It's not a good idea to have all your eggs in one asset basket. Experts recommend that you only put one-third of your retirement savings into a gold IRA if gold seems like a good choice. Experts recommend that you invest no more than 10% to 15% in gold, either in physical or paper form.
Experts cite this low number for many reasons. Well-designed portfolios are well-diversified. This means that they don't take unnecessary risk by only investing in one type of asset. This means that no trusted financial advisor would advise you to invest all your assets in precious metals.
Second, gold and other metals are known for holding their value over time, but they often perform poorly compared to other asset classes such as stocks.
Remember that precious metals and precious-metal funds are not meant to replace your entire investment strategy.
Best Way To Invest In Gold And Precious Metals
You can invest in gold, silver, palladium and platinum with precious metal IRAs but you can't just invest in any kind of gold, silver, palladium or platinum. The IRS has strict standards that precious metals must meet.
However, there is a wide range of products that meet the IRS criteria and some of the popular ones include Canadian Maple Leaf coins and Australian Koala bullion coin. Even though they don't meet the 99.5% purity gold standard, the IRS allows American Eagle coins. In a self-directed IRA, you cannot hold rare or collectible coins, like Swiss Francs, British Sovereigns and German Marks.
How to Open a Precious Metals IRA Account or Rollover Your Existing 401(K)
These standards can seem complicated if you don't know much about precious metal coins or other products. One of our highly regarded and trusted gold IRA companies can help you to sort through any confusion. All of them have the experience and expertise to help you choose coins that best suit your retirement goals.
You will need to complete an application and a request form for a transfer when you select a gold IRA firm. The funds needs not be in your possession, so the rollover is a transfer from your existing IRA into your gold IRA account. This process can take up to 2 weeks. Your representative will then assist you in purchasing precious metals.
Some of the reputable companies in this space include;
Goldco offers storage options for gold IRA investors in Delaware, Utah and Texas. They have a wide variety of precious metals.
Augusta Precious Metals has depository locations across the country, including cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. They are top-notch gold IRA company.
Birch Gold Group uses Delaware Depository. This offers the option of facilities in Seal Beach (California) or Wilmington (Delaware). Brinks Global Services is also used by the company (yes, that famous Brinks armored truck). Salt Lake City and Los Angeles are two of the most popular Brinks locations.
Noble Gold Investments has partnered with International Depository Services to offer the first secure storage facility for Texas. Noble Gold Investments is unique in that clients receive photos when their metals arrive at our facility.
Regal Assets is now available in North America and Singapore for precious metal storage options. Brinks is also a partner, so clients have access to a variety of international investment storage options.
