Yes, you can invest in real gold or other precious metals for your IRA. Gold IRA rules require that you store eligible precious metals with a national depositary, bank, or IRS-approved trustee. Your custodian bank can refer you to an approved institution and process the gold transfer as part of setting up your Gold IRA. When you back an IRA with either gold or silver (or both), you’re making the decision to potentially protect your retirement funds from market fluctuations that could have a negative impact on your overall holdings.
A precious metal IRA is a state-approved retirement account that is backed by physical gold, silver, or other metals such as platinum or palladium. Create a stable financial future and protect your retirement by investing in a self-directed gold IRA. In many cases, gold and silver can potentially offer better opportunities for financial security than other types of IRAs. Given that the stock market typically rises by around 7% in an average year, it would be rare for a gold IRA to outperform other retirement investments.
Before you open a gold IRA, keep in mind that it’s not the only way to invest in gold with your retirement funds. Because the gold in a gold IRA must be stored in an IRS-approved deposit, you can’t store it in a safe, a home safe, or under your mattress. Gold IRAs are usually defined as alternative investments, meaning that they are not traded on a public stock exchange and require specialized expertise to value them. If gold seems like a solid choice for you, Sentell suggests investing no more than a third of your retirement savings in a gold IRA.
Investing in a gold IRA is a great way to diversify your retirement portfolio for a number of key reasons. The IRS does not allow popular gold coins such as the South African Krugerrand or British sovereign coins to be stored in a gold IRA. Since IRA owners are required to accept distributions when they reach 73 years of age, they could be forced to sell gold at a lower price than they would like. Many investors choose gold to diversify their portfolio, either by investing in a gold IRA or buying the metal outright.
Gold and silver IRAs allow you to hold assets that are rarely found in employer-sponsored 401 (k), s, and conventional IRAs. Still, a gold IRA can be a good option for investors who want to diversify their retirement accounts and also take advantage of the hedging benefits that the yellow metal offers over other financial assets, such as fiat currency and stocks. These investments are available in a normal brokerage IRA, which means you don’t have to go through the work and additional costs of setting up a self-directed gold IRA.
