You can only fund a Gold IRA by transferring an existing retirement account or depositing new money. You can’t transfer gold coins that you already own. Silver coins and bars must be 99.9% pure; platinum and palladium coins and bars must be 99.95% pure. The IRS sets these limits to ensure that investors buy high-quality metals that retain their value over the long term.
However, unlike traditional IRAs and 401 (k), s, which hold paper assets, gold IRAs contain physical precious metals. When you buy precious metals using a gold IRA, you must store them outside your home, in a custodian bank, and in a secure deposit. With a gold IRA, you can own physical gold bars while taking advantage of the tax benefits of an individual retirement account. However, this particular type of IRA is not an optimal choice for most investors.
For example, you won’t find a gold IRA option with any of the largest and most reputable brokerage firms. Advantage Gold has made a name for itself as the best gold IRA company for first-time buyers with its low minimum investment requirements, convenient customer support, and comprehensive education platform. However, good customer service may not be worth paying almost three times the premium for gold as our first choice. Aside from a relatively high spread on gold bars, the company was best at clearly detailing the fees on its website.
Instead, these companies require that you either transfer money from an existing IRA or withdraw money from an existing account and deposit it into a new IRA. You can invest in other options, such as stocks in a gold company, gold investment funds, or exchange-traded gold funds. Gold IRA companies charge relatively low fees, in part because they receive commissions from the custodian bank they work with. If you want to open a gold or silver IRA, you can first open your account and choose your funding source.
If you want to invest some of your retirement savings in gold, you have options that are less expensive and easier to use than a gold IRA. You’ll need a broker to buy the gold and a custodian to create and manage the account to get started. Gold is a relatively stable place to store your money, which caused the purchasing power of gold to rise during the Great Depression and other significant periods of deflation. Patriot Gold has earned an excellent reputation with top marks from major consumer review agencies, including an AA rating with the Business Consumer Alliance and a five-star rating with Consumer Affairs.
Patriot Gold is a company that is run directly by dealers, which means customers avoid the fees normally charged for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bars, or for coin purchases with direct investor prices. To help you find the right precious metal IRA, we’ve reviewed the best gold IRA companies in the industry.
