A gold IRA is a type of individual retirement account that allows investors to hold physical gold or other precious metals, unlike standard IRAs. To hold gold in an IRA, you’ll need to set up a standalone account managed by a specialized custodian bank that manages and stores the metal. A gold IRA is a retirement account that allows people to invest in physical gold. They are often used to diversify savings and create an inflation hedge.
Like other IRAs, these accounts also offer valuable tax benefits. To withdraw from a Gold IRA without penalty, you must be at least 59.5 years of age. Once you reach that age, you can either withdraw and take possession of your gold investments, or liquidate those assets and withdraw their value in cash instead. Gold IRAs are a special type of self-directed IRA that allows you to invest in physical gold and other precious metals, such as silver, platinum, and palladium.
Investing in a gold IRA requires the services of a custodian bank, a broker to purchase gold, and an approved depositary to store gold. Like other self-directed IRAs, Gold IRAs can be Traditional or Roth. Physical gold is considered an alternative investment, which is not allowed in a regular IRA. Working with a designated IRA specialist, Allegiance Gold staff can help you determine whether your account is eligible for a transfer.
Allegiance Gold offers a streamlined process with a senior portfolio manager and an IRA specialist to help you do just that. 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. For a gold IRA, you need a broker to buy the gold and a custodian to create and manage the account. Gold IRA rules prevent people from taking possession of precious metals in their IRAs, which means you can’t store the metal in a safe in your home.
Once you reach 72 years of age, you’ll be required to accept the required minimum distributions (RMDs) from a traditional gold IRA (but not from a Roth IRA). Even if you open a Gold IRA, it’s important to note that you can’t fund your account directly with gold bars or coins that you own. There are currently a variety of precious metals that meet the minimum purity requirements allowed for inclusion in an IRA Gold account. During his tenure as Director of the Mint, there was little demand for gold IRAs, according to Moy, as it is a very complicated transaction that only the most stubborn investor was willing to make.
Similar to any retirement account, with your Gold IRA or Custom Precious Metals IRA, you invest your retirement savings based on a specific tax treatment (before or after tax) and then accept distributions in the future. With your Gold IRA or Custom Precious Metals IRA, you’ll still have beneficiaries, receive quarterly account statements, and can sign up online to check your balances. However, since gold IRAs are a type of self-governing IRA, they can hold alternative investments as long as they comply with IRS rules. Thankfully, Gold IRA companies make it easy to meet these requirements and add precious metals to your retirement plan.