Many people have asked if there is any way to place precious metals away for retirement. The answer is obvious—Yes!
However, what has been determined is that many people in the USA have most of their funds in some type of retirement account and do not have the ability to invest outside of their already existing account.
Therefore this is directed primarily at those that wish to know how to establish a precious metals IRA. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) can be funded with physical gold and silver, yet very few investors are aware of this fact. They are exempt from all capital gains taxes while in the IRA exactly like any other investment that is placed into an IRA account. Thus, if your investments perform well over a long period of time, it can result in huge savings. Of course upon distribution the appropriate tax consequences would be applied.
Diversifying your retirement portfolio with precious metals is fundamentally required if you properly understand asset allocation (see the Ibbotson study). Additionally precious metals normally rise during periods of unsettling events such as wars, terrorism, inflation, deflation, downturns in the stock market and the US dollar. Precious metals usually yield large profits in these circumstances.
What is unique about this plan is that you can take physical possession of the actual gold or silver when you make your withdrawals. That’s correct! You can cash out in real honest-to-goodness gold and silver instead of fiat dollars. This is the most important feature of all. Down the road, in this generational bull market in gold and silver, the odds are in your favor that you will want and need the physicals when it’s time to access your investment.
Once you decide that you want to include precious metals in your retirement planning, you need to determine how much you want to invest. How much depends on your annual contribution, your personal goals and your individual investment philosophy. Factors to consider are your age, total assets and risk tolerance.
Very few institutions are set up to handle the precious metals component of retirement plans. There are basically only three, Sterling Trust, Goldstar Trust, and Entrust.
Establishing a Precious Metals IRA
From the Midas Resources website…
“If you currently have an IRA or a qualified plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), etc most likely your plan does not allow you to own physical gold or silver in your account. If that is the case, there is a way to do it that is relatively easy and inexpensive. What follows is a step by step explanation of how to do it. The first step is to find a custodian that will allow such a transaction. There are several including Sterling Trust Company, Goldstar Trust Company and Entrust. There are many others. These three are the most experienced with holding metals. Once you select a custodian, you will need to open a self directed IRA. This involves a minimum amount of paperwork and a fee to set up the account.
Taking possession of your IRA is qualified as a distribution. Under that circumstance, the IRS requires that a possible penalty and the appropriate taxes be paid. To avoid the penalty and taxes you want to have your IRA gold stored with a custodian that handles precious metals self directed IRAs. Midas Resources’ brokers will work with you to select a custodian, and help you through the process of filing the required paperwork to start your self directed IRA.
Once your new account is funded, you can then direct your broker to purchase gold, silver, platinum and palladium for your account. Your broker will withdraw payment for the purchase and send the appropriate amount of metals to the custodian’s storage facility. The storage facility will report the receipt to your custodian and show the metals in your account.”
As you can tell setting up a precious metals IRA is not that difficult. I have discussed in some of my public appearances particularly at the Money Show throughout the U.S and Canada.
What Type of Gold and Silver Can Be Held In an IRA?
The United States government currently allows Gold American Eagles and Gold proof American Eagles in IRA’s. Gold American Eagles are mass produced bullion coins. The value of these gold bullion coins is tied to the gold price. The price of gold fluctuates moving up and down like a heart monitor. This fluctuation in the price is directly tied to investors that buy and sell in an attempt to take advantage of the price volatility.
Three Easy Steps…
1. Submit the paperwork.
2. Fund the account.
3. Direct your broker which precious metals to buy.
The metals are stored at approved metals depository, which at times can be the same used by COMEX and other major commodities exchanges. Annual storage fee vary but I would not base my entire decision on the storage costs alone.
Steps #1 and #2 involves completing the proper forms to transfer the funds to custodian. Again there are three choices as outlined above. Normally, the funds are transferred directly from an existing IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan.
In Step #3, the IRA investor directs a dealer which precious metals to buy.
For those wishing to send me an email for more information you can go to www.MyRealIRA.com
