You cannot hold physical precious metals in a regular individual retirement account (IRA). However, there are specially designed precious metal IRAs that allow you to invest for retirement using gold, palladium, silver and other valuable metals. A precious metal IRA is simply a traditional, ROTH, SEP, SIMPLE, accumulated or inherited IRA that holds precious metals and can include gold, silver, platinum or palladium. A gold anger is a specialized, self-directed individual retirement account designed to hold precious metals.
A silver IRA is also a traditional IRA, a ROTH IRA, a SEP-IRA, a SIMPLE IRA, or an inherited IRA that is self-directed by the account holder and that possesses permissible forms of physical silver coins or silver bullion. IRA Gold companies vary in experience, service and costs, so be sure to search and compare your options before proceeding with opening an account. The practical concern is to find an IRA trustee who is willing to establish a self-directed IRA and facilitate the physical transfer and storage of precious metal assets. That's why the depositary of your gold IRA will make it easy to deliver your physical metals to a secure storage facility called a warehouse.
There is no limit to the amount of direct IRA transfers from one IRA custodian to another that you can initiate. If you want your gold to be rated, it's usually best to wait until you've liquidated your IRA assets and taken possession of your metals. During his tenure as director of the Mint, Moy says that there was little demand for gold IRAs because they involve a very complicated transaction that only the most persistent investor was willing to carry out. Still, with its low minimum investment requirement and extensive educational resource, it has quickly become the favorite as the best gold IRA company for new investors.
A self-directed IRA is different from other types of IRAs because you can invest in assets such as real estate and precious metals. The possibility of using gold and other materials as securities in an IRA was created by Congress in 1997, says Edmund C. As such, the transaction is characterized as a taxable distribution of the IRA followed by a purchase of the metal or currency by the owner of the IRA (you). When you properly move your funds from an IRA or retirement account to a Gold IRA, there are no tax consequences.
Augusta's two major drawbacks are its limited choice of metals and its high minimum investment requirement to establish a gold IRA.
