You cannot own physical gold in a regular IRA, although you can invest in a variety of assets with exposure to gold, such as stocks of gold mining companies or gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Second, you can't have gold in your possession. Even though you own it, gold must be stored off-premises in an IRS-approved warehouse. Your gold IRA depository can help you recommend a suitable depository for your investments.
There are many ways to invest in gold, and an IRA for gold is one of them. But is it the best way? It depends on several factors. Investors can buy gold bars and coins outside of an IRA. There are no restrictions from the IRS on what they can own and how they should store their gold.
Investors can choose to store their gold at home, avoiding storage fees. Besides, there are no custody fees. Investors who hold their gold for more than a year are subject to favorable capital gains tax rates rather than ordinary income tax rates, which is what you pay when you sell gold and withdraw funds from an IRA. Standard custodians, such as Fidelity, Schwab, or TD Ameritrade, will not handle physical gold in an IRA.
Therefore, if you want to keep gold in your IRA, you must first set up a self-directed IRA and then you have to find a custodian who specializes in self-directed gold IRAs. A quick Google search for “Self-Directed Golden IRA” yields a lot of results. I know that American Bullion has been around for years, just like APMEX. 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.
Although IRAs were once limited to holding American Eagle gold and silver coins, today IRAs can invest in IRS-permitted gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bars and coins. A gold IRA is a specialized, self-directed individual retirement account designed to hold precious metals. While Advantage Gold attracts gold IRA investors of all types, it has particular appeal to first-time buyers. If gold seems like a solid option to you, Sentell suggests that you don't put more than a third of your retirement funds into a gold IRA.
Unlike a traditional IRA, which can be easily set up and maintained through a custodian, creating and managing a golden IRA involves a few more moving parts. It would be less problematic, and perhaps more desirable, if your gold IRA were only part of your overall retirement portfolio. If you suddenly needed gold to barter for food, you would first need to call your custodian and complete the necessary documentation to access your own gold. Storing your IRA's gold at home can be considered distribution, meaning you can lose your tax-deferred benefits and you could be penalized if you're under the age of 59 and a half.
The function of a gold IRA company is to facilitate the creation of the IRA and the purchase of gold coins or bars. Many gold IRA companies partner with a custodian, and the depositary or the gold IRA company can select a depositary. As long as there is gold on this earth, it is not too late to open your own self-directed IRA of precious metals. While the price of gold rose to new highs over the summer, you've probably seen a series of announcements recommending investing in gold through an IRA.
Augusta's two major drawbacks are its limited choice of metals and its high minimum investment requirement to establish a gold IRA.
