Hopefully, by now you’ve started investing in your retirement. IRAs, or an individual retirement account, help you save enough money for your golden years. You can get your own IRA account by going to a bank or company that offers them as a part of their services or your employer will offer one to you as part of your employment benefits.

If you don’t have an IRA yet or you’re looking for a change in your IRA plan, a Gold IRA plan might be a good option for you. Gold IRAs allow you to own physical gold. A regular IRA allows you to invest in gold mining stocks or gold efts, it doesn’t allow you to own physical gold that you can touch.

Gold IRAs come with the same tax benefits, withdrawal rules, and contribution limits as regular IRAs. The only real difference between the two accounts is that the IRS requires additional reporting and record-keeping for gold IRAs because of their more complicated assets.

While this is all well and good, you’re probably wondering how you go about buying gold or opening a Gold IRA. Here’s a quick guide you can use when you decide to invest in gold.

Who Provides A Gold IRA?

You’re going to need to look for reputable Gold IRA companies that offer gold investment opportunities. Conventional firms don’t offer gold IRAs as one of their services. Specialized custodians are experts in gold investments. They know the IRS requirements for gold IRAs and can make sure you’re reporting everything IRS needs so you won’t get into trouble.

There’s also the little problem of storage. When you invest in a Gold IRA, you’re investing in actual, physical gold. That means that you’re going to need a place to store it. Custodians can help you find a place that will secure and hold your gold for you so you don’t have to worry about its safety or yours.

The IRS doesn’t allow you to store physical gold in a Gold IRA. To have your gold IRA bullion or coins stored in your home cunts as a withdrawal of your IRA account. Think of the physical gold as physical cash. The IRA wouldn’t let you store the cash in your normal IRA at home. That would be silly.

Besides, even if they did allow you to store it at home, I’d caution against it. Gold is something lots of people would be willing to steal for. Don’t open your home up to possible dangers unnecessarily. Put it in a secure location so you know it’s protected.

How Do I Get The Gold For My Gold IRA?

Gold IRA Guide - Piggy

Image by Thomas Jh. Baumann from Pixabay

Great question. After you open your account, you can start looking for ways to get physical gold. The first step is to fun your account with cash. Once you have cash in your account, you can use it to purchase gold for your Gold IRA.

I recommend adding a little cash every year and buying gold, that way your account increases each year, just like a normal IRA. If you’re looking for a list of depositories and custodians approved by the IRS, click here.

Can I Use My Existing IRA?

Yes and no. So your existing IRA doesn’t allow you to invest in gold because it’s not a Gold IRA. You can invest in stocks from gold mining companies, but not the physical gold. To do this you need a separate account.

However, you don’t need to have a separate account for your gold IRA. You can roll your existing IRA into a gold IRA so you only have one account. Plus, you’ll already have the money to fund your Gold IRA so you won’t have to worry about taking anything out of your checking or savings account.

What Kind Of Gold Can I Own?

The IRS will only let you own gold that is at least, 99.5% pure. Make sure whenever you’re purchasing gold that its purity matches the IRS standards, otherwise your gold won’t be investable and you could run into problems with the IRS. No one wants that.

You should also know that the IRS doesn’t allow certain gold coins to be purchased for a gold IRA. Gold collectibles can not be used in an IRA account and neither can coin from certain countries. Your custodian will help you make sure you’re not purchasing any coins that can’t go into your IRA.

If you find that you’re interested in collecting gold coins, you can still purchase them as an investment, they just can’t go into your IRA account. You can keep these coins at home and let them increase in value over time before selling them if you want. It’s up to you if you want to try this method of gold investing too.

There Are A Lot Of Fees

There are storage fees, insurance, fees, seller fees, custodian fees, account fees, and more. While the fees can range in price depending on how much is in your account, you should still expect to pay some money each year for fees. A custodian will help you keep track of all of the fees you need to be aware of so you won’t be penalized for missing any.

For more information on the fees and taxes associated with the gold investment, follow the link. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/081616/understanding-taxes-physical-goldsilver-investments.asp

Why Should I Invest In A Gold IRA?

If you want to invest in gold and invest in your future retirement, then a Gold IRA is perfect for you. Gold is easy to get into, it’s popular, and it’s a great way to diversify your portfolio. If it’s something you’re interested in learning more about, you should talk to a custodian so they can talk you through the process.

While gold IRAs aren’t for everyone, they’re a great opportunity for many investors looking out for their future. You can own a variety of gold that can be stored safely on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about its safety. A lot of people make a lot of money using gold IRAs and I hope if you decide to take this on, you do as well!