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Should You Rollover IRA Into Gold

A conventional Roth and traditional individual retirement account only have the capacity to hold stocks, bonds, cash, or anything in the paper class of assets. With the 1997 “Taxpayer Relief Act,” the government widened investment types allowing investors certain physical commodities to be held with an IRA. Learn how to use a Roth IRA to invest in gold at https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-invest-in-gold-with-a-roth-ira-5224432/.

These, however, were designated as a specific sort of IRA referenced as “self-directed” and “alternative-asset” accounts. Precious metals were among the holdings allowed with these IRAs, but only gold, silver, palladium, and platinum and only with government-specific purity.

The choice of a gold IRA is one where investors decide to diversify their holdings to prevent having a portfolio monopolized by merely one sort of asset, especially one directly tied to the financial markets. 

Since many of these investors have existing retirement accounts like 401k plans and other IRAs, they simply need to do what’s called “rollovers” to take advantage of a gold IRA. 

The process is relatively straightforward and can be handled with the assistance of the custodians and precious metal dealers. Let’s look at how rollovers work a bit more closely.

What Is A Rollover Into A Gold IRA

 

Many people have a 401k retirement plan through an employer or perhaps a 403b. If you were to leave your position with that employer to assume a role with another company, the money in that retirement plan can be rolled over into another one.

Suppose you were to find an individual retirement account that provided more lucrative investment options than what you currently have. In that case, you could again do the same thing – roll the funds from the existing version into the new one. 

Specific regulations need to be followed, and you’ll find that to be true with the gold IRA also. Still, rules with a gold IRA are more stringent. Terms of a rollover into a gold IRA can occur based on one of three criteria:

  1. The retirement plan from the sponsored company experiences substantial changes
  2. The retirement plan from the sponsored company elects a new custodian
  3. The employee terminates the position he holds with the sponsored company

 

 

The Process For Rolling Over From An Existing Retirement Plan

 

When choosing to rollover funds from an existing conventional retirement plan into a gold individual retirement account, there are rules and regulations stipulated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that need to be followed. 

The governing body indicates three methods investors can incorporate to do the rollover. These include:

1.60-day: The custodian from the existing retirement plan can issue a check to you for the rollover amount. In order to avoid taxes or penalties on this “withdrawal,” the funds will need to be invested into the gold IRA within a 60-day time period. 

That means issuing these to the new custodian of the gold IRA, who will distribute the funds to the precious metal dealer with whom you will purchase your precious metals. 

From that point, the product will be shipped directly to an IRS-approved depository for storage until you become 59.5 years of age.

2. Custodian-to-custodian: You will need to contact the custodian on the existing retirement plan to facilitate a rollover into the gold IRA with the custodian of that account. No taxes or penalties will apply when the rollover is handled between the custodians on the accounts.

3.Direct rollover: The administrator on the existing retirement account can issue a check to fund the gold IRA directly. That will ensure there are no taxes or penalties to contend with.

In many instances, investors only take a portion of their retirement savings to put into a gold IRA. Find out what a gold IRA rollover is and learn how it works at https://www.varsity.co.uk/sponsored/what-is-a-gold-ira-rollover-and-how-does-it-work/.

The suggestion from retirement strategists (and this is entirely dependent on your retirement goals, the strength of your portfolio, and your personal preferences as an investor), but the overall opinion is that roughly 10-15% of gold holdings are a “safe bet.” 

That amount increases to roughly 20-25% if there are financial crises for an already robust portfolio. 

If precious metal investing is a new concept for you or self-directed individual retirement accounts as a whole are unfamiliar. 

It’s essential to do the research before making any commitments and take the opportunity to reach out to a financial advisor, one that doesn’t feel threatened by precious metals but is, instead, impartial, with more concern over the client’s best interests.

Final Thought

 

Rolling over existing investments into a gold IRA is becoming a favored option for investors who hope to hedge against an uncertain market. Gold doesn’t correlate with the financial markets but, instead, boasts a reputation of remaining steady or doing better when things get rough on the economic front. 

 

That’s not an indication to bulk up on metal in your portfolio; simply consider the addition of some glimmer.