Precious Metals IRA ☛
Considering a precious metals IRA in 2019?
This article will uncover all the important facts you need to know about this exciting and effective investment vehicle.
We’ll look into these silver and gold IRA accounts and ask how they relate to Roth IRAs, and 401ks; discover the IRA approved precious metals and much more. You will get answers to all your questions, including:
Which are the IRA-approved precious metals?
What are the precious metal IRA rules?
What coins are allowed in an IRA?
What “fineness” must precious metal in an IRA have?
What are Bullions
What are the storage requirements of a precious metal IRA?
How do I put precious metals into an IRA?
Can I have precious metals in a 401K?
Can I have precious metals in a Roth IRA?
This means hedging your investments with precious metals is more important than ever!
So, What is a Precious Metals IRA?
A precious metals IRA is an individual retirement account in which approved precious metal like physical gold are held instead of (or as well as) “paper” investments, for the advantage of the IRA account holder.
A precious metal IRA works in a similar manner as regular IRA, but it holds physical coins, bullion or bars; not just paper assets.
What Investments are Allowed in a Precious Metals IRA?
The following is a list of precious metal investments that are permitted to be held in an IRA account:
Physical metals
Private funds
Closed end funds (CEFs)
Exchange traded funds (ETFs).
What Types of Physical Metals Can be Held in an IRA?
The following is a list of IRA-approved precious metals:
Silver bullion: allowed in precious metals IRA
Gold coins
Gold bullions
Silver coins
Silver Bullions
Palladium coins
Palladium bullions
Platinum coins
Platinum bullions.
What Coins Are Allowed in a Precious Metals IRA?
The following coins are allowed to be held in an IRA:
Gold Austrian Philharmonics
Gold Canadian Maple Leafs
Silver Canadian Silver Maple Leafs
Gold Australian Kangaroos
Silver Australian Kookaburra
Gold US American Eagles
Silver US American Silver Eagles
American & Canadian Platinum or Palladium minted one-ounce coins.
What Coins Are Not Allowed in Precious Metals IRAs?
Canadian Maple Leafs: allowed in Precious Metal IRAs
The following is a list of coins that do not meet the minimum acceptable purity that needs to be held in a precious metal IRA:
South African Krugerrands
Rare or Collectible Numismatic coins
Hungarian Corona
British Britannia or British Sovereign.
What is Bullion?
Bullions are rounds and bars that are manufactured by COMEX or NYMEX approved assayer/refiner or national government mint that exceeds or meets the minimum fineness requirement.
These are the fineness requirements for precious metal IRAs:
Gold - fineness of 99.5% or better
Platinum - fineness of 99.95% or better
Silver - fineness of 99.99% or better
Palladium - fineness of 99.95% or better.
What are Precious Metals IRA Storage Requirements?
Whether you are interested in a gold and silver IRA or any other physical precious metals, you need to store them in secure vaults.
This is an IRS requirement to safeguard your gold, platinum, silver or palladium when you add these to an IRA.
The only approved storage by which you can hold your precious metals in an IRA is vault “segregated” storage. In this type of storage, your precious metals are kept separated from all others in a secure vault.
On behalf of your IRA, a segregated storage account will be opened by the IRA administrator. On purchase of your investments, the dealer will deliver these to your selected vault as you will not be permitted to take physical possession of your investment.
Can I Have Precious Metals in a Self Directed IRA Account?
Precious metals IRAs are usually the “self-directed” type:
Most of the IRA administrators cannot fund an IRA account with precious metals.
For this kind of investment, you require a self-directed IRA account.
As not all IRA administrators can handle physical silver or gold deposits, you will have to search for a specialized IRA administrator for precious metal investment and self directed IRAs.
You can search for a reputable precious metal IRA company online who can help you in this smoothly without causing any issues. Always do your research and look for a top rated company to avoid any mishandling or misguidance.
How to Put Precious Metals into an IRA Account
The simple steps to place precious metals into an IRA account are shared below. Precious metal IRA rules will not be discussed in great detail but the procedure of placing precious metals is explained in the following points:
If you do not have an existing IRA account, a new one will be set up
An administrator specialized in precious metals and self direction will set up this account.
You will purchase your specific precious metal investment yourself or your administrator will buy it on your behalf.
A segregated vault will be opened against your IRA account name by the administrator of your Self-Directed IRA.
Your gold or silver investment will be held in that segregated vault storage.
Sometimes you may be asked for your choice of the place where you want to hold your investment whereas sometimes it depends on the administrator’s contracted vault.
As per IRS rules, you cannot personally hold the precious metal assets in your IRA account.
Can I have Precious Metals in a 401K?
The short answer is: no, you can't have precious metals in a 401k:
Under the IRS rules, precious metals cannot be funded to a 401K.
To hold precious metals, 401K account must be “rolled over” into an IRA.
401K can easily be rolled over into a Precious Metals IRA or Self Directed IRA.
By this easy conversion, you will be able to hold metal assets in your retirement portfolio.
Can I have Precious Metals in a Roth IRA?
A Roth IRA is a special retirement account where you have to pay taxes on cash that goes into your account and due to this all your future withdrawals are tax free.
For some, this may be a positive benefit but unfortunately, it is not possible to have precious metals in a Roth IRA.
This account is for those who expect that the tax rate will get higher during retirement than the current rate.
If you are interested in investing in physical gold or silver bullion, you cannot do it through a standard Roth IRA.
If you want to invest in precious metals, a Roth IRA cannot be directly used. You need to convert it into a Self directed IRA in order to add physical precious metals like gold to your IRA.
Your own retirement horizon, risk and tolerance will help you in deciding total amount of gold or other precious metal that you will want to have in your retirement portfolio.
Roth IRA is suitable for everyone at every age as long as income is being earned.
Precious Metals IRA Conclusion
So now you've had some of your precious metals IRA questions answered, it's time to start researching the best precious metal IRA companies. A good place to start is by requesting their free kits. Happy researching!
