Because of these attractive features, many investors are wondering whether they can gold physical gold in their individual retirement account (IRA). To invest in gold with an IRA, you must follow two IRS guidelines. First, you can only invest in IRS-approved gold. Although the list of approved options is changing, the IRS says it must be “highly refined precious
metal.”
You can store coins or gold bars in a precious metal IRA. Despite the colloquial term “gold IRA,” you can hold silver, platinum, and palladium on this account. Unlike gold ETFs or gold company stocks, a precious metal IRA allows you to hold the physical precious metals in accordance with IRS regulations. While you can’t buy physical gold (only self-directed IRAs allow you to do that), you can invest your IRA funds in other types of gold investments, such as gold-oriented mutual funds, gold futures, gold ETFs, or gold stocks.
If you just want to buy gold or silver, here’s what you need to know to buy gold outside of an IRA. The IRS does not allow popular gold coins such as the South African Krugerrand or British state coins to be stored in a gold IRA. If you withdraw gold from your IRA before you reach the age of 59½, you’ll have to pay income tax on the value of that gold, as well as a 10% penalty for an early withdrawal from a retirement account. To avoid the prospect of not meeting the rollover limit, many people choose to have their Gold IRA firm coordinate the rollover by transferring the rollover directly from institution
to institution.
Gold American Eagle investment coins and polished gold coins are the only gold coins that are exempt from purity guidelines. An important rule to know about keeping physical gold in an IRA is that your precious metals MUST be kept at an approved depository such as the Delaware Depository Service Company or Brink’s Global Services and not in your home or in a safe deposit box. These investments are available in a normal brokerage IRA, meaning you wouldn’t have to go through the work and additional costs of setting up a self-directed gold IRA. If you’re not sure whether owning physical gold is the best use of your money, consider talking to your financial advisor or accountant
.
Many Gold IRA companies have preferred custodian banks that they either recommend or require customers to use them, or you can search for a custodian on the RITA website. IRA-eligible gold coins, bars, and bullets must meet a number of requirements set forth in the Internal Revenue Code in order to be stored in a standalone IRA. A gold IRA is an alternative investment option for pension savers who want to own gold to hedge against inflation or diversify their assets beyond the stock market. Gold IRA rules require that you store eligible precious metals with a national depositary, bank, or IRS-approved external trustee
.
Roth Gold IRAs are self-reliant IRAs with contributions after tax, which means that the tax benefit is paid out until retirement. While you can take out exposure to gold in a normal retirement account by owning stocks or funds, you can’t hold the physical asset in an IRA or a 401 (k)
.
