A nest egg can take years even decades to build up. Market bubbles come and go and not everyone has the stomach or time to wait for the next one to play out. The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped in 1929 and didn’t get back to those levels until 1954. Japan topped in 1987 and still has never made it back to those levels today. How soon do we forget that the NASDAQ fell 80% from 2000 to 2003? Hindsight in investing is not relevant.
It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the present moment. If you are in the fortunate position to have wealth through investing, inheritance, trading, speculation, or even luck it doesn’t matter. The point is where we go from here. There is significant evidence that the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Our leadership is abysmal. The debt situation is dire. The mother of all bubbles is cracking. The writing is on the wall. It makes no sense to speculate with 100% of your money. What will money even look like in 10 years? Exponential money printing means exponential risk. A Gold IRA is a great way to preserve retirement funds in such a risky environment.
IRS rules and the legitimacy of the Gold IRA
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 allowed American citizens to own approved gold and other precious metals inside of their IRA, known as an Individual Retirement Account. Certain gold, silver, platinum, or palladium bars and coins are described in IRS 31 USC Section 5112. The downside of physical precious metals in an IRA is that they don’t pay dividends that grow tax-deferred. The upside is that gold typically does well when paper assets like stocks do poorly. Gold is a store of value and fights inflation. For those looking to diversify their retirement accounts with a tangible asset, the Gold IRA fits the bill in such a risky market environment that we are in today.
Not all gold or other precious metals qualify for a Gold IRA. Specifically, gold must be .9950 pure, silver must be .9990 pure, and platinum and palladium must be .9995 pure. Gold bars produced by a national government or an approved refiner like PAMP or Valcambi qualify. Uncirculated Gold American Eagles and Buffaloes, Canadian Maple Leafs, Austrian Philharmonics, and Australian Kangaroos all qualify. Silver bars and rounds produced by a national government or an approved refiner like John Matthey or Sunshine Mint are acceptable. Silver Maple Leafs, American Eagles, Australian Kookaburra, UK Britannia, Austrian Philharmonics, and the Mexican Libertad all make great silver holdings inside the Gold IRA. Platinum and palladium bars and Maple Leaf coins are available at this time for the Gold IRA in limited quantities. Physical precious metals like these will limit the speculative paper risk in the market today. For those who want to know that something of value will always exist inside of their IRA, the Gold IRA is a perfect fit for today’s speculative, inflated bubble.
Many Retirement accounts can be turned into a Gold IRA
When it comes to IRA contributions, disbursements, and taxes, Gold IRAs follow the same rules and procedures as other IRAs. IRS 26 USC 408 talks in-depth regarding the legitimacy of the Gold IRA process. You may be asking yourself which kind of retirement plans can be rolled over or transferred into a Gold IRA. Some of these acceptable accounts include an existing Traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, a SEP IRA, a Simple IRA, an Inherited IRA, a Rollover IRA, a 401(k), a 403(b), a 457(b), a TSP or a HAS. If you are worried about the upcoming drawdown in your existing paper IRA or retirement account, the Gold IRA would be a perfect fit to lighten up on the speculative risk in the current paper markets like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money markets, and annuities. This is not financial advice, merely common sense for those who went through the previous bubbles and don’t have the stomach or time for this upcoming implosion.
Work with an experienced gold dealer
Like anything else in life, no one is an expert on everything. Having a great gold dealer today is as important as having a good family physician, a plumber, a lawyer, an electrician, and a great school for your kids or grandchildren. You need a great gold representative who will walk you through the entire process from beginning to end. A great gold dealer also needs to be accessible and reliable when it comes to IRA distributions, liquidations, and clerical adjustments to your IRA. This may also include beneficiary information or help in a time of family crisis.
The Gold IRA process is straightforward for those firms that know what they are doing. We can go over the steps here briefly.
- Call your experienced gold dealer.
- Send your retirement account statement to your gold dealer representative.
- Open an account at a self-directed IRA custodian with the help of your gold dealer and receive your new IRA account number.
- Fill out a transfer or rollover request to fund your newly opened self-directed IRA with your new IRA account number.
- Once your new IRA is funded by your tax-free rollover check or wire transfer, it’s time to see what precious metals are right for you, and an invoice is drawn up with the price and quantity locked in.
- Your self-directed IRA pays the IRA invoice to your gold dealer for your precious metals portfolio.
- Your precious metals will be delivered to the depository of your choice by your gold dealer and collect dust there until you decide to sell or take delivery of the bars and coins through an IRA distribution.
- Pay your annual storage and insurance fees for a Gold IRA which is typically between $150 and $300.
The Gold IRA is not meant to be a complicated process. It is meant to be a great way to preserve retirement funds in such a risky paper environment.
Stock returns in a rising rate environment are typically lackluster to awful. Marty Zweig put it simply, Don’t fight the Fed.
We all know that the Fed is raising interest rates. Mortgage rates have recently gone up from 3.5% to 5% in a very short period. Wealth preservation is extremely important as this debt bubble will eventually implode. Wealth preservation through the ownership of precious metals has never been more important and timely. A Gold IRA is a great way to preserve retirement funds in such a risky environment that we have today. This is the most speculative market of our lifetime. You don’t have to go down with the paper market and US dollar ship. Physical gold, physical precious metals, and the Gold IRA are your lifeboat in this stormy sea of speculation.
