Hi and welcome to my page on gold IRA investing!

My name is Martin, and I have taken an interest in investing in gold, and the various methods it can be done.

A gold IRA is one means of investing in gold that works for a lot of people, and is pretty easy to do. Most anyone I have talked to has a lot of questions when they start looking into this, and so I have created this page to hopefully answer any questions you may have, and have included information about the company I recommend for this, as they are quite unique in a number of ways. A few of my friends have also invested with them, and have been very happy.

Down the page I talk about them, and how you can get in touch with them to find out if this is the right company for you as well, and I also hope to help you understand how to go about this, and to determine if this is the right decision for your investing needs.

Why a gold IRA?

Historically the value of gold has always risen over the long term making it one hedge against inflation you can count on, adding a nice diversification to your retirement funds.

With a gold IRA, you are placing the physical commodity gold into your IRA account, unlike some other investments such as gold mutual funds or stocks.

Gold reduces investment risk, and will provide some nice gains over the long term. Physical gold has an edge over paper investments in gold such as stocks during turbulent times in the markets.

Therefore placing precious metals such as gold and silver into your IRA account helps the overall health of your long term retirement planning.

Gold is as reliable investment as there is, while seeing the economic climate crumbling, and real estate markets struggling, you may have noticed the price of gold particularly escalated during these periods over the past few years.

This is a result of the demand going up from savvy investors protecting their nest egg with gold, amongst a number of other factors that increase the value of gold.

What types of physical gold and other precious metals are permissible in an IRA account?

You can add various forms of gold, silver, palladium and platinum into your IRA. This is a result of the Tax Payer Relief Act, which was passed in 1997, allowing for certain precious metals of a certain standard to be included within IRAs.

The permissible physical gold, silver, palladium and platinum for your IRA will be in the form of bars or coins, and need to meet certain standards.

Examples of permissible IRA physical precious metals are as follows:

American Eagle Gold Coins
Australian Kangaroo Gold Coins
Australian Nugget Gold Coins
Austrian Philharmonic Gold Coins
Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coins
Credit Suisse Gold Bars
PAMP Suisse Gold Bars
Uncirculated U.S. Buffalo Gold Coins

American Eagle Silver Coins
Australian Kookaburra Silver Coins
Austrian Philharmonic Silver Coins
Canadian Maple Leaf Silver Coins
Mexican Libertad Silver Coins

American Eagle Platinum Coins
Australian Koala Platinum Coins
Canadian Maple Leaf Platinum Coins
Isle Of Man Noble Platinum Coins

Palladium coins and bars with 0.9995% purity that have been approved by an institution such as Nymex, Comex, LBMA etc.

*All the approved metals must meet such standards, and you should check with your account manager prior to the purchase of any that are intended as an IRA investment.

How do I open a gold IRA account?

Before you jump right in and open a gold IRA account, you can enter some basic details in the form below and receive a free gold investment kit, and make an informed decision, learning more in depth about investing in gold.

A representative of Regal Assets will call and confirm your contact details, send you your free kit, and be able to answer all questions you have, and of course get you started if you have done your research and already decided you are ready to open a gold IRA.

If you are decided, and want to open one, the process is quite simple. At the same time you will want to ensure your selected account qualifies for the investments you are interested in, particularly if it is physical precious metals.

These are details a representative from Regal Assets will be happy to go over with you. There is a form in the gold investment kit, and once that is filled out, they will be able to answer your questions about qualified accounts, where to place physical precious metals, and any stipulations you need to look into with your current plan, how to stay within the sought after tax status, and if you’re considering a rollover or transfer.

Before you even fill out the form a representative from Regal will be more than happy to answer any concerns or questions you have, and to assure this is as smooth and convenient a process as is possible, when they call to confirm your details.

Take your time with this, research your prospective custodian(s) and their track record, and then enjoy the added diversification of your portfolio, and the feeling of security of the added assets of precious metals in your retirement plan.

What can I do with my currently existing retirement plan?

Depending on the type of plan you have, 401k, IRA etc. you are eligible for either a rollover or a transfer into your new physical gold backed IRA account, which is a painless transaction either way, while following a few basic guidelines, depending which option is available to you.

A self-directed IRA has been a common account which many opt for who are looking to shield their portfolio from the fluctuations in the economy and today’s markets, with a hands on aspect in which they direct where their investments are placed.

What does a gold IRA transfer consist of?

In order to execute a gold IRA transfer, you simply need an existing IRA account and you in essence transfer the funds from your existing IRA to the gold IRA.

The transaction takes place between IRA custodians directly, by the distribution check. There is no cap on the amount of transfers you can request.

This transaction between custodians into your new account remains tax exempt, and must transpire directly from one custodian to the other for this.

What does a gold IRA rollover consist of?

In order for a gold IRA rollover, you take the distribution from your retirement account directly, rather than the IRA custodian as in a transfer. You then deposit this into the gold IRA.

You have 60 days to do this to avoid tax penalties. This can be carried out once annually to retain the tax exemption status of this retirement account.

You need to qualify for distribution for this, from an account such as a 401k. This is generally upon retiring from your occupation or changing employers.

What about a gold Roth IRA?

You have the option for a gold Roth IRA as well. Here are some great tips about a Roth IRA for you to take into consideration. This is Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents, and I think you will find this pretty contagious (at least I did). There are valid reasons for different types of IRAs and he presents some great points about a Roth IRA in just under four minutes.

A self directed IRA is an arrangement in which you, the owner of the account, makes the decisions in which assets to invest in.

The assets are required to be held by an accredited custodian.

The trustee whom manages the account on your behalf will take care of the paperwork, communicate the regulations and laws you need to be aware of, and rules to abide by to retain tax deferment status.

What types of investments are allowed in a self directed IRA?

The precious metals gold, silver, palladium and platinum are some of the investment options that are allowed in a self directed IRA. You may also invest in certain assets such as mutual funds, stocks and bonds etc.

There are additionally some restrictions, such as specific collectibles and life insurance as two examples.

You will need to speak with your selected IRA trustee for specifics with that account as far as permissible investments.

Other simple gold IRA investing options

There are other ways of investing in gold through an IRA other than physical gold as quickly mentioned above that are also worth your consideration, for diversification, and to ride on the tails of the performance of gold.

Some of these may be done without the need of opening a gold IRA account in order to hold physical gold, if you’re not ready for that quite yet. There are gold stocks, ETFs and mutual funds as three basic options that may be available to you. Each have different ways that they perform, such as by the price of gold, or perhaps gold mining companies.

You’ll need to speak with the trustee of your IRA account to see which options are allowed. If you have these sorts of investments available, then it may well be a very simple process to put into motion, even perhaps with a few clicks of the mouse.

Many experienced investors are proponents of nice diversification, and this is one more way of doing that, whether or not you also invest in physical gold or other precious metals.

You may also want to look into an account that can do all of these investments, and one that you have control over, such as a self directed IRA. You will want to ask your trustee about this as well if this is of interest, as it can save some paperwork for you.

These are a few options for your consideration as well for investing in gold in an IRA, and hopefully some insights to make the process as painless as possible.

Why invest in gold?

As aforementioned, gold is well known for serving as a viable hedge against inflation, and the trends of market volatility, some terms you may be familiar with by now, as you are researching specific options to diversify your investments.

At this point in time, if you observe any facets of the market, there are of course fluctuations in the value of gold, and yet when looking at the historical trends, it is evident how gold has continued to be an asset that continues with upwards trends, in spite of the rest of the surrounding market sectors and various unpredictable happenings in global economies.

What is being said about investing in gold?

Gold IRA company review

You’ll have the option to work directly with Regal for your retirement account, as they have a specialized department set aside for this, along with an inventory of precious metals, allowing for a very speedy account set up.

Here is an example of a Regal Assets precious metal account and it’s performance over the past decade.

The way to get in touch with Regal Assets is simply place a few details into one of the forms on this page, and they will call to confirm, and you’ll receive a complimentary gold investing kit, and you can get a feel for Regal and determine if they are who you’d like to help you get started with a gold IRA.

The gold investing kit is really excellent and informative. It is well worth the effort alone, and it may teach you some aspects you weren’t aware of if this is an area you are still getting educated on.

The representative from Regal can recommend a gold IRA custodian for you, or you may select one yourself to watch over your investments, and Regal will be able to take care of all of that for you.

What about the gold IRA rules?

If you want to get a feel for the rules for adding gold in an IRA, you can look through publication 590 on the IRS site. That could be a tasking process as there are a lot of different aspects and you may want to consider your appointed trustee, who will be familiar with the IRS rules. They are very important and there are a couple to be aware of. This is one aspect where working with Regal Assets will stand out, for their retirement department is set up to handle details such as this for their clients.

I am not a professional investment advisor, the content on this site is merely my opinion. It is always suggested to do your due diligence when making financial investments.

A Little About Investing In Gold

There is a reason for this, and it isn’t a coincidence. There are those who understand the perpetually sustained value of gold, and the rock solid stance that investing in gold puts them in, particularly during a time of economic downturn or uncertainty.

You may wish we still had gas prices like they were a decade ago, or the cost of groceries etc. Paper or Fiat money succumbs to those fluctuations with inflation and all the global market trends and speculations. Inflation, which appears to be an escalation in prices is in essence the buying power of the currency in reference on a downward trend, or becoming devalued.

Gold on the other hand remains in the same respective value over all so far as buying power is concerned, pretty much throughout the millenia, meaning it essentially rises in value accordingly to inflation as this is one asset that has historically shown to perform that way.

For instance, were you to have an ounce of gold in the early 1900′s, you would be able to afford a nice suit at that time with it’s value, and the same holds true today. Now you can just imagine the difference in dollars with the cost of a nice suit in 1902 and 2012, where the same portion of gold in weight carries the same buying power in both instances.

You may ponder how to make such a comparison, and the answer is easy. One ounce of gold will bring you the same amount of goods in each instance, and close to the same in the time in between. Now take dollars. Of course the dollar amount will be vastly different in each instance, yet the value of the dollar is another element that comes into play, which is what gives rise to inflation, and thus the buying power of $20 dollars 100 years ago has a nearly equivalent buying power as $1600 today, both which are the price of gold 100 years ago and today respectively.

The fascinating aspect of gold is how, even with a particular currency struggling, during that time, the value of gold actually rises.

This is what wise investors are aware of, and why many always invest in gold and precious metals, and especially focus towards physical precious metals and tend to turn paper investments into more of a secondary investment to commodities during times of erratic trends within the markets and global economies.

Investors aren’t the only forward thinkers in this aspect either. If you watched some of the decisions various nations made as a whole, such as India and China in particular, you’d see that they stocked up on gold tremendously in recent years. China even loosened national policies for ordinary civilians to procure their own precious metals.

Gold isn’t the only precious metal you want to consider either. Silver for instance has seen some pretty spectacular growth in recent times, and is more accessible for individuals whom gold is a bit out of reach for. Some would even speculate whether silver isn’t the next gold.

One increasing popular way to invest in gold, silver and other precious metals such as palladium and platinum is through an IRA account. Through a self-directed IRA, you take control of the account and decide exactly where the funds are placed.

You have the option of investing in certain types of coins and bars that are qualified through IRS rules. There are many other investment options in this form of retirement account as well.

I highly recommend you research this, and suggest not waiting too long. You may not necessarily want to panic and move everything to gold overnight, as diversification is always a good idea.

Though if you are looking for that edge in how to shield your portfolio from risk, I would advise you look into investing in gold and other precious metals in addition to other investments. You have the option of buying your own gold and other precious metals and storing them yourself, and that’s another consideration.

If you’re slightly new to this market, look over some historical price trends and make your own assessment. There are times of volatility, yet there are also consistencies that can be detected, and when it comes to buying power there is a less liner way of determining this, as other value factors come into account.

Here is a bit of an in depth look into this, where if you want to understand more of the buying power of gold, this illustrates it nicely.

This is a very extensive video about the economic climate, some historical analysis and speculation about some choices you can make looking into your future, and some considerations why investing in gold may be a very smart move for anyone to make in the near future.