Can You Hold Precious Metals in a Roth IRA?
Gold, silver and palladium are not traditional assets in retirement accounts; however, Self-Directed IRA investors can invest in precious metals through opening a separate IRA account that allows physical possession and safe storage of these precious metals.
Precious metals offer an effective way to diversify and hedge against inflation. But before opening a gold IRA, it’s essential that you understand its rules.
Gold
Gold’s physicality and attractive properties make it an appealing investment option for retirement-focused investors. Gold serves as a hedge against inflation and political unrest, and has historically appreciated even when stock markets collapsed. Before embarking on a buying spree for your IRA gold holdings, keep in mind that only certain forms of bullion or coins are permitted for holding in an IRA – other forms, like jewelry pieces may need special storage requirements or additional approval from the IRS.
To open a physical precious metals IRA, it’s necessary to work with a self-directed IRA custodian that offers alternative investments (gold, silver, platinum and palladium). Our free Gold IRA kit provides everything you need to know about opening one; including custodian requirements, rollover details and potential pitfalls of opening such an IRA. You can also learn more about traditional and Roth IRAs by consulting our retirement account guide.
Silver
Silver is an increasingly popular investment option among many investors; however, due to being considered collectibles rather than investments by the IRS.
Physical gold investments can only be done legally through a self-directed IRA (SDIRA). This account type allows investors to buy various assets that comply with IRS standards – including gold coins and bars – in compliance.
Gold can provide an effective diversifier in any retirement portfolio and serve as an important hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. Before adding gold investments to your savings plans, however, it’s essential that you understand your investing goals first.
When considering opening a gold IRA, it’s essential that you select an experienced provider with excellent customer service and quality products. Avoid high pressure sales tactics that force you into opening an account immediately or mandating that physical gold allocation be added to your Roth IRA immediately; rather take some time to assess if adding physical gold allocation is an appropriate long-term plan.
Platinum
Platinum is one of the four main precious metals you can hold within a Precious Metals IRA and comes in various coins and bars; your Birch Gold Group Specialist will assist in selecting items best suited to your Precious Metals IRA account.
As with other IRAs, precious metals IRAs provide tax benefits. You can invest pre-tax funds and withdraw them tax-free in retirement; unlike Traditional IRAs though, precious metals IRAs do not impose required minimum distributions (RMDs).
Precious metals offer your portfolio significant diversification benefits by protecting it against inflation. Their long-term stability also provides protection from sudden financial storms that could send other assets tumbling. Plus, their value often moves independently from paper currencies – making them an effective hedge against depreciation. Unfortunately, physical precious metals come with annual fees for storage and other services, while liquidating them may take more time than with some other asset classes.
Palladium
Though often eclipsed by gold and silver investments, palladium also stands as an eligible precious metal to hold in Self-Directed IRAs. Like other precious metals, however, palladium must meet certain purity standards in order to qualify as an IRA holding asset and must also be hallmarked by either NYMEX or COMEX-approved refiner/assayers in order to verify authenticity and fineness.
Palladium can serve as a reliable hedge against economic uncertainty. Like other precious metals, palladium typically increases in value during times of market instability or global economic stress.
Finding an IRS-approved custodian who specializes in Precious Metals IRAs is the first step toward opening one. Be sure to do your research on them, taking note of their fee structure, customer service quality and security measures as well as annual contribution limits and required minimum distributions (RMDs) requirements – generally Traditional contributions use pretax dollars while Roth accounts offer tax-deferred growth with no RMD requirements.
Categorised in: Blog