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Wanting to hold physical gold bullion in an IRA? For some investors, gold is an appealing asset for retirement investing as part of a diversified portfolio. Gold can be purchased in IRAs, but it needs to be done correctly to comply with IRS rules. The IRS allows for certain gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion to be purchased in IRA’s so long as an approved non-bank trustee (custodian) maintains physical possession. The IRS does not allow you to personally store precious metals owned via a gold IRA at your home.
You can open a new Gold IRA, then make a deposit or transfer $ from another IRA account. You can also rollover monies from a 401k account. Don’t worry, you can’t have too many IRAs.
Signup for a Gold IRA
To buy gold in an IRA, you’ll first need to have a custodian that offers this in what’s commonly called a ‘Gold IRA‘. The gold, (or silver, platinum, and palladium) in your Gold IRA is stored on your behalf in an approved national depository. When you’re ready to withdraw from your IRA, you can take possession of your physical gold. Once you are 59½ years old, you can liquidate the precious metals in your self-directed IRA without penalty for cash or take possession of your physical precious metals. The latter option is known as a “distribution in kind.” You can also sell anytime should you want. See our list of Top 5 Gold IRA’s here.
You can’t add gold you already own to an IRA
Have gold bars and coins laying around? Sorry, the IRS does not allow for gold to be deposited to a Gold IRA. You will need to deposit funds with the Gold IRA custodian and make a purchase with them. Enjoy having those gold bars at home. It was illegal in the US to own gold bullion from 1934 – 1977.
What types of Gold can you buy in a Gold IRA?
The IRS has very specific rules on the type of gold that can be purchased in your Gold IRA. You can only purchase gold bars that are at least 99.5% in purity. You can also buy a number of gold coins, including the American Gold Eagle, the American Buffalo, the Canadian Maple Leaf and the Australian Gold Nugget/Kangaroo coins, for your gold IRA. The IRS does not allow popular gold coins like the South African Krugerrand or the United Kingdom Sovereign coins to be held in a gold IRA. Your custodian will have a list of approved gold.
Below are our favorite Gold IRA’s
#1 Gold IRA – Birch Gold Group
- 10,000 minimum investment
- Up to $10,000 in free precious metals on qualified purchases!
- First year fees waived on IRAs over $50,000
- $50 one-time setup fee. Annual Fee of $100 for storage and $100 management fee.
- Endorsed by Ben Shapiro and Ron Paul.
Birch Gold Group is an excellent choice for anyone investing in gold or silver. The company offers a wide range of products, and they have excellent customer support. The fees are very reasonable, and the company has an excellent reputation. Ben Shapiro and Ron Paul both highly recommend Birch Gold Group. We give Birch Gold Group our top rating and recommend them to anyone looking to invest in precious metals.
#2 Gold IRA – Augusta Precious Metals
- $50,000 minimum investment
- $50 one-time setup fee. Annual Fee of $100 for storage and $100 custodian.
- Total IRA fees $250 first year and $200 per year thereafter.
- Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana, endorses Augusta Precious Metals.
- Money Magazine’s Best Overall Gold Dealer 2022
Augusta Precious Metals is another excellent choice for investing in gold or silver. They have a stellar reputation for transparency, simplicity, and service. Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana is a proud supporter. They offer reasonable prices and have an excellent selection of investments. They maintain a 5 star rating on TrustLike and a 4.9 rating on Google.
I already have an IRA, can I have another?
You may transfer money from another IRA to your Gold IRA to purchase your Gold. Be aware of proper diversification when you do this. Don’t put too much money in one single investment.
Yes. There is no limit to the number of IRA’s that you can establish. But you’ll still be subject to your annual maximum contribution limits, so you cannot simply max out each account that you have. You will need to keep your total IRA contributions at the IRA limit per year.
Don’t want to buy physical Gold, buy an ETF
If you are just looking to have an investment interest in gold then there are are other alternatives, such as as investing in gold mining companies or purchasing an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Just open a brokerage account and purchase from a large number of low-fee ETFs which track the price of Gold. You won’t have bars of gold delivered when you retire but you will have the equivalent in Cash.
