If you have a precious metal IRA, your IRA directly owns physical bullion bars or coins, which you select and order directly. A gold certificate is simply a piece of paper that can be redeemed for physical gold. The only exception to these strict rules is the American Gold Eagle, which features an exclusive design and meets higher fineness requirements than most other coins. When you invest in gold coins through an IRA, make sure they are in excellent condition and certified by a reliable numismatic company.
A key selling point for gold IRAs is that you own the physical gold yourself. If that doesn’t matter to you, there are other ways to add exposure to precious metals to your retirement portfolio, such as buying stocks in gold mining companies. Self-directed IRAs, of which gold IRAs are one type, have the same contribution and distribution limits, which depend on your age, as traditional IRAs. Funds can be credited to your IRA through a transfer between IRA custodians, a rollover between retirement accounts, or as a new cash deposit to a new IRA account.
IRA-eligible gold coins, bars, and coins must meet a number of requirements set out in the Internal Revenue Code in order to be stored in a self-governing IRA. Two of the most commonly used types of gold approved by the IRA include American Eagle coins and precious metals and Canadian Maple Leaf coins. Therefore, they must charge a fee to stay in business and provide the required custodial services, including providing IRA account statements. You can receive the precious metals directly in your IRA anytime and for any reason, including to meet your RMD requirements.
For example, adding gold that you already own and storing it in an IRS-approved depot are two examples. You can trade, transfer, swap, or sell the precious metals in your IRA at any time without tax consequences. One important rule to know about storing physical gold in an IRA is that your precious metals MUST be stored at an approved depository institution such as the Delaware Depository Service Company or Brink’s Global Services, not in your home or in a safe. A precious metal IRA is a self-managed IRA that allows you to hold certain types of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) as part of your overall asset mix.
Or, if you have a traditional retirement savings account and want to increase your exposure to gold, read here how you can buy a gold ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of gold. A gold IRA can be a traditional IRA, a ROTH IRA, a SEP IRA, a SIMPLE IRA, or an inherited IRA that manages itself and owns IRA-eligible physical gold coins or gold bars. Eligible gold can be included in your IRA, “provided that, according to the IRS, it is physically owned by a bank or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. There are plenty of rules and regulatory hurdles that you’ll need to overcome if you’re thinking about buying a Gold IRA.
IRA holders have been allowed to use funds in their IRA account to purchase eligible precious metals since 1998, following the passage of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. You can buy gold coins and gold bars, invest in a gold ETF, or invest in stocks of gold mining companies.
