This is
thanks to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which expanded the precious metal holdings allowed in IRAs by one, a half, a quarter, or a tenth of an ounce of US gold coins and one-ounce silver coins minted by the US Treasury, as well as certain foreign coins. Two of the most commonly used types of IRA-approved gold include American Eagle coins and precious metals and Canadian Maple Leaf coins.
First, you’ll need to buy IRA-eligible gold and choose an IRS-approved custodian, which is responsible for ensuring that your gold is compliant. To avoid running afoul of tax rules for proprietary transactions, self-governing IRAs, including gold IRAs, must have an IRS-approved custodian bank. While investments in collectibles using IRAs and qualified plans are not permitted, there is a spin-off that allows investments in specific coins as well as in precious metals that meet specific fineness requirements. The four precious metals that may be held in an individual retirement account are gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, as long as they are IRS-approved coin or ingot products.
Many Gold IRA companies have preferred custodian banks that they either recommend or require their customers to use, or you can search for a custodian on the RITA website. Gold IRA companies can help you with this process, from choosing a custodian bank to arranging the storage of your precious metals. One reason is that IRAs are not allowed to own collectibles and precious metals such as gold and silver are considered collectibles. Most IRA companies may buy back gold, but be aware that the price at which they buy gold is lower than the price at which they sell gold.
One gold investment to consider is a gold IRA, which works like a standard IRA but allows you to keep gold in your retirement account. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires gold to meet certain purity standards and other standards if you want to include it in your individual retirement account (IRA). 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. Unfortunately, most Gold IRA companies don’t have a good record of fee transparency on their websites, so finding out the details may require a phone call or two.
In fact, there are only certain gold, silver, platinum, and palladium products that are eligible for inclusion in an IRA account. Even with a long time horizon, gold investors have no guarantee of making money from their investment, particularly if you’re planning to rely on a gold IRA company’s repurchase program to sell your gold if you need to accept distributions from that IRA. Unlike gold ETFs or gold company stocks, a precious metal IRA allows you to hold the physical precious metals in accordance with IRS regulations.
