Why Should You Set Up A Gold IRA Roll Over?

Regardless of your conventional investment preferences, you should incorporate tangible assets into your investment portfolio in order to improve profitability and reduce your investment risk. You can increase your tangible investments by purchasing physical gold in a self-directed IRA. By incorporating physical gold assets in your IRA portfolio, you can improve how your portfolio performs by increasing returns as well as reducing its exposure to risk.

What Is A Gold IRA?

Generally speaking, it is a self-directed retirement account that enables investors to store the value of their assets in physical gold. Gold backed IRAs are in essence tax deferred accounts that are less risky than most other forms of investment such as stocks and bonds. Once you convert your IRA into gold, you can control the forms of gold that you include in your investment portfolio. Of course, whether you decide to invest in gold coins or bars, your physical assets should be stored in a safe depository in compliance with IRS regulations.

Why Convert Your IRA To Gold?

There are numerous reasons why converting your IRA to gold is a good investment decision. These include:

• Gold is a precious metal that can make your investment less volatile. Because gold is a tangible asset, it makes your retirement portfolio more secure and profitable.
• Investment trends have shown that gold investments tend to perform well when other investment markets are unreliable. This means that when the prices of investments such as mutual funds and bonds goes down, the price of gold increases. Therefore, by converting your IRA to gold, you can ensure that if other investments markets crash, you can retain the value of your assets since they are stored in gold form.
• When you convert your IRA to gold, you essentially create a win-win investment situation because adding gold to your investment can either improve your returns without raising your risk level or reduce your investment risk without affecting returns.

Setting Up A Gold IRA

You can use the following steps to set it up:

1. Contact your IRA custodian and confirm if it is possible to add gold to your existing IRAs since some IRA plans do not allow for gold conversions. If your custodian indicates that you cannot convert your current IRA to gold, you need to open a new account.
2. The second step, which is probably the most important, is to choose a highly experienced and skilled company to assist you with the entire process. Alternatively, you can set up your account with a company that offers IRA to gold conversion services for different types of IRAs.
3. Complete the necessary paperwork to set up the account and submit it to your chosen custodian. At this stage, you would have to pay the storage fees for the gold coins and/or bars that your account will hold. The custodian will then open your account and ensure that your gold is stored in an IRS-approved depository. Before you set up a gold backed IRA, make sure that you understand all the merits and demerits of different IRAs such as Roth and traditional. This will help you choose the most appropriate account for you based on factors such as level of income and employment situation.
4. Move your assets from your current retirement account. Your IRA custodian can help you to decide which form of gold to purchase for your account. Depending on your level of experience in gold investing, you can either purchase gold bullion individually or enlist the services of a gold dealer.

Transfers and Rollovers

There are two main methods of moving your assets from a current IRA to a gold IRA plan; one is transfers and the second one is rollovers.

You can use a “transfer” to set it up quite easily if you intend to shift your current assets from one account custodian to another. A transfer is a direct method of moving funds held in an IRA from custodian to custodian. In order to transfer your IRA plan to a gold IRA plan, you need to sign a distribution check to transfer funds from the custodian of the current IRA to the trustee or representative of the newly set up plan. One advantage of using transfers to move funds from an IRA is that you can make as many transfers as you wish.

Alternatively, you can use a “rollover” to transfer funds from your old account. A rollover refers to a situation where the owner of an IRA receives a distribution check from the custodian of the old individual retirement account. Once you receive the funds distribution check, you need to redeposit it into the newly set up gold IRA within two months. If you deposit the check after 60 days, you are liable to pay taxes and other penalties imposed on the amount withdrawn from your old account.

What Are The Accepted Coins And Bars?

If you intend to open a gold backed IRA, you must ensure that you purchase gold coins and bars that are acceptable for a retirement account. The following forms of gold bullion are acceptable:

• Eagle gold coins (American)
• Maple leaf gold coins (Canadian)
• PAMP Suisse gold bars
• Buffalo gold coins (American)
• Australian Philharmonic gold coins
• Australian Kangaroo coins

These gold bars and coins come in different sizes and weights and the bars are relatively more costly than gold coins. However, the government offers lower premiums for the approved Mint state IRA-approved gold coins and bars.

Conclusion

Overall, gold IRAs are an effective way of diversifying your assets and maintaining the value of your investment portfolio. In order to reap the benefits of such accounts, it is important to ensure that you consult a certified and experienced gold IRA specialist who will assist you to secure your retirement funds in line with government regulations. Most importantly, you should evaluate carefully various investment variables before converting your IRA into gold. For instance, make sure that you understand how a gold IRA will affect your tax situation and your cash flow.