Top Seven Things To Know About Gold IRAs

No matter what way you look at it, retirement is inevitable. We've all got to prepare for it, but unfortunately, that can feel really daunting. Especially given how little education that most Americans receive about it, well…there's not a whole lot for us to go one when we do decide to start our first retirement-geared savings or investment account.

So, what should we be ready for?  That's what we'll be covering today. Whether you are brand new to this sort of thing or you've already got a solid foundation, you're sure to find some useful information here!

The real key to sorting out whether or not opening a precious metals Individual Retirement Arrangement is for you is to figure out whether or not your personal collection, be that bullion or coins, is eligible. Most of the time it will be, thankfully. Once you know that, you can go ahead and use these seven tips to decide what type of IRA you want to pick!

One: An IRA Helps You Protect Yourself

Have you ever heard the phrase “hedge against inflation?”  Well, that's one of the primary ways that an individual retirement arrangement can help you protect yourself and your financial assets. Here's the thing: paper currency inevitably loses value over time. It's simply how it works, as frustrating as that can be.

What does that mean for investors and people who are prepping for retirement, though?  At first glance, it might not seem like much. However, the fact of the matter is that often, it means that they'll end up having less saved up than they intended, despite their best efforts. That's because their dollar just won't go as far as it did when first deposited.

How can we “get around” that, though? It's a bit complicated, admittedly. If you're not familiar with inflation as a whole, you might want to check out this page: https://usafacts.org/articles/what-is-inflation-and-hoEMYe-ppwQAvD_BwE. From there, something that you'll want to keep in mind is that there are assets outside of paper currency that can actually retain their value despite inflation and other events happening in the world.

One such is precious metals, which is probably why so many investors encourage newcomers to the financial world to consider dipping their toes into this asset class. They're a commodity, which in the investing world means that they're a type of raw material that can be refined later down the line. Of course, most consumers have them as bullion or collectibles, so they've already been refined.

The idea here though is that when you have some of your wealth stored in precious metals, you're a lot less likely to lose money thanks to inflation. That's why they're commonly referred to as a “hedge” against it. So, in that way, an IRA helps protect your net worth.

Two: Diversifying Your Assets is Always a Good Idea

No matter what sort of financial space that you're in, there's a good chance that you've already heard this advice. Still, it's definitely worth repeating. Creating a diverse investment portfolio is undeniably one of the best ways that you can ensure your financial safety. Why is that?

Well, if you've ever heard the phrase “don't put your eggs in one basket,” this is sort of the real world application of that. If you put all of your money into one specific asset and don't diversify at all, if something goes wrong, you could end up losing everything. So, to stay safer rather than sorry, it's a good idea to spread out your investing into a few different fields. One of those could very well be precious metals, and they are used for this purpose quite frequently.

Three: It's Easy to Open a Self-Directed IRA

There's a pretty common misconception that opening an individual retirement arrangement is hard. This seems to go doubly for the self-directed ones. Admittedly, it's certainly fair to think this way if your only exposure to them has been to hear about how you'll have to be in charge of every step along the way for them. In reality, this just isn't the case.

As you can see in this article by CoBiz Bank, there are ways to get assistance for most of the steps along the way. Additionally, there are a ton of different resources online that give tutorials on how to do it. One of the first things that you'll probably want to think about is how much money it takes to open up a self-directed IRA.

This will kind of depend on what custodian that you go with, unfortunately, but that's easily sorted out by just talking to the one that you plan to work with. Basically, the gold broker and custodian that you work with will be helping you to figure out a lot of the particulars. This is a big deal because it means there's not nearly as much pressure on us as investors.

Four: You Can Rollover Your Current IRA into a Gold One

Some of you out there might be wondering what you should do if you've already got an individual retirement arrangement. Naturally, there are a few options there. You're certainly not limited to only having one. However, because there are usually fees associated with holding them, you may want to only have one around at a given time – it'll really depend on your own preferences.

If that is what you'd prefer, you don't have to worry. You can take your current IRA and roll it over into a self-directed gold focused one any time that you want. The only thing that you'll need to do is convert your current assets into ones that fit into these categories. Simple, right?

Five: Precious Metals are Always Valuable

If you're still wondering why gold and other precious metals are so popular in the first place, and why they're such a recommended style of asset, you're in luck. The answer is super easy, and it's all in the fact that they don't lose value even after long period of time. Think about it – has there really been a moment in human history that people haven't wanted these shiny metals?

Of course, the answer to that is “no.”  Since their discovery, they've been something that people want. In this day and age, because they're used to make electronics, this remains the case. This means that they're a fairly safe thing to invest in.

Six: There are Some Tax Rules to Keep in Mind

As with most types of investments, there are a few tax rules that you'll want to take note of. Usually this relates to the fees that you'll pay on the collectibles you've got in your IRA account. Thankfully, this usually isn't going to be too expensive or impactful – instead, it's just something to be aware of so that you're not caught off guard.

You can talk to a financial advisor abut it if you're uncertain, or with your gold broker or custodian. Any of them will be able to help out in terms of what you can expect out of these fees if you're still concerned about it.

Seven: Precious Metals are Considered Low Risk Investments

The final thing to cover today is that when we think about precious metals as an asset, we can think of them as “low risk” ones. This ties in with some of what was mentioned earlier, namely the fact that they are always going to hold value. While they aren't necessarily “high reward” because they don't gain a whole lot of worth, that's hardly a bad thing.

Not all investments need to be super high risk or give you the most money in return ever. Having some stable ones that are sitting there, ready to give you a return on value when you are ready to cash them out, can be really handy. With all of the stuff going on with social media platforms and the news, it's easy to get swept up in the need for super risky or huge investments. This just isn't necessary.

So, don't hesitate to go for some of the less-risky options when you can. Precious metals are a prime candidate for that, especially gold. Sure, they won't net you a ton of profit, but you're not going to lose money on them, either. Because they aren't impacted by inflation, that's pretty much a guarantee in most cases.