Should a Beginner Investor Do a Gold IRA?

Gold IRA

A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that you get to choose what to invest in. Usually, people choose gold or another precious metal that is allowed in the IRA. This could be silver, platinum, or palladium, or another metal that is approved by the IRS. Metal must meet purity requirements set forth by the IRS to be eligible for a gold IRA. 

There are many ways to invest in an IRA retirement fund for your retirement. Some people ask if gold as a retirement plan is a good thing. This article will share a little bit about that and a little more about the gold IRA in particular. 

Gold IRAs have been used by many people in the past and they have done well with them. This article will let you know more about them, but you will have to do some more research to make sure that you are getting all the rules and regulations. This article is a good starting point for you. 

How to Invest in a Gold IRA

1. Set Up a Gold IRA

The first thing that you will need to do is to find an awesome company that can help you to set up your gold IRA. You want a company that can have great customer service and can do all the things that you need them to do, such as buy and sell gold and other precious metals. You want to make sure that they know what they are doing and can help you to learn.

3. Add Funds

Next, you need to fund your IRA and you can do this a few different ways. The first is to rollover your 401(k) and use that money to fund the account. You can also rollover a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA and do the same thing. Of course, you can always fund it with cash, the old-fashioned way: https://goldiraguide.org/rollover/. Whichever way you choose, you just need to have enough money to fund your precious metals purchases. 

3. Buy Your Metals

You will need to have a custodian to help you to buy your metals. Although you get to choose which metals to buy and in what amount, your custodian will need to be the one that buys them for you. Remember that they must meet the purity regulations set forth by the IRS. Your custodian should already know that and should be able to help you buy what you want and need.

4. Store Your Metals

You must store your metals at an approved storage facility that the IRS has approved. It cannot be stored at your home or your personal safe deposit box at your bank. The IRS wants to make sure that it is safe and that it cannot be easily stolen from another facility. 

Gold Fees and Costs

1. Account Application Fees

A custodian that will handle your gold and precious metals IRA will generally charge a fee to get you started with your account. This can be if you are beginning a new account or rolling over an existing account into your gold IRA. The fees can be varied depending on the custodian, but they are generally around fifty dollars.

2. Transaction Fees

You will also be charged for each transaction that you make in buying your precious metals. This fee can be around forty dollars per transaction. This can vary depending on the custodian that you choose.

3. Annual Account Fees

The custodian needs to make money, so they will charge you annual fees for taking care of your account. They need to do a lot of bookkeeping and administration with your account, so they will charge you a fee for this. The recommended fee for this is anywhere from around fifty dollars per year to a few hundred dollars per year depending on the custodian and the account. Some custodians will offer discounts depending on the size of your account. 

4. Wiring Fees

The custodian will charge you a fee for each transaction that must be done by wire. These wiring fees can be around twenty-five dollars per wire transfer. These wire transfers are usually for buying and selling your precious metals. 

5. Storage Fees

Since your metals must be in an IRS approved depository or storage facility, you will be charged fees for that, as well. This site will help you learn more about storage facilities. The fees will vary depending on the depository and the number of precious metals that you have stored there. The common fee is about .5 percent to one percent per year depending on the amount of gold you have stored. 

6. Cost of Precious Metals

You will also need to buy your precious metals, of course. These prices can differ between days and what metal you will be buying. Right now, the price of gold is about $1,800 per ounce, the price of silver is about $25 per ounce, the price of platinum is about $1,700 per ounce, and the price of palladium is about $1,900 per ounce. These prices fluctuate and may be different by the time you read this article. 

Bottom Line

You will need to know a lot about precious metals and how to invest in a gold IRA before you begin. You should do your research to see just how much it all entails. There are many regulations that you must know. There are also many fees that are associated with gold IRAs that should help you in determining if you want to open a gold IRA.

If, after reading this article, you still want to open a gold IRA, you need to find a reliable accountant that can help you to get started. If you are new to all this, you need to find an accountant that can help you by explaining everything in great detail. You do not want an accountant that does not want to help you. If they are refusing to explain things to you to your satisfaction, find another accountant. You want one that you can trust and that is willing to help you.