What can I do with my IRA to buy gold and other metals?

The modern gold rush is evident in everything, from Super Bowl commercials to financial advisors exhorting you to invest in gold. Many people have asked our staff over the past six-months if they can buy gold and other precious metals with their retirement funds. Yes, if your retirement plan is self-directed such as Entrust New Direction IRA’s, you can invest in precious materials. This article will help answer the following question: What type of gold are you looking for? You can buying gold for IRA in this site.

It can be difficult to make sense of the many different metal and coin options available on the market. Below is a step-by–step method to determine if the chosen metal is acceptable for IRA investments. No matter which metal you choose, the IRS will not permit you to own the metal. Your IRA custodian/depository will have the metals.

Let’s start with the basics. You can only invest in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium through your self-directed IRA. The key word here? Invest. Your IRA cannot invest in collectibles – you IRA is only investing the metal and not in rare coins or other attractive coins. The metal must be in a specified form (usually bars or coins), and/or in a certain purity. Your IRA will measure the quality of your metal by its purity or fineness.

Many of us associate gold investment with the 400 ounces of gold bars we’ve seen in movies. They are extra heavy (about 25 lbs), and very expensive, given recent gold price increases. Unfortunately, IRAs are often priced outside of the gold market. However, there are many other options. There are smaller bullion units that can be purchased, but they must meet certain requirements such as purity or fineness. You can also choose coins.

Initially, the IRS considered all coins collectible. It disallowed IRA investments made in coins. After realizing that a 400 ounce of bullion bars would be too costly for most IRAs, Congress updated the rules to allow IRAs ownership of certain coins.