An individual retirement account that holds gold or other approved metals instead of paper assets is known as a gold IRA.
There is no equity in a gold-backed retirement account like other retirement accounts.
Gold IRAs differ greatly from Roth IRAs
or traditional IRAs, except for this crucial difference.
An IRA backed by gold is not held by the investor. It is safely held by a third party.
Gold can be
purchased directly from a gold dealer if you wish to hold it yourself. Risks
remain, however. The short-term price of gold can also fluctuate dramatically
when inflation occurs
How to Open a Gold IRA
A checking or savings account can be opened in as little as a few minutes. It's first and foremost necessary to find a custodian.
Keeping the gold you buy through an IRA is illegal, so you must transfer it to a custodian. If you don't already know one, you can find one by contacting the nearest bank, credit union, or trust company.
It is a good idea to perform some research and find a company with a strong track record of successful gold IRAs. Gold must also be sold to you by a metals dealer or broker.
Usually, the custodian will have a list of brokers it
has worked with. You can use that list as a starting point for your search.
You can open your precious metals account and purchase your metals once you find a custodian and a broker you are comfortable working with.
Once you are retired, you have the
option of either collecting the metal or selling it for cash. Both actions are
taxable as distributions to the IRS.