Yes, you can invest in real gold or other precious metals for your IRA. If you decide to invest in a precious metals IRA, you should do so conservatively. Depending on your financial situation, most experts recommend investing no more than 5 to 10% of your retirement savings in precious metals. For many, that means opening a Roth IRA, a type of account that allows tax-free withdrawals once you reach retirement age.
You could even consider a Roth Gold IRA, which allows you to invest your money in precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. These investments can be a smart way to protect yourself from inflation, expand your retirement account, and diversify your overall portfolio. Self-managed IRA custodian banks allow investors to invest in alternative assets such as precious metals and real estate. The IRA custodian bank processes the payments and the dealer sends your precious metals to the custodian.
Precious metal IRAs are generally only useful if you have a strong portfolio and want to diversify your investments by setting aside a small amount for physical gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. Precious metals IRAs could be a viable option for some investors who are concerned about inflation and market volatility. For a gold IRA, you need a broker to buy the gold and a custodian to create and manage the account. With self-directed IRAs, you can invest in a wide variety of unconventional assets, including precious metals, real estate, and even cryptocurrencies.
However, there are specially designed precious metal IRAs that allow you to invest in gold, palladium, silver, and other valuable metals for retirement. If you’re considering a Roth Gold IRA as part of your retirement plan, you should look around for your IRA company. In addition to brokerage fees and account setup fees, the investor must pay additional costs to store and insure the precious metal. If you want easier exposure to these investments without having to open a specific type of IRA or find custodians, dealers, and depositories, consider investing in securities such as exchange traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that track precious metal indices or prices.
While gold, silver and palladium are subject to their own forms of volatility, many regard them as superior long-term investment options to maintain and increase values. Many investors choose gold to diversify their portfolio, either by investing in a gold IRA or buying the metal outright. Gold IRAs have higher maintenance fees than other types of IRAs because of the additional costs associated with investing in gold. According to Brett Gottlieb, financial advisor and founder of Comprehensive Advisor in Carlsbad, California, you should first consider whether you want to make a physical investment in your portfolio and not in stocks or investment funds from gold companies or an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that tracks a gold index.
Gold can certainly have a place in a well-diversified portfolio, but it’s important to weigh the risks of buying gold compared to other assets.
