Looking for a trustworthy way to secure your future as far as retirement funds are concerned has never been as important as it is now given how uncertain the current economic climate is. Gold IRAs have always been an excellent option in this regard and that hasn’t changed even now.
Diversifying your portfolio is a great way of ensuring that you will never be caught off-caught irrespective of how volatile the market becomes in the future. This then leads us to one of the most common queries people usually have which is – “How to start an IRA?”. It might seem like a complicated task at first but with the right know-how, you can take advantage of all the benefits of gold and other precious metals without having to put in a lot of effort.
Physical gold and other precious metals can be added to an IRA since the Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 came into effect. The metals that you can add are limited to gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Another requirement is that they should be in the form of bullion coins or bars of a specified fineness. Also, keep in mind that rare coins and collectibles cannot be added to an IRA.
This brings us to the actual process of starting a gold IRA. You cannot just go and buy gold coins and bars and keep them in your house. You will need a precious metals broker. In case you decide to do so anyway, take a look at our post about gold IRA home storage.
Once you have chosen your broker, they will let you know if your existing IRA can be used to buy gold and other precious metals or if you will need to roll over your existing 401k into a gold IRA. Once that is then, they will help you choose a custodian. This custodian will be the intermediary who will buy and store gold and other precious metals on your behest.
There are plenty of firms and organizations that offer their services as gold IRA custodians and you can choose the one that is best suited for your needs. At this point, some paperwork is involved which again won’t take a lot of time or effort to complete.
Once all these formalities are done, it will take between 3-5 days to completely set up your gold and other precious metals IRA. Following this, with the help of your custodian, you can choose the specific coins and bars that you want as a part of your IRA. Again, not all coins or bars are permissible when it comes to gold IRAs and this is something your custodian should be able to help you with. It is because of all this that it is very important to choose the right custodian.
Look for firms or organizations with good reviews and a strong history of good customer service. A good firm will take care of all the formalities involved and will guide you through every step of the way to make the entire process as hassle-free as possible while making you aware of every minute detail there is to know about your gold IRA.