If you desire to have a stress-free and comfortable retirement, then it’s a good idea to have a good strategy in place. This can include taking advantage of your employer-sponsored investment vehicles, such as a 401(k), 403(b), or even opening your IRA. Remember that you have two options with IRAs. You can decide to have an account to invest in bonds, stocks, EFTs, and many more or you can decide to have a self-directed IRA.
With a self-directed IRA which is also known as a precious metals IRA or gold IRA, you can buy IRS-approved metals as well as tangible assets, such as collectibles, art, and real estate. Many investors like these accounts so that they can protect themselves against inflation and diversify their portfolios. This article will discuss how you can start investing in gold IRAs.
Choose the right gold IRA company
The first step before you can open an IRA is to choose a gold IRA company like American Hartford Gold. This company will assist you to open your account, transfer the funds, buy the metals, and make sure they ship your gold and silver to the right depository for storage. Sometimes, the company may work as a custodian of your account, meaning they can handle the IRA compliance and paperwork for your IRA.
It’s worth noting that gold is usually a popular investment, and there are several gold IRA companies on the market you can choose from. Each of these companies have their unique fees, customer care quality, and services. If you decide to have a gold IRA, then make sure that you choose the company that offers the best service.
Once you select the company, you have to fill out some paperwork to help you open the IRA and fund the account. In most cases, you may have to provide your ID like driver’s license and details of the current retirement accounts, especially if you want to transfer some cash from a 401(k) or any other IRA.
Fund your account
After opening your IRA, you need to fund it so that you can begin to purchase and invest in metals. You can use check, cash, or even wire transfer to fund your IRA, which is the same way you would usually do with an investment or savings account. But there can sometimes be a fee if you decide to use a wire transfer.
You can also opt for rollover which you can use if you want to distribute from your current retirement account and then roll it over into your gold IRA. If you choose this option, you need to contact the administrator for your current account for instructions, and they may start the process. Alternatively, you can choose a cash distribution from the current account and deposit it into the gold IRA. You can do this yourself, but ensure that you do it within at least 60 days. If you fail to do this within this period, you can face a 10 percent penalty unless you are more than 59.5 years old.