Best Practices in Gold and Precious Metals IRA Investing - Gold Investing

 A lot of people are surprised when they learn that IRA rules allow them to hold real gold bullion, gold coins and other similar forms of precious metals within their retirement accounts. But IRA rules give investors a lot of leeway as to what you can hold. You don't have to restrict yourself to stocks, mutual funds, bonds, certificates of deposit, annuities and other conventional financial products. Actually, as long as you stay out of the few prohibited investments - life insurance, and other collectibles - you can pretty much own anything you like within your IRA or other self-directed retirement account, including gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals in certain forms.

Allowable Investments

There are four precious metals in which your IRA can invest: gold, silver, platinum and palladium. However,

There are, however, some restrictions when investing in these metals.

Minimum Fineness Required:

• Gold.995+
• Silver.999+
• Platinum.9995+
• Palladium.9995+

Allowable coins include US-Minted Eagles and coins meeting minimum fineness (purity) standards, provided that they are not collectable. The primary value of the coin should come from the gold itself, and not thanks to the scarcity of and demand for the minted coin among coin collectors.

Examples of coins you can own:

Gold

• American Eagle coins (proof and non-proof)
• American Gold Buffalo coins (non-proof)
• Austrian Gold Philharmonics coins
• Canadian Maple Leaf coins
• Australian Kangaroo/Nugget coins
• Bars and rounds by a refiner/assayer/manufacturer accredited by NYMEX/COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, ISO 9000, or national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements.

Silver

• American Eagle Coins (proof and non-proof)
• Austrian Philharmonic
• Mexican Libtertads
• Australian Kookaburras
• Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coins

Platinum

• American Eagle Coins (proof and non-proof)
• Australian Koalas
• Isle of Man Noble Coins

Palladium

Bars and rounds by a refiner/assayer/manufacturer accredited by NYMEX/COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, ISO 9000, or national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements.

Disallowed Coins:

There are, however, some coins you cannot own within your IRA, because they are not minted with sufficient purity. Some common examples:

• Austrian Corona and Ducat
• Belgian Franc
• British Sovereign & Britannia
• German Mark
• Columbian Peso
• Dutch Guilder
• French Franc
• Swiss Franc
• Italian Lira
• Mexican Peso and Ounza
• South African Krugerrand

Considerations when starting a Gold IRA:

Expertise

Self-direction is a specialized field within the financial services industry. It's important to work with an administrator experienced in handling these kinds of accounts. Many traditional brokerages and other financial advisory firms have very limited knowledge of the rules and regulations that specifically affect self-directed accounts.

Liquidity

Keep in mind that your depository will charge an ongoing fee for storing and securing your precious metals. Be sure to keep sufficient cash or other liquidity on hand within your IRA so that you can pay attached expenses with ease.

Valuation Procedure

The valuations used for the IRA assets are estimated bid values. Your Self-Directed IRA provider will update the value of the investments regularly. Please note that the asset value reflected on the IRA statement does not include any dealer mark-ups or commissions. Price spreads can be significantly higher for proof coins than for precious metal bullion. You should be free to work with your dealer of choice for your IRA's purchase. Not all dealers operate the same way, so be sure to talk to them about their process. Also, remember that with a self-directed IRA, you are responsible for performing any due diligence needed prior to the purchase.

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