The IRS has approved 10 depositories to store gold in IRAs. These companies go through an audit process to ensure that the gold they receive is the gold you ordered. They also confirm the authenticity of the gold. Many gold IRA custodians work with specific depositories and have developed procedures that make selling and storing gold easy and secure for their customers
.
A gold certificate is simply a piece of paper that can be redeemed for physical gold. If you have a precious metal IRA, your IRA directly owns physical gold bars or coins, which you select and order directly. The IRS requires that you store your gold in an IRS-approved depot, a company that manages and stores precious metals. This type of storage protects your investment from theft or other types of fraud.
These depots are physically secure and have security personnel on site and are generously insured. Custodian banks that offer a CheckBook IRA structure usually recommend that their customers store the IRA metals in a safe deposit box. Depending on your wishes, the gold that you own through a self-directed IRA and stored at the depository can be stored in the same storage area with precious metals from other asset holders, or it can be stored alone. You can sell the gold or precious metals in your IRA anytime without taxes or penalties, unless you withdraw the money from your IRA
.
Unlike gold ETFs or gold company stocks, a precious metal IRA allows you to hold the physical precious metals in accordance with IRS regulations. If you try to store gold at home that should actually be kept in a standalone IRA, the IRS will likely regard this as an IRA distribution, which is taxable and, if you’re under 59½ years of age, sees an additional 10 percent penalty for early withdrawals. The depot will closely track your gold to make sure it is safe. The gold is insured as long as it’s there. Additionally, the IRS has guidelines on what type of gold can be purchased for an IRA and how it should be stored.
Money Reserve can make the entire process easier for you, from opening your IRA with a verified custodian to arranging a secure and discreet delivery of your gold to an IRS-approved depositary. If that doesn’t matter to you, there are other ways to add exposure to precious metals to your retirement portfolio, such as buying stocks in gold mining companies. According to the Industrial Council for Tangible Assets, in order to be able to claim this benefit on an ongoing basis, the IRA’s assets must be held by a financial institution or an IRS-qualified IRA custodian. Gold purchased for a Gold IRA cannot be stored in a home safe, a safe deposit box, a shoe box in your bedroom closet, or anywhere else except in a custodian, bank, or credit union.
Self-managed IRAs, which include gold IRAs, have the same contribution and distribution limits based on your age as traditional IRAs. If you properly transfer your money from an IRA or retirement account to a gold IRA, there is no tax
impact.
