A precious metals IRA can hold the four metals gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. You are actually buying the metal and storing it in a secure location. Your IRA custodian usually won’t store the money on their premises due to security and insurance issues. You have to be careful with what metals you store in your IRA, though. If you’ve picked up a few coins at a second-hand auction in your local area, the last thing you want to do is put them in your IRA without having them checked first by a professional. Here’s a guide to what precious metals you can store within an IRA, as prescribed under law. American Gold Eagle Coins American Gold Eagle Coins are the only types of gold coins you can store as part of your IRA. These are specially approved for the use in IRAs. Other countries also have similar coins. These will be eligible for use in your IRA, but they’ll need to be certified first. Any coins which aren’t American Gold Eagle coins must be tested to have at least a purity level of 99.5%. The coins must also be legal tender. Granted, you’d never take an American Gold Eagle Coins into your local store, but they’re still technically legal tender under law. Silver Coins The Treasure Department mints one ounce silver coins for use. These can also be used as part of your IRA. Like with gold coins, they must have at least a purity level of 99.5% to be used as part of an IRA. You can use silver coins issued under the laws of any of the states in the US. For example, if you had an older coin which is made of silver you could still use it in your IRA. If it’s considered a collectible, though, take it to your IRA custodian and have it evaluated. This is where the law starts to get quite complicated. Bullion Bullion in the form of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium can be stored in the possession of a trustee physically. It needs to meet the requirements for IRA trustees, though. You can’t just put the bullion in a facility abroad and still have it count as part of your IRA. You have to be careful with the way you store bullion or you might be breaking a minor point here or there. We should note the rule on physical possession only applied to bullion. Coins don’t need to be stored in the presence of an approved trustee. With This in Mind… These rules are very clear. And the regulations relating to purity mean you should only buy precious metals from those you can trust. A lot of self-directed IRA holders have made the mistake of buying gold loosely and not from an approved the company. The purity turns out to be slightly under the limit set down by the IRS and they can’t use it as part of their IRA. This has nothing to do with value. Something with a purity of 99 per cent is still valuable, but it’s just not pure enough for an IRA. For more than 15 years, Nicholas Garcia has been known for his extensive knowledge of the life insurance business. He has represented some of the largest and best life insurance companies in the United States. If you liked this article, and curious to know more about self directed IRA, it's features and it's worth for you, you can visit the website.
Related Articles -
self directed IRA, 401k, self directed 401K, IRA,
|