How to Move an IRA to Gold
It is a little-known fact that you can put physical gold into your IRA. Gold once acted as the backbone of our country's monetary system, and paper currency used to be backed by tangible bullion. Possession of pure gold has many benefits over cash, the most attractive being that the price of gold cannot be manipulated by any company or government around the world. Gold has been used throughout history as a means of preserving wealth. Adding gold to your IRA is a relatively simple process.
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Instructions
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Contact a gold IRA custodian. If your existing IRA provider is not able to hold gold in your retirement account, you must open an account with a provider who can. You are not obligated to keep or maintain an IRA account with any particular custodian, nor are you prohibited from having more than one IRA.
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Request new account opening paperwork. If your current IRA custodian does not work with tangible assets, obtain the documents necessary to open a gold IRA account elsewhere. Most providers will mail you a kit containing all the documents and information necessary to begin an account. Some custodians have also made new account documents available for download from their websites.
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Complete the forms to open a new gold IRA account. Fill in all relevant fields and provide all requested information. Read all important disclosures or disclaimers that appear on your documents and in the marketing material you received.
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Fund the account. Include a check for your initial IRA contribution when you return the new account application, or complete and submit the account transfer forms if you want to move money from another IRA.
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Choose the type of gold you want. Instruct your new gold IRA custodian to purchase the types of bullion and/or gold coins you would like to own.
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Tips & Warnings
Only gold coins that are at least 99.5 percent pure gold and listed as legal tender are qualified by the IRS to be included in your IRA. Some older gold coins were made with less than 99 percent pure gold and therefore cannot be included in your IRA despite the fact that they are legal tender and were issued by the United States.
Using gold and other precious metals in your IRA is no different than any other investment purchase. There is a certain element of risk with any investment, and there are never any guarantees that buying gold will be a safer or more profitable choice than other options.
