If you’ve been investing in 401k, IRA and other retirement accounts for years, you’ve probably noticed that the amount of your retirement savings has fluctuated, sometimes significantly. This is due to a variety of factors. For example, a single political event can cause a significant market correction.
When you invest in precious metals, you are less likely to see such wide swings in your portfolio’s value. Instead of tracking the price of gold or silver, the value of your precious metals is based on its weight and purity, making it more stable over time. In fact, gold tends to increase in value when markets are volatile.
Are you looking for ways to add precious metals to your retirement portfolio? If so, this article will assist you to learn how to rollover my 401k into a precious metals IRA.
What is a Precious Metals IRA?
Gold and silver Individual Retirement Accounts, commonly called precious metals IRAs or gold IRAs, are accounts where physical gold or other precious metals are held in custody for the benefit of the account owner.
Self-directed IRAs, i.e. IRAs with the ability to choose from a wide range of investments, are typically used for precious metals IRAs.
Why Precious Metals IRA?
Investing in precious metals is essentially the same as investing in stocks and bonds, except that instead of buying shares of a company, you are buying gold or silver. Therefore, the process for transferring your 401k over to an IRA is essentially the same as it would be if you were investing in stocks and bonds instead of gold and silver.
Many people prefer investing in precious metals for several reasons including:
1) Precious metals tend to retain their value during times of economic turbulence, whereas stock prices can crash overnight.
2) Gold tends to increase in value over time, whereas the purchasing power of the dollar decreases due to inflation. This means that gold will become more valuable relative to the dollar over time.
3)Your Precious Metals IRA will provide not only protection from inflation but also safety from market volatility and economic downturn. With a Precious Metals IRA, you can bypass the stock market and have peace of mind knowing that your retirement is financially secure.
4) A precious metals IRA allows you to invest in physical precious metals while still benefitting from a traditional IRA’s tax-deferral benefits.
5)The IRS does allow a Gold IRA rollover, a transfer or a conversion, but not all Gold IRAs are created equally. The IRS has certain rules and regulations on how you must handle your Gold investments, so it’s crucial to work with an industry leader like American Bullion when looking to open your Gold IRA.
Rollover my 401k into a precious metals IRA
If you are considering rolling a 401k into an IRA, you may want to consider a Precious Metals IRA. The main advantage of a precious metals IRA is that it allows you to store physical gold and silver in an IRA account. While you can have paper assets such as stocks and bonds in an IRA, the IRS does not allow you to keep actual precious metals in one.
The only way around this is by having a self-directed IRA that allows you to hold physical gold and silver.
How to rollover my 401k in to a precious metals IRA
The first step in rolling over your 401k to a Gold IRA, is to take stock of your assets and establish the value of your 401k. You can find the value on your most recent account statement. Next, you need to choose a custodian for your assets. A custodian is essentially a bank that oversees your retirement account and ensures that your funds are protected and secure.
Finally, you need to establish a precious metals dealer for the actual purchase of physical gold or other approved precious metals.
After you take these three initial steps, you will be ready to rollover your existing 401k into a Gold IRA. The process of establishing an account with a custodian can take as little as 24 hours, so you’ll be able to begin moving your assets right away.
The first distribution check from your current 401k plan should arrive within 60 days of making the initial request. Once you receive this check, simply endorse it, deposit it in the new account and wait for it to clear. After that, it’s time to start shopping for gold!
The cost of buying gold or other precious metals depends on several factors — like the price of gold at any given time and how much you’re looking to invest in gold or other metals at one time. Below are the key points to remember
- Open a self-directed IRA with a custodian or trust company.
- You transfer your funds from your existing retirement account directly to the custodian/trustee of your new, self-directed IRA. Your funds will be held in your name with the custodian/trustee, and you can instruct them to use those funds to purchase precious metals from any dealer you choose.
- The custodian/trustee holds the precious metals in an insured depository in your name, and issues storage reports on a regular basis so that you can monitor the value of your precious metals investment and make additional contributions to it if you wish.
Takeaway
Precious metals are quickly becoming the investment of choice for many, thanks to economic uncertainty and the perceived theft of wealth via monetary inflation. The best thing gold investors can do is get the ball rolling by first figuring out how to roll over my 401k into a precious metals IRA.
There are several steps you have to work through here, and there are some rules and regulations that must be followed. For more information about how to roll over your 401k into a precious metals IRA, contact experts in the field like Place of Skulls, an IRA buying agent in the precious metals industry.