This spring it might have been an investment fad, now it is serious investments strategy, buying gold in your IRA.  This can be a well positioned move for many retirement accounts that are looking for security and stability in the coming years.  As we hear the term "Second Stimulus" being loosely floated to the public, fears of inflation grasp every economist.  In this scenario the economics lesson is simple, if you print too much money, it becomes devalued and tangible assets, like real estate and gold, will go up in value.

Gold can be held in IRAs and most retirement accounts in many different ways.  Some of the most common ways to hold Gold include:

•1.       Gold Bar or Bullion

•2.       Gold Certificates

•3.       Gold Money

•4.       Gold Mutual Funds

Owning gold bars is easy accomplished through a Self-Directed IRA.  The IRA owner is in complete control of their investments.  Typically the IRA owner directs their administrator to purchase the Gold through a prearrange purchase with the dealer that the client chooses.  The gold is usually held at a large company called a depository.  The depository will guarantee security of the gold.  There are several large depositories throughout the United States.  The depositories will charge a fee to store the gold and the nice part is that most depositories will not commingle your gold.  When you would like to sell your gold the depository will sell the gold and transfer the currency back to your IRA, it is a very smooth transaction.  Entrust is one the leading administrators of Gold IRAs in the country.

The argument is commonly made that holding gold in a mutual funds is the best way.  While it can be easy to purchase gold and silver this way, it is not the cheapest.  When you buy in a fund, the investor is at the mercy of the fund manager and has no control over their fees or expenses inside the fund.  The goal is preservation of principle and keeping costs down, this is not the case with a gold mutual fund. 

While the Gold is used throughout this article, any precious metal can be held in an IRA, the most common include, silver, platinum and palladium.  All have they own risk and specific guidelines and constraints.  While holding actual gold is common and easy, Silver is not typically held outright because of the weight and inconvenience.  The author can vouch for this last statement.

If you would like more information on purchasing Gold in your IRA, please feel free to contact Entrust Freedom at www.entrustgoldira.com or calling 239-839-1031 x212.  Entrust will be happy to send you a complete packet that outlines all the steps in purchasing the gold and other alternative assets including real estate.

Dave Owens, CPA is the Managing Member of Entrust Freedom, LLC.  Entrust is the largest IRA Administrator in the United States.  Please feel free to contact Dave with questions at 239-333-1031 or owens@entrustfreedom.com