You cannot own physical gold in a normal IRA, although you can invest in a variety of assets with exposure to gold, such as stocks of gold mining companies or gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Not all investments in gold can be owned by an IRA. The basic rule is that an IRA cannot own a collectible, and precious metals are defined as collectibles, whether the investment is in ingots or coins. Fortunately, there are exceptions to the general rule for gold, silver, platinum and palladium that are kept in certain forms, making the best gold IRA investments possible. Specialty Custodians Standard custodians, such as Fidelity, Schwab, or TD Ameritrade, do not manage physical gold in an IRA.
So, if you want to keep gold in your IRA, you must first set up a self-directed IRA and then look for a custodian who specializes in self-directed gold IRAs. A quick Google search for “self-directed gold IRA” yields a lot of results. I know that American Bullion has been around for years, and so has APMEX. If you want to have physical gold in an IRA, it can't be your usual account.
It has to be a special, separate account, called IRA Gold. The possibility of using gold and other materials as securities in an IRA was created by Congress in 1997, according to Edmund C. IRS regulations allow funding a gold IRA with money drawn from another IRA, 401 (k), 403 (b), 457 (b) or Thrift Savings Plan. If a certification organization (such as the Professional Coin Classification Service) has qualified any of the gold coins that meet the above-mentioned IRA requirements, the IRS will define them as “collectibles” and are therefore not allowed in IRAs.
Gold coins, ingots and cartridges eligible for the IRA must meet a number of requirements set out in the Internal Revenue Code in order to remain in a self-directed IRA. Many gold IRA companies have preferred custodians that they recommend or require customers to use, or you can search for a custodian on the RITA website. Keeping your IRA gold at home can be considered a distribution, meaning you can lose your tax-deferred benefits and be fined if you're under 59 and a half years old. You also probably know that gold is a “collector's item” and that IRAs cannot have collectibles.
If you suddenly needed gold to exchange it for food, you would first have to call your custodian and fill out the necessary documentation to access your own gold. I think the idea behind storing gold or silver in a Roth IRA is to create a tax haven against such an atrocious government measure. The ETF can also buy, store and insure gold at a much lower price than you or an IRA custodian. It's important to make sure you understand all the costs and expenses before buying physical gold to store in an IRA.
As long as there is gold in this world, it's not too late to open your own self-directed IRA on precious metals. In addition, if the IRS determines that the day your IRA gold entered your home was the “distribution” date, you could end up paying additional penalties and back taxes due from the time of distribution. During his tenure as director of the Mint, Moy states that there was little demand for IRAs in gold because they involved a very complicated transaction that only the most persistent investor was willing to carry out. Once you turn 72, you will be required to accept the minimum distributions (RMD) required from a traditional golden IRA (though not a Roth).
