Investing in gold and other precious metals is a popular option for those looking to diversify their retirement savings. A gold anger is a type of individual retirement account (IRA) that allows investors to own physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium instead of more common assets, such as cash, stocks, and bonds. The possibility of using gold and other materials as securities in an IRA was created by Congress in 1997.When investing in gold, it's important to understand the taxation rules that apply. Contributions to a gold and silver Roth IRA are after-tax, meaning you'll pay taxes on the money before depositing it into your IRA account.
Additionally, some types of gold coins are classified as collectibles and would violate the rules against holding collectibles in an IRA. It's important to know which coins are allowed and which are not. The annualized after-tax return of gold coins is the lowest, about one percentage point lower than that of the gold mutual fund, which receives the long-term capital gains (LTCG) treatment. Once you turn 72, you will be required to accept the Minimum Required Distributions (RMD) of a traditional Gold IRA (though not a Roth).
This can be a massive fiscal blow for most gold investors. Gold futures contracts are an agreement to buy or sell at a specific price, place and time a standard quantity and quality of gold. Gold exchange-traded bonds (ETNs) are debt securities where the rate of return is tied to an underlying gold index. These are two alternative vehicles to invest in gold to lower tax bills and improve the after-tax returns of their investments.For a gold IRA, you need a broker to buy the gold and a custodian to create and manage the account.
If you really think this is a good idea, at least double-check the IRS rules and custodian's charges before putting gold in your IRA. As such, the transaction is characterized for federal income tax purposes as a taxable distribution of the IRA followed by a purchase of the metal or currency by the owner of the IRA (who would be you).The key to successfully investing in gold is to minimize taxes on your profits. Gold is often taxed differently than other investments, and tax rules vary depending on which of the many different ways of investing in gold you choose. Secondary gold investments, such as gold mining stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, or ETNs can produce lower pre-tax returns but post-tax returns may be more attractive.The idea behind storing gold or silver in a Roth IRA is to create a tax haven against such an egregious government measure.
However, if this is the only IRA or if there is not enough liquidity in the other accounts, you will have to sell some of the gold to get the cash and make the RMD.
