Tax Payer Relief Act 1997 made it possible for individuals to add precious metals to their Individual Retirement Accounts. This includes silver and platinum. To diversify their investment funds, some account owners place gold in IRAs. In general, gold prices rise as stock prices drop. This can increase your portfolio’s value during a weak stock exchange. Visit top rated gold IRA before reading this.

Steps to take:

1. If you don’t have the right account, ask your IRA trustee if they can help you add gold. Some plans won’t allow you to do this. You will need to create a new IRA in silver-gold.

2. Look for a custodian with extensive experience with administration of gold-silver IRA plans. You can add silver and gold to all types of IRAs. This includes Roth, traditional, simplified incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLE), and simplified employee pension plans (SEP).

3. To open a Silver-Gold IRA account, you must send your signed paperwork to the new IRA custodian. You will be charged a storage fee for any coins of silver or gold you keep in your account. The current IRS rules require that your gold be kept in a designated depository. It must be located somewhere other than the location of your IRA Custodian.

4. You can transfer funds from your bank to your IRA account in order to fund your initial gold account. The custodian can help you roll over funds from a 401k or company retirement account. This is very simple and can be completed in less than a day.

5. You might want to know if gold mining stocks are for you or silver and gold coins. Your custodian will then be able to purchase these items from your account.

Present Tax Rules RE: Precious metals in IRA accounts

1. The IRS prohibits investments in collectibles. A distribution is when you purchase collectible coins with funds from your IRA. It is the same amount as the money used to purchase them. The IRS will then add the distribution to your gross earnings on your tax return and penalize you 10 percent if your age is under 59 1/2.

2. Minted coins are an exception
U.S. minted coin are the only precious metals allowed with IRA investments. To be eligible, coins must contain at least one-quarter of a gram of either platinum, silver or gold. To be considered gold coins, the amount of gold must not exceed one-quarter, one-10th, one/half, or a full one-ounce combination. Acceptable silver coins minted as one-ounce bullion coins are: Any coins not listed as qualified minted investment by IRA regulations should be purchased with funds other than your IRA and kept outside of your IRA account in order to avoid a penalty.

Your IRA Custodian
3. The IRS will report all investments, contributions and distributions to any IRA account to any custodian. The IRS doesn’t regulate what investments investors can make. The account custodian will decide what investments the account can allow. It is vital to remember that coins designated precious metal must only be purchased through a precious metal IRA. This is also known as a “gold IRA”. Anyone should be able and willing to help their account custodian to make the proper investments to avoid being penalized. It is a bad idea to purchase precious metal coins from an IRA account that’s not authorized. This could lead to a distribution which can be taxable and may result in your IRA losing protection. Make sure you read through the IRA rules before making any mistakes. Many investment advisors encourage the use of an IRA account that allows a person accumulate profits tax-free over the course of time.