Should You Invest in Gold Or Silver For Retirement

For most people, retirement investments – and even retirement investment strategies – are shrouded in mystery.  For traditional IRA investors, investment choices are limited to market-based securities like stocks, bonds and mutual funds.  While investing in these securities is certainly a part of any retirement investment strategy, retirement investors need to balance their investment portfolios with other valuable assets.

When the stock and bond markets were performing reliably, many investors gave little or no thought to their retirement investment portfolios.  They achieved balance – or so they thought – by investing in different kinds of market-based securities.  As the last few years have shown, this kind of “balanced” portfolio is an illusion.

Investors – even the most knowledgeable ones – lost large portions of their investment portfolios.  For those who are approaching retirement, or who have already retired, the last few years have been very unkind.  That’s why smart investors are looking for other ways to balance their retirement investment portfolios.

Recently, investor interest in Gold IRAs and Silver IRAs has spiked.   With one of these non-traditional IRA accounts, investors can purchase and hold gold, silver and other precious metals as retirement assets.  A Gold IRA or Silver IRA is also known as a “custodial” IRA and can be a way for savvy investors to provide investment balance and security that market-based traditional retirement assets simply cannot offer.

It has never been easier to open a Gold IRA or a Silver IRA than it is today.  And unlike traditional IRA investments – where you get a statement in the mail showing how many shares of a particular stock or fund you own – you actually hold the physical asset. When you buy a bar of gold, gold coins or gold bullion, the physical gold is transferred from the seller to your custodian and held in trust for you in a secure storage facility.  The physical asset actually anchors the investment. It is removed from the marketplace – like a physical possession would be – and stored until you decide to sell or trade the asset.

Tangible assets are highly attractive because they offer security, stability and peace of mind.  The open market sets the spot price of gold, so your investment has the opportunity to increase in value while you hold it.  Gold is easy to buy and easy to sell.  If you want to move your money out of a physical asset, or trade gold for another physical asset, you can direct your Gold IRA custodian to buy and sell assets for your benefit.

As with a Gold IRA, when you purchase silver or another investment-grade precious metal, the physical asset is transferred to your custodian and held specifically for you. The investments in your Gold IRA or Silver IRA are never commingled with assets from other investors or leveraged for anyone’s benefit other than your own.

This kind of investing is not new. Gold, silver and other precious metals have been traded for years. Some of the world’s currencies are still based on the value of gold, and gold is actually traded as currency.

Tax regulations in the United States are very specific about the kind of assets that can be held in a Gold IRA or Silver IRA.  The origin of the asset, as well as its purity are the primary tests for whether an asset qualifies for inclusion in a gold IRA, silver IRA or precious metals IRA.  Coins issued by the US Mint and a strictly limited number of foreign mints are considered acceptable as retirement investments. As a result, gold IRA investors must work closely with a reputable gold dealer and a recognized IRA custodian to ensure that their investments meet all legal requirements for buying gold as a tax-deferred retirement investment.

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