Can Gold Be A Good Investment For Your Retirement?

If you want to ensure your financial health is in top condition for retirement, gold is the ideal investment. Investing in gold bullion is simple and provides a way to store money safely for the longer term.

You can note several well-respected financial advisors propose gold be included in any retirement fund. Reasons include:

Low-risk bullion market is straightforward

The easiest and least speculative way to invest in gold is to directly buy gold bullion. These are easy transactions. You should easily contact your accountant and have them set you up with a self-managed superannuation fund. It is quick and fast.

More and more Americans are concerned about their future wealth and are opting to save now so they can enjoy a more comfortable retirement.

Preserve your current wealth in traditional ‘safe-haven

Your retirement fund is meant to comfortably accumulate money so that you can continue to be happy throughout your leisure time.

The majority of advisors say the investor should have a diverse portfolio with a range of assets including High-Risk investments, Low-Risk investments, Blue Chips, Cash, Gold, Silver, and more.

Gold is not a more solid form of currency, but it has benefits that money doesn't have. When you hold gold, you are choosing an asset that traditionally has held value securely. Gold, which also sees big gains during periods of economic instability, is a strong defense against deflation, stagflation, disinflation, and hyperinflation.

Historical performance

An ounce of gold sold for $271 in 2001. 10 years later, it cost nearly $4,000. Even though gold prices are low now, they still perform well in periods of economic turmoil. The initial money is honored through the years, a safe haven.

Matthew Hart wrote in Vanity Fair about gold. He listed the metal's success amid the crisis caused by the GFC. Gold was eventually able to grow because of the poor news of the economy and the bankruptcy of subprime mortgage providers.

In comparison, while gold can be volatile in the short term, history shows that gold can be relatively stable over the longer term.

Gold is a finite rarity

People want gold. Minerals are becoming more and more scarce in the world. The South African gold mining industry saw production decline significantly over the last decade. In the meantime, the total amount of gold “above ground” is rising only by 1.6% per year.

The resource is a finite commodity, which confirms the idea that its value is guaranteed and it is the ideal investment for your retirement.

Gold helps diversification

Many Americans are worried that their superannuation portfolio too greatly focuses on shares. Following the GFC, as many assets previously thought to be safe were seen not to be, fears about superannuation funds inevitably grew.

Many investment theorists claim gold and other precious metals are unlikely to associate with other properties, such as stocks and bonds. Gold will minimize uncertainty and risk in your superannuation portfolio.

Gold IRAs: A Growing Trend

Gold IRAs cater to investors who want a diverse retirement portfolio. “Gold is normally negatively correlated with other paper assets so it provides an inflation guard against other paper assets,” says Moy.

It makes a “smooth out” risk over the long term, making it a good option for retirement assets like IRAs.

Through his service as director of the Mint, Moy notes that few investors take advantage of gold IRAs because they are difficult to set up.

You must find a trustee or custodian to keep the IRA. So you must buy gold or another precious metal and have it delivered to the depository in such a way the custodian will pay for it.

After the 2008 financial crisis, more people have been drawn to the idea of an investment in gold. Investing in gold has become easier with the advent of many more businesses to take care of all investments. The result: strong gold IRA growth.

There is the effect of global news on the economy. In the last year, investors have continued to put money into gold IRAs because of an inflationary risk and a dramatic rise in geopolitical risk.

Finding a Broker or Custodian

You have to create a self-directed IRA, a form of IRA that the investor manages directly and is allowed to own a wider variety of investment products than other IRAs. This business will store or keep the real bullion.

Custodians are typically financial companies that have been licensed by federal and/or state agencies to offer asset custody services to retail investors and financial advisors. They do not pick IRA dealers for their clients.

This is the individual's responsibility. However, proven custodians are likely to share a list of their dealers. It can impact both ways. Some metal dealers might recommend an IRA custodian. You can search for a custodian on your own.

Choosing which company to buy is a strategic initiative, but major brokerage firms typically don't offer it. When I did my research, a few important criteria were important to me. This include:

1- Transparency:

Know all the expenses ahead to prevent surprises, such as fees after you spend.

2- A proven track record:

Look for an organization with a high customer service rating or the Better Business Bureau or the Business Consumer Alliance. Moy suggests listening to what customers say about the company, particularly the number of complaints filed. I have looked for educational firms and to not pressure the sale.

3- Flexibility:

Each investor has different needs and priorities. Therefore, I suggest picking a company that will listen to you.

4- Qualifications:

You should only work with a company that has all the necessary and required permits, registrations, insurance, and bonds to safeguard your investment. Ask for the verification of these licenses and other documents.

5- Special Costs:

Owning gold in a gold IRA comes with some extra expenses. The charges that the investor is starting to encounter include:

6- The seller’s fee (markup):

Gold is traded at a price, but there are markups depending on the type of gold you want to buy. The markup, which can also vary depending on the seller, is a one-time charge. Likewise, every form of gold poses its own set of requirements once an investor has to sell.

7- Retirement account setup:

This one-time fee will be paid to set up your new IRA account. This also differs by organization, but it may be more than the normal set-up charge, as not all financial services companies deal with gold IRAs.

8- Custodian fees:

Again, while you may have met these annual costs (as well as any related asset or transaction fees) for all IRAs, they could be higher for this form of account, particularly if you have to go to a financial institution other than the one keeping your other accounts.

9- Storage fees:

Gold must be stored by a qualified facility for which storage fees are charged.

10- Cash-out costs:

If you want to cash-out your gold IRA by selling it to a third-party dealer, the dealer will like to pay less than what can be paid on the open market. Therefore, unless rates have risen dramatically since you owned it, you may lose a portion of your capital.

Many IRA companies can promise to buy back gold from you at current wholesale rates, but you might still lose money by closing your account, something that normally doesn't occur with opening and closing regular IRAs.

11- Required Minimum Distribution Concerns

Once you hit the age of 72, you will be obligated to take the minimum necessary distributions (RMDs) from the traditional IRA gold (though not from a Roth one).

Metals, of course, are not especially liquid, so finding cash for these distributions may be a challenge, forcing you to have to exchange some of your gold when it might not be beneficial to do so.

However, this issue can be improved by taking the total sum of your RMDs through other traditional IRAs.

12- Checkbook IRAs

There is one way to stop getting a custodian and the expenses associated with one: you can launch what is known as an IRA checkbook, a self-directed IRA that does not demand custodial management. Setting up a checkbook IRA is difficult since you must be a limited liability company (LLC) and own a business checking account to name two of the criteria.

However, it does encourage investors to buy U.S. Treasury minted coin for their savings account, evading custodian and storage fees. Almost no other coin enjoys this tax code exemption, defined in IRS 408(m).

Be careful with this type of an IRA since it is said to be currently scrutinized by the IRS.

13- Gold Rollovers

If you already own an IRA or 401(k), you have the option of rolling over it into a gold IRA. Rollover is the same as with every other retirement account. You normally complete an account application (either online or on paper), and the account is generally created within 24 to 48 hours.

When a transfer request is issued by all parties, the two custodians may communicate to transfer the funds to the new custodian and finance a new gold IRA.

When the account is ready the representative will check the latest precious-metal choices and may recommend you a portfolio if you don’t have an idea yet.

14- Gold’s Own Risks

All investments bring certain risks and rewards, and gold is no exception. “In many ways, gold IRAs have the same risks as any investment. The price of gold will go up or down and be volatile. No one can forecast the future precisely.

But given the risk, there's an incentive to build some of your retirement funds in the yellow precious metal. “Gold has a past of 5,000 years of being a store of value. 

Stocks can go to zero as we have seen with Lehman Brothers, bonds can default like in Argentina or receive big haircuts like in Greece.

The value of the dollar has gradually declined (at some periods). But the value of gold will never be zero.

If gold prices crash, you might be able to purchase other paper assets. If your portfolio is balanced with gold and paper assets, a loss on the gold side would be offset by gains elsewhere.

The threats exist for traditional IRAs too. And gold IRAs have threats that traditional IRAs do not have.

However, there are also several risks that are unique to investing in physical gold. Any tangible goods are vulnerable to theft. Somebody could break into the depository where your gold is held.

However, in order to qualify for gold IRAs, depositories are needed to be insured, which will cover your deposit as long as your account does not surpass the value specified on the account of the custodian.

There are also unreliable custodians who may steal from their customers' accounts or commit fraud by selling your metals that they do not already have or are intending to purchase.

These risks can be minimized by selecting a custodian that insure the financial transaction.

In Conclusion

Gold IRAs are generally classified as “alternative investments,” which means that they are not listed on a public exchange and require specific value expertise. Although gold has the potential for a high return, it's easy to be blinded by its shine. Gold prices can fall suddenly.

When gold is rising, you also have to determine whether to buy at or near the top end of the market if you invest at that stage. Waiting may make more sense of it.

If you are planning a gold IRA, consult a financial planner to decide how metal will suit your portfolio's overall objectives. In general, it's never a good idea to put all your eggs in an asset basket.

If gold does seem like a solid option for you, don't put more than one-third of your retirement money in the gold IRA.

It is recommended that you should not have more than “10 to 15% of the total personal portfolio invested in gold, whether in the paper form [which is not allowed in IRA gold] or in physical holdings.”