A Self-Directed IRA is an individual retirement account that allows you to hold some forms of platinum, silver, gold, and palladium. The difference in a self-directed IRA from other retirement accounts is that it allows you to add these metals yourself and is a self-directed account, meaning that you have complete control over your investment decisions. While you do indeed make these decisions, it is the IRA custodian that will facilitate the management of your account.
You get to enjoy a truly diverse portfolio with precious metals. During periods of inflation and declining value of the dollar, your purchasing power is preserved and your savings are protected from loss. And in the case of a crash, you are protecting yourself by placing a portion of your wealth into precious metals. The value of silver and gold has tended to perform well when the markets go down and ever better, a precious metals IRA allows you to buy and store real gold with pre-tax dollars.
An IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), 403(b), TSP, and SEP can all be transitioned into a Self-Directed IRA. For some of these, there are certain eligibility requirements – and we always recommend speaking with a financial professional to get clarification on these requirements.
When you call us at Franklin Gold, we’ll give you a list of many Self-Directed IRA custodians that can help with the transitional process.
It usually takes just one business day to open a self-directed IRA. The time it takes to transfer funds into your new account will depend entirely on your current retirement plan custodian. It can take anywhere from two weeks to a month for your current custodian to complete the transfer of your funds.
Traditional IRA’s are not made to hold physical metals. You will need to open an account with a qualified custodian to place precious metals in a retirement account. We always recommend speaking with a tax-professional to fully understand all the reasons why this is the case.
Franklin Gold generally works with companies who maintain A ratings with the Better Business Bureau.
There are several storage options available to you. The Delaware Depository is the largest precious metals depository outside of NYC and there, your metals are insured up to $1 Billion by Lloyd’s of London. Another option is Brink’s, the largest non-bank and non-government holder of precious metals in the world at select US locations.
The IRS requires certain standards of purity to be met in order to be qualified for a Precious Metals IRA. There are certain levels of fineness that gold must meet, as well as silver, platinum, and palladium – the fineness of Gold being at least .9995, Silver at .999 and both platinum and palladium at .9995. If you’re uncertain what this terminology reflects, do not hesitate to contact us.
Yes, the custodian we use offer a self storage IRA where you can take physical possession of your metals inside of your IRA. Once you reach age eligibility to take distributions, the depository storing the physical precious metals that you own can ship them directly to you. At the time of eligibility, you may also choose to liquidate your metals for cash. There may be penalties on these distributions depending on the type of IRA you set up. We always recommend speaking with a tax professional regarding the specifics of distributions.