What Precious Metals are IRA Approved?

Are you looking to set up a self-directed IRA for precious metals? The IRS has specific requirements for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bars and coins that are approved for an individual retirement account (IRA). Here is a list of IRA-approved bars that can be purchased for a precious metal IRA. Your IRA can contain gold, silver, platinum and palladium. However, these metals must meet the IRS's purity requirements.

Any precious metals that do not meet these specifications are considered collectible and are not allowed in your SDIRA. The IRA custodian will handle the payments and the dealer will send your precious metals to the warehouse. Instruct the IRA custodian to send money to the dealer to purchase gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. However, precious metal IRAs are more expensive than other investment options, according to Drew Feutz, a certified financial planner (CFP) at Market Street Wealth Management Advisors.

You need to buy the gold or other approved precious metal and transfer it to the deposit so that the depositary can account for it. You cannot currently have rare or collectible coins, Swiss francs, British sovereigns and German marks in a self-directed IRA. Second, while gold and other metals have historically maintained their long-term value, they may lag behind the performance of other asset classes, such as equities, especially when considering the growth of reinvested dividends. And if you accept in-kind distributions, you'll have to sell your metals quickly or have cash available to pay the taxes you owe on precious metals sent to you.

All non-bank IRA trustees must demonstrate to the IRS that they will meet Treasury standards for accounting, auditing, reporting and asset security. Extracting precious metals from the earth's crust is expensive, time-consuming and expensive for the environment. When the stock market gets tough, some investors look for safe investments such as precious metals. We recommend working with dealers who know and understand buying precious metals with retirement funds. However, to qualify for Gold IRAs, depositories must be insured which would protect their investment as long as their account does not exceed the value declared by the depositary in the accounts.

Numismatic coins pay the gold company higher commissions but bullion bars more directly reflect the spot price of the precious metal. Gold from a gold anger must be stored in an IRS-approved deposit box; you cannot store it in a safety deposit box, safe or under your mattress.