Most people realize that investing in precious metals is best accomplished through a self directed gold IRA. They appreciate the tax benefits and other rewards that an individual retirement account provides.
Other advantages include:
- It’s a safe haven investment that protects your overall portfolio.
- It provides investors with full control over their financial future.
- It’s an excellent way to add diversity to your portfolio.
- It protects against a shrinking US dollar.
- It acts as an insurance policy for your retirement fund.
But knowing something is a good idea is very different than actually knowing how to get started. Today we’d like to help you begin the process of opening a gold IRA. By the time you’re through reading this, you’ll know exactly what to do to get started.
Step #1: Researching Gold Brokers
Many investors would love to dive in before they learn how to set up a self directed gold IRA. While it’s noble that they’re so eager to get started, it’s not necessarily the best approach.
Instead of jumping into bed with the first gold broker to cross your path, you need to perform research first. As an investor, you need to know everything there is about the available gold brokers working in the industry.
Why is this so important?
First of all, you’re putting your faith, trust, and financial future in their hands. Wouldn’t you like to know everything about them first?
What happens if you trust the wrong company and end up losing your retirement nest egg? Don’t leave yourself vulnerable. Instead, take a week (or much less) out of your life to evaluate your options.
Note: You have two options when it comes to researching gold brokers. One is easy and the other is much harder. You can look at our list of the top 10 gold IRA companies and read our full individual reviews. Or you can visit each company’s website, read over their testimonials, read through their negative reviews, and make a determination.
To help you get started, you should research the following companies because they are the best in the industry. They include:
- Regal Assets (Our #1 Trusted Gold IRA Broker)
- Goldsilver
- Birch Gold
- Augusta Precious Metals
- Goldco
- Cornerstone Bullion
- Advantage Gold
- APMEX
- Monex
- California Numismatic Metals
There are other companies to look into as well. But based on our years of experience, we’ve narrowed down this list to the top 10.
In all honesty, you’re better off reading our reviews. We look at each company thoroughly and tell you our likes, dislikes, and reasons why each company made our list.
Step #2: Opening a Precious Metals IRA Account
Our favorite gold IRA broker Regal Assets makes it simple to open a precious metals individual retirement account with their company. Just visit their website and click the green button that says “open account” to get started. Pretty simple, right?
This method works for those looking to initiate a rollover or transfer. You can simply fill out the form on the web and quickly get started.
On the other hand, you may prefer to talk to a specialist before opening your account. In this case it’s best to call Regal Assets to speak with one of their precious metals specialists. You can call them at 1-855-906-5964.
They’ll walk you through the entire step-by-step process. They’ll also answer any questions or concerns you might have regarding funding your account, purchasing precious metals, and much more.
Step #3: Funding Your Account via Rollover, Transfer, or Deposit
As you can see, it’s possible to fund your account in multiple ways. You can initiate an IRA rollover, a transfer, or make a deposit from your personal checking account. You’ll know which funding method is best based on your personal situation.
Do you currently have an existing IRA account? If it doesn’t have the ability to purchase precious metals, you may use a distribution to initiate a rollover.
In the case of a rollover, your existing IRA custodian will send you a distribution check. You will use the proceeds of this distribution check to fund your new self-directed precious metals IRA account.
Remember to keep the 60 day rollover rule in mind. You have 60 days to deposit this check with your new custodian. If you go over the 60 days you’ll suffer tax consequences and potential fees and penalties.
In the case of a transfer, you’ll initiate this process if you plan to change from one custodian to another. Your existing IRA custodian will transfer the account to your new self-directed gold IRA custodian.
Why would anyone want to transfer custodians? Some reasons include:
- You aren’t happy with their services.
- You cannot purchase gold and other precious metals under the rules and regulations of your existing IRA account.
A third funding option is to deposit cash directly from your personal bank account. Contact a Regal Assets representative at 1-855-906-5964 (or the rep from the company you choose.) Ask them to help you make a deposit to fund your account.
Step #4: Buying Gold, Silver, or Other Precious Metals
Now that your account is fully funded, you can finally begin buying precious metals as investments for your gold IRA. You can choose from four types of the following metals:
Remember, certain types of precious metals aren’t considered investments under the gold IRA rules. Make sure you’re dealing with a broker that knows and understands the investments eligible for your retirement fund.
Regal Assets only sells IRA eligible precious metals. So if you purchase from our top recommended company, you’ll never have anything to fear. All of your investments will be eligible for your gold IRA account.
On the other hand, some brokers sell many other types of gold investments. So you’ll need to be careful when purchasing from these brokers. You’ll have to research your purchases and ask them to confirm that these products are eligible for a precious metals IRA account. Otherwise you could end up buying metals that won’t benefit you in retirement one way or another.
Bottom Line
Opening a self directed gold IRA certainly presents its challenges. But the process isn’t too difficult.
And even more important, when you’re dealing with a well-respected gold company you’ll have nothing to fear and everything to gain. They’ll teach you their process and walk you through it every step of the way.
Remember to review the top 10 gold IRA companies before making your final decision. Our #1 favorite is Regal Assets because they truly are the best in the industry.
I like your website a whole lot. I like to look into more sometime when I have more time. I like to know more about buying gold. Gold aren’t all the same. Its beautiful website. It was easy to get around in the website. I think gold company will liquidate your gold coin for 20%. What do you think?
Hello Tom and thank you for the compliments about the website! It is definitely important to do your due research for the right gold IRA company if you don’t want them to take such a huge percentage when you want to buy back your gold or precious metals. Our favorite company, Regal Assets, has a buyback program in place where you can buy back your precious metals for the exact spot price and you will receive back your proceeds in cash within 24 hours. So not all companies are the same! You can see how they compare with the best in our list of top 10 gold IRA companies. Thank you for dropping by and the compliments!
You are to be commended for your thorough research of these companies. I am impressed with the information you have presented.
It seems to me that Regal Assets is indeed the best choice. Your information appears trustworthy, and I would not hesitate to take your recommendations. As I have wanted to learn how to open such an account, I appreciate your information.
I have one naive question. Is there a standard amount you need to deposit to open an account, or do you need to purchase a set amount of gold before opening it? Since the information is new to me, I am curious about the basics.
Hi Fran and thank you for the feedback and the inquiry! Yes there is a minimum amount that you have to rollover or make a direct purchase for and it differs for each company. With our favorite company, Regal Assets, the minimum cash deposit amount is $5,000 and the minimum rollover amount is $10,000. If you are curious about the basics, I am always ready to answer any of your questions! Thank you again for dropping by!
Very good information. I’ve actually been looking into this, so I’ve done my own research on the subject. Very thorough. The reviews of different companies are well done. Nice that it touches on other precious metals as well. It’s obvious that the author is pushing Regal Assets, but that is clearly disclosed at the top of the article so the reader can keep that in mind. Well done!
Hello Crispy1 and thank you for the compliment and encouraging feedback!
Hi David. I’m close to retirement age and have been looking for places to invest money. I have to admit that before I found your website I had no idea what IRA even stood for , I know understand that is all about an Individual Retirement Account. Somewhere you can purchase Gold or other approved precious metals and they are held in the account for you. But I’m still trying to understand more about the benefits of doing this. Does holding them in an account with a broker such as ‘Regal Assets’ mean that you benefit from any increase in their value less brokerage fees? I’m sorry to have to ask you this but I’m struggling to fully understand the principal behind it. Thanks Jim
Hi Jim – for a full outline of what you can expect with all the benefits in a self directed IRA account you can see our page here for more information. Holding physical precious metals with a gold IRA custodian means that your gold and physical precious metals will be tax-exempt from the IRS as long as the gold bullion and coins you hold are IRA-approved, which means they measure up to the purity standards outlined by the IRS. You can read more about it in the article I referred you to! Thank you for dropping by with the inquiry!
Hello David, I must say that this article is very helpful and informative. I think that investing in gold is a “future” business as I personally know some people who make a living from this. I never tried to do that as it seems difficult and it is risky but you simplified the entire process of setting an account successfully so I will definitely give it a try. May I contact you if something isn’t clear to me in the process?
Hello Danijel and I am glad that you are beginning to be interested in investing in physical precious metals. You can contact me anytime! My email is davidyeo@bestiraoptions.com.
Thanks for this post! I wasn’t sure all precious metals could be included or which ones wouldn’t be, so a broker would be an excellent idea to help navigate these waters! I will have to check out your top ten suggestions before I decide, or even IF I decide to do it. But having a list of ten of them makes things much easier! I see that you recommend Regal Assets the most, I’ll check them out first. Thanks so much.
Hello Selenity Jade! Yes, Regal Assets is the best company by far and the reviews will tell you why in more detail. Thank you for dropping by and giving your feedback!
Thank you for this article. I have been searching for investment information for a while now. I like that you have all the top companies reviews all in one spot. This makes it very convenient for me to look over and review. May I ask what is your favorite type of investment?
Hello Desiray! My favorite type of investment is investing in physical precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and palladium) via a self-directed IRA. I also like to invest in cryptocurrency, but just the main ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Thank you for dropping by with the awesome feedback and inquiry!