Investing money for retirement is never easy. For starters, there are so many retirement account options. Who can keep up with them all, right? But even worse, each type of retirement account has its own flaws and benefits so it’s tough to pick just one.
On the other hand, compound interest is real and it’s financially rewarding. And the only way to truly take advantage is through gold IRA investing. So you don’t want to ignore this rare opportunity. It’s precious and beautiful and the best way to secure your financial future.
With that said, it’s time to look at the various types of retirement accounts. Some retirement accounts allow you to invest in physical gold while others don’t. Remember that there is always an option (the best option) to rollover or transfer your account to a gold IRA with one of our best gold IRA companies.
We’ll provide a brief explanation of each retirement plan and a link to even more detailed information. Before long, you’ll consider yourself a retirement account expert. Even better, you’ll be well on your way to achieving financial freedom by the time your reach retirement age.
1. Traditional IRA
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Individual
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $6,500/$7,500
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is a traditional IRA? Plain and simple, it’s a savings account with special retirement related privileges. For starters, all of your contributions are tax free until you make a withdrawal. But that isn’t going to happen until you’re 70 years old. So your money will grow tax free for many years as it builds your nest egg.
Your contributions to a traditional IRA are also tax-deductible. That is unless you’ve enrolled in a separate employer sponsored retirement plan.
Maximum yearly contributions for a single person are $6,000. And maximum yearly contributions for married couples are $12,000.
Couples cannot jointly own an IRA account. Once the funds are deposited into an account, it becomes the property of the account holder. So if a couple were to separate or get a divorce, the nonworking spouse still gets to keep this money.
Married couples still get the advantage of depositing $12,000 into this account each year or as a single person at $6,000 per year. [Read more]
2. Roth IRA
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Individual
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $6,500/$7,500
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is a Roth IRA? It’s similar to a traditional IRA with a few glaring differences.
For starters, you can begin withdrawing from your Roth IRA at age 59 ½. Even better, your withdrawals are always tax-free.
Another major difference is a Roth IRA isn’t tax-deductible. So, when calculating your yearly income tax, you cannot deduct income earned from your Roth IRA withdrawals.
A Roth IRA is a great investment vehicle. Many use it to buy mutual funds, stocks, gold, money market accounts, CDs, real estate, cryptocurrency, and more. Smart investors appreciate the investing freedom that a Roth IRA provides. [Read more]
3. SEP IRA
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: Maybe
- Sponsorship: Business Owners and Self-Employed
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $58,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is a SEP IRA? This IRA is also similar to a traditional IRA. But it was created for self-employed persons as well as small business owners. So if you own an LLC, a corporation, or a sole proprietor, you qualify for this IRA option.
Making contributions to an SEP IRA is tax-deductible. The earnings from this account are also tax-deferred until you reach retirement age.
Even better, contribution limits on SEP IRAs are $50,000 per year. But the account holder must not withdraw until the age of 59 ½ or suffer an IRS penalty of 10%. [Read more]
4. SARSEP
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: Maybe
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$25,500
- Roth Option: No
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is SARSEP? The official name is Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan. It’s only available to small businesses with 25 or less employees. But this plan was actually discontinued in 1996, although some still exist.
Contributing to this plan is pretax contributions and it happens through salary reductions. Employers can contribute 25% of an employee’s salary or $52,000 and cannot exceed either.
Employee contribution limits are based on salary reduction agreements and include:
- Employees can contribute $19,500 in 2021.
- Net profits set limits on all contributions.
- Individual employee accounts follow SEP IRA rules.
5. SIMPLE IRA
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: Maybe
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $13,500/$16,500
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is a Simple IRA? Believe it or not, simple is actually an acronym. It stands for the following:
- Savings
- Incentive
- Match
- PLan for
- Employees
A major benefit of this plan is it doesn’t fall under ERISA guidelines. It is specifically designed to help smaller employers with 100 employees or less offer retirement plans to their workers. It’s an easy, less complicated set up too.
Simple IRA plans have lower contribution limits. In 2021, the contribution limit is $13,500 for employees 50 years old or younger. [Read more]
6. 401(k) Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$26,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
What is a 401(k) plan? It was created by Ted Benna and it was designed to use section 401(k) of the IRC and create simple to understand retirement plans for employees. These plans come with very specific tax advantages. Even better, about 95% of employers offer a 401(k) option as part of their benefits package. [Read more]
7. 403(b) Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Government or Non-Profit Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$26,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
What is a 403(b) plan? This plan received its name from section 403(b) of the IRC. It’s a plan that provides tax advantages to specific employees. In particular, it’s often available to church ministers, employees in public schools, and tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.
It’s similar to the 401(k) in many respects. It has a plan provider, a plan administrator, and numerous investment options for participants to choose from. Another name for this plan is Tax Sheltered Annuities. [Read more]
8. 457(b) Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Government or Tax-Exempt Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$26,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
What is a 457(b) plan? This plan comes from the Internal Revenue Code 457(b). It’s also known as the 457 Plan. It’s similar in nature to 403(b) plans and 401(k) plans as well.
Participants will have their income deducted from their paychecks. The money will go into a tax-free investment account. This plan was created as an alternative specifically for two employers including tax-exempt nongovernment employers and government employers. Mainly you’ll find this plan available in hospitals and charities. [Read more]
9. Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Government or Military
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$26,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: No
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: No
What Is a TSP? This plan is very unique for one reason. Members of the armed services or federal employees are the only ones that have access to this plan. It was established by Congress as an alternative to 401(k) plans and made available to public workers.
The Thrift Savings Fund consists of 10 investment funds. They are available under six categories and include categories G, F, C, S, I and L. All of these categories are essentially a portfolio of mutual funds with differing risk levels. [Read more]
10. Solo 401(k) Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: Yes
- Sponsorship: Self-employed
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $19,500/$26,000
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Yes
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Yes
What is a Solo 401(k) Plan? This plan was originally introduced in 2001 as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. It was specifically designed for self-employed workers looking to invest in their retirement. In the past, these individuals only had options to use Keogh Plans, Individual Retirement Accounts, and Profit Sharing Plans.
The rules for the Solo 401(k) are nearly the same for regular 401(k) plans. The notable exceptions to the original plan include:
- The owner/employee isn’t subjected to ERISA guidelines.
- Both the owner and employee must work 1000 hours per year or more to qualify.
- And finally, the owner/employee cannot employee any other full-time person on their staff.
11. Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: Varies
- Roth Option: Yes
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: No
What is ESOP? This plan allows the employer to set up a trust fund. This trust fund can provide employees with cash to purchase shares of the company. Or they can use it to give employees stock in the company. Employees must work for the company for a specific amount of years before they become fully vested in their ESOP. [Read more]
12. Keogh Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Self-employed or Unincorporated Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $58,000
- Roth Option: No
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
What is a Keogh Plan? Originally established in 1962, this plan came to fruition through the efforts of Representative Eugene Keogh. It’s a tax advantage pension plan created to specifically benefit self-employed workers or workers with unincorporated business entities. [Read more]
13. Money Purchase Plans
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $58,000
- Roth Option: No
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
Money Purchase Plans are a type of defined contribution plan that requires employers to make a fixed amount of contributions to an employee’s account each year. It is similar to a Profit Sharing Plan in that it is a type of a defined contribution plan. However, the similarities stop there. Money Purchase Plans require the employer to pay the employee their annual contributions regardless of yearly profit. [Read more]
14. Profit Sharing Plan
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Private Employer
- 2021 Contribution Limit: $58,000/$64,500
- Roth Option: No
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: No
What is a Profit Sharing Plan? This plan allows employers to provide an additional type of employee compensation. They use a trustee to share company earnings with employees invited to participate in the plan. Employees will not become fully vested in the plan until they reach a certain level of seniority. This is established by the employer according to their rules. [Read more]
15. Annuity
- Gold Bullion Allowed?: No
- Sponsorship: Individual
- 2021 Contribution Limit: None
- Roth Option: No
- Gold Stocks Allowed?: Maybe
- Gold ETF’s Allowed?”: Maybe
What is an Annuity? This type of retirement account is typically provided by insurance companies. It’s set up to give employees an additional source of retirement income.
There are a number of different annuity options. Consider all of your retirement options carefully. They are complicated financial instruments so you should learn more and pay close attention before investing in one. [Read more]