Are you in the market to buy precious metals? You’ve finally gotten tired of the volatility in the stock market. You aren’t willing to remain vulnerable to the massive up and down swings. Sure, the market is recovering big right now. But how long will it last?
President Trump’s constant verbal sparring matches with House and Senate Democrats are poisonous to prosperity. Plus the Twitter scuffles, the misinformation, and the hostility toward certain world leaders and peaceful protesters are all bad news.
The US is a powder keg that could explode again at any moment. Do not allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security. Just because the Dow Jones is poised to break all time highs again doesn’t mean the economy is safe.
I’m happy to say that I already know you aren’t a fool. Otherwise you wouldn’t read about alternative investments like buying precious metals. Even better, you’re not only looking to buy but you plan to do it the right way. I applaud you for your smart thinking and foresight.
Are you ready to learn the best way to buy precious metals? Before we get into the smartest way to build your retirement portfolio, we’ll look at some foolhardy ways to invest. Try to avoid these investments tactics at all costs. Not because they’re all bad investments per se. They just aren’t the shrewdest way to make the compounding effect work in your favor.
How Not to Invest in Precious Metals
Before we dive in, it’s important to know that we recommend opening a precious metals IRA. Why? We feel it’s the best way to buy precious metals because of the tax advantages. We’ll go into greater detail below, but that’s our strategy for now. Learn more about this style of investing by reading our reviews of the best gold IRA companies.
Getting back to our topic, please consider:
The Wrong Ways to Buy Precious Metals
As you’ll see, there are a few ways to invest in gold and other precious metals. Some require direct ownership of physical precious metals. Other methods expose you to various price movements, mining companies, and ETF swings. We don’t like these options for one reason or another that we’ll go into below.
- Precious Metals ETFs – this is one of my least favorite investment styles out of the bunch. The ETFs trade in conjunction with the spot price of gold and other metals. These prices swing enough on their own without assistance. ETFs take price swings and put them on steroids and force investors to time the market, which isn’t easy. Gold ETFs like GLD or IAU trade at 3 times the speed of daily spot price fluctuations. If you aren’t careful and get the timing wrong, you could end up losing a ton of money in the blink of an eye. Be smart and invest in tax sheltered investments over time. Then you don’t have to fear major price swings.
- Gold Related Stock Options – as much as I loathe gold ETF investing, this investment vehicle is even worse. And if you aren’t paying attention and time this wrong, you could lose everything! So please take care when considering this investment. And truthfully, you’d make me feel better altogether if you just stayed away. Remember, options have expiration dates. The closer to the expiration date, the less attractive and valuable they become. And if you haven’t reached the desired price on expiration day, you’ll lose everything. Gold IRA investing is so much safer on so many levels.
Two More Ways to Avoid Buying Precious Metals
Besides the strategies mentioned above, I have two other ways to bring to your attention. Although they aren’t as scary or dangerous as ETFs or options, they aren’t wise nonetheless. They are:
- Buying precious metals from coin collectors – as far as bad ideas go, this isn’t the worst I’ve ever heard. But it isn’t really in alignment with our overall goals when buying gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. We aren’t attempting to buy rare collectible coins or bars. We want gold and other precious metals for the value that they possess. Leave this type of rare investments to others who better understand the collectibles market.
- Buying gold & silver on eBay or Craigslist – guess what? If you’re crazy enough to buy gold and silver from eBay or Craigslist then you shouldn’t invest in precious metals. You never know what you’re buying on websites like these. And since you likely can’t visit the seller to check the merchandise ahead of time, you’re basically buying blind. You’ll have no protection and no idea if you’re actually buying real gold or not. You could potentially lose all of your money in this situation. The seller could end up delivering fool’s gold with little to no value at all.
As you undoubtedly recognize, buying metals from untrustworthy sources or collectors isn’t the intelligent way to invest. Instead, focus on buying gold and silver from trusted brokers for your precious metals IRA. Check out our list of the top 10 precious metals companies with excellent reputations.
The Right Way to Buy Precious Metals
As you’re about to learn, there’s a right way and some wrong ways to make this investment. I love recommending investing in a precious metals IRA. Why? It gives the investor the biggest bang for their buck.
With a gold IRA, you’ll buy gold, silver, platinum, or palladium with the best tax advantages in your favor. As a matter of fact, with an IRA account you pay taxes up front. So everything you earn within the account is yours tax-free. You have to wait until you reach retirement age before you can begin collecting it. But that’s the price to pay for incredible tax benefits.
Take a moment to look at our review of the top 10 gold companies in the industry right now. You’ll learn a thing or two about these great businesses. And you’ll discover more about our #1 recommendation Regal Assets.
In fact, after reading their review you should click the link and visit the Regal Assets homepage. You can give them your name and email address and they’ll send you an informative investor’s kit free of charge.
The Biggest Reasons to Open a Precious Metals IRA
Are you still undecided regarding investing in a precious metals IRA account with a top-notch gold broker? Besides the incredible tax advantages, there are other reasons to consider this investment vehicle. We’ll go into greater detail about the most important ones below.
They include:
- Gold is a physical asset – too many investments are either made of paper or they’re digital numbers on a screen. While they possess value, they do not possess tangible value because they aren’t a physical asset. Owning gold in physical form is a beautiful thing. Not only can you use it as legal tender, you can also take it with you wherever you go. It’s possible that the worst could happen and the country deteriorates into anarchy. You’d still have a way to purchase goods and services even if the US dollar completely collapses.
- Precious metals aren’t vulnerable to hackers – most investments exist in a digital environment. This means hackers can steal your money while you sleep and you’ll never know it. Even worse, you have no way of protecting yourself against these unscrupulous individuals. They can worm their way into your accounts and steal your mutual funds, bonds, stocks, and cash for that matter. Alternatively, when you own physical precious metals stored with a trusted company like Brinks, you’ll know your money is safe.
- You can take your precious metals wherever you go – better than anything else, your precious metals are portable. So if you have to get up and go for any reason, you can take them wherever you need to. You can travel the world, move out of your country if civil unrest is happening, and keep your metals safe. So if you ever need to get away, you can take them out of your vault. Just bring them wherever you happen to go. But your gold, silver, and other precious metals are the safest when stored in a secure vault. Our brokers only deal with the best storage facilities including Brinks, Delaware Depository, CNT Depository and others.
Bottom Line
By now, you should understand that the best way to buy precious metals is through a precious metals IRA. But not all gold brokers are created equally. Out of the dozens of available brokers to choose from, we narrowed our search to the 10 best.
Spend time learning about each of the top 10 gold brokers doing business today. We’ve written up a full-fledged review for each of these companies. Learn all about them, about their reputations, and other pertinent information. And when you’re finished, use that valuable guide to decide on your new gold company of choice.
Our favorite company of all is named Regal Assets. As you read through the top 10 review, pay special attention to this business. They are the premier precious metals broker for the last 10 years plus and running.
After reading the review, please click their link to visit their website. While there, drop them your name and email address and they’ll send you a valuable free investor’s kit.
Very interesting. To be honest I have been considering the concept of purchasing precious metals to add into my different investment strategies but I had not idea where to even start. I had no idea what an IRA is but now I have a very good understanding. You article is well laid out and I love the fact that it lists and explains the potential traps and pitfalls that are around in relation to Precious Metals. I have book marked your page and look forward to reading more of your articles and learning prior to investing.
Hello Kevin! I’m glad you learned much from my article and thank you for bookmarking my website! Thank you for the feedback and the compliments!
What a great article. Precious metals are such a wise investment. I am 53 years old and have watched go up greatly over the last 30 years, Not to mention what a nice surprise silver has been.
Precious metals are my only real investments, Im way too scared of the stock markets.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and share such a great article
Hello Dale! If you are 53 years old you are almost at the age of retirement. Just remember that if you want to invest in precious metals by rolling over a 401k with a current employer then you have to be over 59 and a half years old to rollover any amount to a gold IRA. If you have a 401k with a previous employer, you can rollover the funds to a gold IRA at any time. Thank you for sharing your experience with precious metals and the feedback! I also appreciate the compliments. Thank you, Dale!
I must say this is a very nice article as its packed with all the info that one needs to know when it comes to precious metals…In all my research I haven’t seen anyone better than this….I would put this tips and Ideas into action and see how far they would go, as we all know the world today is changing and we all must adjust to it ways.
Hello Sophia! Indeed, with all the changes in the world there is an even bigger need to invest in precious metals. Precious metals do well especially in times of crisis. Thank you for the feedback, Sophia!
I’ve never thought about buying precious metals even though i’ve heard some people make a tremendous sum of money.
I like the fact that gold is a physical investment just like property. Your post is very detailed and I didn’t know senators and presidents had such a powerful grip on the precious metal movement. I also like that precious metals are none hackable but they do have to be kept in a safe place. This is a very interesting topic over all and great to read about.
Sadly myself I don’t have a great money to invest in something like this but it’s always great to pass the knowledge onwards.
Hello Taine! Yes, there are many investors who make money from investing in precious metals. As you said, it does have to be kept in a safe place but that’s only one of the reasons why we recommend leaving it to the depositories of the gold IRA companies. Even if you don’t have the money to invest, I appreciate the fact that you’re passing on the knowledge! Thank you for the feedback and for recommending my website to others!
I fully agree with you that you will be foolish to be buying precious metals on eBay or Craigs List. Buying jewellery as an investment is also not a good idea as it looses about twenty percent of it’s value as soon as you leave the shop.
But I disagree with your description of an etf that “take price swings and put them on steroids and force investors to time the market.” An etf is actually the complete opposite in that it passively tracks the market. Investors are never “forced” to do anything, it is their own choice whether they buy or sell, whether it is an etf or managed funds or shares. I own an etf in gold and another in a basket of precious metals, which have both significantly increased in value.
Thank you for showing me the option of an IRA, I will be exploring it more and asking for more details from Regal Assets.
Hello LineCowley! It’s okay to agree and disagree with various points in my article. I do believe a gold IRA is the best way to invest in physical gold, and that it is better than investing in a gold ETF. However, your thoughts are also valid and I do acknowledge that you can make money through investing in gold ETF’s. A gold IRA is still better, though as you’re investing in physical gold coins and bullion in a tax-exempt account. Thank you for the feedback and sharing your experience with investing in gold!