People should plan for their retirement early in advance. There are several ways through which one can do this. A good example is by investing in a Gold IRA. Individual retirement accounts (IRA) are investment plans that help one to prepare for retirement by providing tax breaks. The IRA accounts are carefully monitored by the internal revenue service. One can invest in gold IRA accounts under the provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1993.

Apart from gold, there are several other precious metals that one can invest in, such as platinum and palladium. However, to do so, one requires an IRA account that allows him or her to make independent investment decisions. Such an account is known as a self-directed IRA. A self-directed account allows one to make any type of precious metal IRA investment he or she wants. The following are guidelines on how to successfully make a gold IRA investment.

Type of Account

If one already has an IRA account, he or she should consult with the account custodian. Normally, the custodian is the brokerage firm, bank or investment firm that provides the account. If the IRA account is not self-directed or the account provider does not accept gold investment, one should proceed to open a new self-directed IRA account. It is also important to ensure that the provider accepts gold investment.

Make Contributions

The IRA account requires funds. Therefore, one should deposit some money into it. Contributions of $5000 should be made every year to all Roth or traditional IRA accounts combined. The contributions increase to $6000 when a person turns 50. The other alternative would be to transfer funds from an existing IRA. The IRS monitors transfers very carefully, so on should follow his or her custodian’s instructions when transferring funds. The best way would be to organize for a trustee-to-trustee transfer. This prevents one from handling the money directly, which makes the process easier.

Select a Depository

One is required to choose a precious metals depository to store his or her gold. The depository should be IRS-approved. Under the IRS rules the account owner is not meant to physically possess the gold. The depository should be separate from the account custodian. However, most custodians recommend a storage depository. It is important that one arranges for payment of storage fees from his or her IRA account.

Types of Gold

There are several types of Gold that one can choose to purchase. The only acceptable gold types are Buffalo or American Eagle gold coins and certain types of bullion. Collectible coins are not accepted.

Purchase

One should instruct his or her custodian to use funds in the account to invest in gold coins or bullion. The other alternative would be to purchase gold-related securities such as gold mining stocks or invest in mutual funds that invest in gold. These two methods are acceptable according to IRS gold IRA investment rules. With that, one can have peace of mind knowing that his or her retirement perks are safe and sound.