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Gold and silver investments through precious metal IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) are becoming very popular in the United States because of their intrinsic value and ability to shield wealth from inflation and economic uncertainties. Many people in the United States maximize the tax benefits while enjoying considerable ROIs (Returns on Investments) on gold IRA investments.
Apart from being a stable investment, a gold IRA is the perfect alternative investment that you can use to diversify your retirement portfolio properly. Thus, people in the United States invest in physical assets like gold coins and bars using funds from their retirement accounts, for instance, 401k. This process is called a gold IRA rollover.
With a gold IRA rollover, you can use your 401k funds to invest in precious metals, which is impossible with a regular 401k plan.
A traditional or Roth gold IRA allows you to buy physical or real precious metals, including gold and silver products. In addition, a gold IRA enables you to store the metals in a precious metal storage depository approved by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).
A gold IRA is another name for precious metals IRA. This IRA is a self-directed IRA account that allows investors to invest in gold and other precious metals. A gold IRA differs from a traditional IRA because you do not need to hold it or its assets in a conventional bank. Instead, you will keep your precious metal assets in storage facilities, including vaults and safe deposit boxes.
Apart from gold and silver coins, a gold IRA allows you to add a wide range of platinum, and palladium coins, rounds, and bars of various weights, designs, and sizes to your retirement portfolio.
In 1974, the United States government passed a regulation through the Employee Retirement Security Act empowering the making of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). By 1975, U.S. citizens could open and set up independent and conventional IRAs for stock market investments.
Until 1997, there was a limitation regarding adding precious metal assets to IRA portfolios. The Taxpayer Relief in 1997 allowed the IRS to take off the barriers on IRA resources expansion and enabled the records to include selected gold bars and precious metals investments. These metals are called IRA-eligible precious metals.
A rollover simply means transferring assets between two financial institutions. If you own an employer-directed retirement plan, you can roll over funds or assets from the retirement plan into a self-directed retirement plan.
When you perform a rollover on your account, your previous employer will electronically transfer funds or issue a check containing the amount you would love to roll over from your traditional retirement account into your self-directed IRA. Rollovers can be taxable or tax-free, depending on how you carried out the rollover or the rollover tax rate.
As an investor who wants to venture into gold investments, you can invest either in gold paper or physical precious metals. Paper gold investment options include:
For physical gold investments, you can invest in bullion coins and bars in the following categories:
The categories of physical gold investments you can invest in as a potential investor are the types that meet the IRS purity standards, and the IRS does not allow investors to store these metals in their homes. You must keep them in a third-party IRS-approved storage facility.
A gold IRA rollover is the process that involves transferring retirement assets from a traditional retirement account like a 401k to a gold IRA. The gold IRA rollover process is complex and can be expensive when done wrongly or through a company that does not comply with the IRS gold IRA rollover rules and regulations.
To conduct a gold rollover, you must open and set up a gold IRA account with a chosen custodian. Your gold IRA account allows you to invest in more precious metals assets. The custodian will also help you manage this self-directed IRA for a fee annually.
The IRS must approve the custodian you should work with and should be able to recommend or work with IRS-approved storage facilities for gold depositions. These facilities must comply with state and federal regulations regarding providing gold asset custody services.
After opening and setting up your gold IRA account through a trusted custodian, you must buy gold through a broker. Usually, the best custodians in the United States work with some of the finest gold brokers and can suggest them to you. You must understand that a large percentage of getting the most out of your gold IRA will depend on the type of gold broker you decide to buy your investments from. Hence, you should look for a reputable gold dealer with the following features:
Your broker should have all the necessary insurance, bonds, and licenses.
Working with a broker with a good track record and the importance cannot be overemphasized. Only work with firms that have solid reputations based on client referrals and feedback on trusted rating sites like BBB (Better Business Bureau) and BCA (Business Consumer Alliance). Check the number of positive customer reviews the company has and the amount of filed and resolved complaints.
One of the things you must pay attention to when choosing a company is how much attention it delivers to its customers. How interested are they in meeting the needs of their customers? One way you know a company is interested in meeting the need of customers is its commitment to tax rules regulating traditional and gold IRAs. Any company committed to following the rules governing IRAs will be interested in helping you know if you are eligible for a gold IRA rollover.
You can move funds from an existing 401k into a gold IRA. The process does not exempt you from the tax rules guiding IRAs. You will still need to pay taxes without extra deductions.
Most of the time, you must quit your current job before you can move or roll over funds from your 401k into your gold IRA. You can use the money you roll over to invest in gold, silver, platinum, palladium coins, rounds, and bars.
It is possible to transfer funds from a 401k account to a gold IRA by following these straightforward instructions.
As mentioned in the previous section, there are two types of rollovers.
A direct rollover, also known as a 'trustee to trustee' rollover, provides a straightforward method to move funds from your current 401k to your gold IRA. This rollover type involves transferring funds directly from one trustee, your 401k plan administrator, to another, your gold IRA custodian. All you need to do is to contact your 401k plan administrator to transfer funds from your 401k to your new gold IRA account through your precious metals IRA custodian.
Precious metals IRAs are unique kinds of IRAs, and only particular custodians, as approved by the IRS, can open accounts for investors. Usually, the specific custodian in charge of your gold IRA account will give you every necessary detail that your 401k plan administrator will request to facilitate the fund's transfer process.
The primary document is the IRS Form 1099-R. This form will note that you want to withdraw or transfer funds from your 401k plan. The form has box 7, which should contain a distribution code "H." The code informs the IRS that the fund's withdrawal will not be taxed.
Hence, this rollover process will not attract the 20% tax withholding or penalty rule. The IRS will not deduct any taxes from the amount you want to withdraw and transfer to your new gold IRA account from your existing 401k retirement account.
The Indirect rollover is a more complicated process than the direct rollover. Another name for this rollover is "trustee to a client to trustee rollover." In the indirect rollover, your 401k plan administrator will issue a check to you with the amount you want to transfer from your 401k retirement account into your gold IRA.
When you get the check, you are required by the IRS regulations to deposit the money within 60 days into your new gold IRA account. The 60-day timeframe starts counting from the withdrawal day on the check. If you fail to deposit the money within the 60-day timeframe, you will pay a 20% tax penalty.
In the case of an indirect rollover, your 401k administrator will not sign a check containing 100% of the money you want to withdraw from your 401k. The check will hold 80% of the funds while the remaining 20% will go to the IRS for cases of taxable events, like not paying the withdrawn money into your gold IRA account within 60 days.
Hence, the IRS Form 1099-R for indirect rollover will note that your 401k plan administrator signed a check containing 80% of the money you want to roll over to your new gold IRA. Then the 20% has been sent to the IRS to handle taxable events.
In addition, to avoid the tax penalties that come with an indirect rollover, you must pay 100% of the funds you wish to withdraw from your 401k into your new gold IRA account. Hence, you will need to add 20% from your pocket to the 80% your administrator disbursed for payment into your account before the 60-day window.
You may ask, "How will I get my money back?" The IRS will return it to you after filing your tax for that year.
The indirect rollover is so complex. It can lead to tax penalties because of how the process works, and because of that, people prefer to stick with the direct rollover.
In the previous section, we showed you how to perform a gold IRA rollover in simple steps and bullet points. In this section, we want to fully explore these steps and give you full details about how to roll over your 401k into your gold IRA successfully.
Below are the steps you must take in their proper and well-detailed explanations.
A traditional IRA differs from a gold IRA; it can contain precious metal assets in its investment portfolio in the form of coins and bars, while a traditional IRA can only contain stocks, bonds, or other paper assets.
Hence, when choosing a gold IRA provider, you must select a provider with an IRS license and the necessary experience to offer this financial service.
A handful of gold IRA firms in the United States claim to be the best regarding gold IRA service provision. However, in this article, we will give you a summative detail about the best gold IRA companies for your gold investments in the U.S. and what you stand to gain by doing business with any of them.
We advise our readers to read their chosen or preferred gold IRA companies' contracts before doing business with them. You should also ensure you properly scan through your preferred gold IRA provider's website before ordering products. When you do these two things, you will know how the company works and whether it can meet your investment needs and goals.
This step involves selecting the company you want to manage your account. You cannot run your gold IRA account yourself because it is illegal based on the IRS gold IRA regulations.
Usually, this self-directed custodian is a caretaker who will keep track of all the exchanges and provide management and documentation for you and the IRS.
Your chosen custodian will buy your preferred precious metals through your selected gold IRA provider for inclusion in your account.
When you choose to open a gold IRA, please ensure that the custodian you work with is a company specially set up to manage self-directed IRAs. Our top five gold IRA companies work with the best custodians in the U.S. Hence, you will not need to conduct a different search for the best gold IRA custodian to handle your gold IRA management.
A self-directed IRA will allow you to take charge of your investments in your IRA portfolio. You will not need to depend on your account custodian to determine the precious metal investments to buy or sell within your account.
After choosing your custodian, you must open a gold IRA account with the company to begin investing in gold through your preferred gold IRA provider. The custodian will work with your gold IRA provider to sell or buy the precious metals investments that you are interested in investing in.
Reputable gold IRA providers like our top five companies will list eligible metals you can include in your gold IRA portfolio. You will likely find them in their online precious metals catalog.
After you have decided on the metals you want to buy, the provider will broker a deal with your custodian to ensure the transfer of your gold and other precious metal investments to a secure facility licensed by the IRS to provide precious metals storage.
One of the jobs of your gold IRA custodian is to ensure that your account does not become non-compliant with the IRS rules guiding gold IRA investments. The custodian will ensure you open your account, buy precious metals, and store them properly, following IRS regulations. The custodian will also record the cost or amount of precious metals you purchased and then send the records to you and the IRS for documentation.
Based on the custodian you choose to open your account with, there is no maximum limit for how much money or investments can be in your account. However, you must have enough money to buy precious metal investments (minimum limits).
While some companies like Noble Gold Investments require a minimum limit as low as $2,000 for gold IRA investments, others like Augusta Precious Metals require a minimum investment of $50,000.
Now that you have chosen your preferred custodian and gold IRA provider and set up your account, the next thing to do is fund your account. This funding is called rollover. It requires transferring funds from your 401k account to your gold IRA account. You can roll over money from your traditional IRA to your gold IRA directly or indirectly (we have extensively explained what indirect and direct rollover are and how you can execute them. Click here to read about the various types of rollovers).
When you successfully carry out your gold 401k rollover, you can purchase precious metals from your preferred gold IRA provider. Remember, you cannot directly buy these metals yourself. You will have to do that through your chosen gold IRA custodian.
The first thing we advise our readers to do before buying metals from any gold IRA company is to get accurate information about the company and its precious metals investments. You can download or request the company's gold IRA investment kit. Reputable companies like our top five gold IRA companies give their potential investors free gold investment kits to help them make informed investment decisions.
The kits can also contain the company's available IRA-eligible precious metals list. You should use the company's wealth of information through its free investment kits to select the most profitable precious metals for inclusion in your gold IRA.
When you send the request containing the metals you want to buy and the provider you want to buy from to your custodian, it will buy the metals for you from your designated gold broker. It will also ensure the provider transports your investments to your chosen secure gold storage facility, as the IRS stipulates.
While there is a wide variety of precious metal investments in the gold market, the IRS only allows the inclusion of certain precious metals that meet its purity and fineness standards. The IRS minimum purity standards for IRA-eligible precious metals are:
The only gold IRA-eligible coin that is an exception to this purity standard is the American Gold Eagle Coin—the United States Mint mints this coin with a purity standard of 91.67% (22-karat gold). This coin is a popular option in the gold investment market. The American Eagle is also an excellent choice for gold IRA investments.
Please ensure that insurance covers your precious metals on transit from your gold provider to your chosen secure storage facility. Usually, reputable gold IRA companies will provide transit insurance for their customers' precious metals in transit.
In addition, ensure that your gold broker validates your transactions and gives you the complete paperwork showing the details of your purchases.
You must set up a self-directed gold IRA account with a reputable precious metals IRA custodian to conduct a successful rollover without tax penalties. This custodian will be responsible for the management and administration of your account.
Usually, the best form of gold IRA that helps you avoid penalties is the direct or trustee-to-trustee rollover. In this rollover, your 401k administrator moves funds from your traditional retirement account into your new gold IRA account by sending the money to your gold IRA custodian.
Once you initiate a rollover and your 401k administrator facilitates the process, your gold IRA custodian must complete the fund's deposition and the entire rollover process into your account within 60 days.
If the deposition exceeds 60 days, the IRS sees the event or the rollover as a distribution event and will be subjected to a 20% tax penalty.
The same applies too for indirect rollover. Once your 401k admin signs the check and hands it over to you for funds deposition into your gold IRA account, you must complete the deposit within a 60-day time frame. Failure to do that will attract a 20% tax penalty.
In addition, for the indirect rollover, your 401k administrator will sign a check containing 80% of the funds you want to roll over and then send 20% to the IRS for cases of taxable events.
When depositing the funds you want to roll over into your gold IRA, you must pay in 100% even though you only got 80% from your 401k plan administrator. This way, you will not be liable for any tax payment. It means that the remaining 20% will come from your pocket. The IRS returns the 20% to you when you complete your tax filing for that year.
Please also ensure that you or your traditional retirement account is eligible for a gold IRA rollover. You may incur tax penalties if you do not qualify for a gold IRA rollover and try to perform one. In the next section, we will talk about gold rollover IRA eligibility.
Retirement accounts may generally permit gold IRA rollovers. However, you should also understand that eligibility status may be different for various plans. Therefore, you need to verify from your 401k plan administrator whether your account is eligible for a gold IRA rollover.
The eligibility check for a gold IRA rollover is not a complex activity. All you need to do is to inform your plan administrator about your intentions to move money from your 401k into your gold IRA. Your plan administrator will let you know if you are eligible for the event and how to proceed.
If you are at least 55 or 59.5 years old and no longer work for the company that opened your 401k retirement account, you can freely roll over your funds from your employer-directed 401k account into your self-directed gold IRA account.
On the other hand, employees below 55 years old and still working with the employers responsible for opening their 401k retirement accounts may not be eligible for a gold IRA rollover without incurring tax penalties. It means that to fund your gold IRA in this scenario, you must use money from somewhere else.
It is vital to inform you that being below 55 years old is not the dead end for rollover eligibility status. You can still perform an indirect rollover through "hardship withdrawal." This event is an exemption withdrawal that allows employees to get distributions from their 401k retirement account for specific emergency needs like medical bills, home buying, and tuition fees. Hardship withdrawal enables your retirement plan admin to disburse funds to you without incurring tax penalties, even if you are not eligible for withdrawal. However, you cannot influence the process. Your plan administrator will be the one to decide whether to allow you to withdraw money from your account or not. If your administrator allows you to carry out a hardship withdrawal, you can use part of the money to fund your gold IRA account.
When leaving your present company for a new employer or retirement purposes, you can do any of these four things.
The last of these four options is the best thing to do with your 401k funds when retiring or moving to a new job. Here are the benefits that come with rolling over your 401k to gold.
When you roll over your 401k fund into your new gold IRA, you will reduce the recurring administrative and management expenses you have been paying. Cumulatively, these expenses eat your ROI in the long run. The funds in your 401k plan may exceed the average cost for their asset class, and you may also incur an annual general fee from the financial organization managing the plan.
If you have funds in your 401k plan worth millions of dollars, you can access lower-cost institutional class funds. These low-cost class funds will not exempt your Individual Retirement Account from expenses. However, you can choose how you want to invest, where you want to invest, and how much you are willing to pay for the investments.
A traditional gold IRA rollover will make financial firms eager to transact with you. They may offer you monetary incentives to lure you into giving them your retirement funds. Some companies may also provide free stock trading as part of the incentive package.
Different businesses and employers apply much discretion when setting up their traditional or Roth IRAs. Hence, it may become difficult to understand a 401k plan requirement. On the other hand, the IRS set the restriction standards for IRAs. Therefore, the rules guiding IRAs in one organization are the same for another. Gold IRAs in all financial firms are subject to similar regulations.
The investment options available to 401k retirement plans are limited. You can often choose paper investments, like mutual funds from one supplier. However, a gold IRA allows you to invest in various physical metals from multiple companies.
Gold IRAs can save you from an economic crisis. However, you will only get the benefits of gold IRAs or rolling over funds from your 401k retirement account to your gold IRA when you carry out your gold 401k rollover process properly or successfully.
As we have mentioned, opting for the direct rollover is your best shot at ensuring the process is smooth and successful. It means that the safest option to ensure your IRA rollover is successful is to do it through a reputable gold IRA company offering comprehensive services.
While many companies pose as the best gold IRA companies for rolling over 401k to gold in the United States, we can recommend only a few of them because they have proven to be the best when it comes to offering reliable services in the industry.
Below are the five gold IRA companies you can trust to successfully perform your 401k to gold IRA rollover.
This company is the absolute best gold IRA firm in the U.S. today due to Augusta's transparency, pricing, dedication to education, and extraordinary attention given to customers. We highly recommend that everyone take advantage of their one-of-a-kind free web conference that helps you understand the economy, threats to your retirement, and the precious metals buying process (designed by their in-house Harvard-certified economic analyst). They even share tips for avoiding gimmicks and high-pressure tactics in this unregulated industry.
This gold precious metals specialist company was chosen by Money magazine as "The Best Overall" in its Best Gold IRA Companies list for 2023. It is the only gold IRA firm with ZERO complaints on the BBB website since 2012. It has an outstanding track record proven by consumer watchdog ratings and tons of the best customer reviews, including endorsement by hall-of-fame quarterback Joe Montana, whose advisors found Augusta for him. We are thrilled to recommend Augusta as our #1 gold IRA company!
Pros
Cons
To start investing with Augusta Precious Metals, please click this link to download its 2023 gold investment kit for free.
Established in 2006, this company has an excellent solid record and is our top recommendation for people looking to invest over $25,000 in a gold IRA. We consider this gold trading online platform the 2nd best Gold IRA Company in The USA Today.
Pros
Cons
To start investing with Goldco, please click this link to download its 2023 gold investment kit for free.
One of the most trusted Gold and Precious Metal brokers in the United States is American Hartford Gold. This family-owned company is endorsed by Bill O'Reilly and America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani.
American Hartford Gold is great for gold and palladium IRA, and purchasing physical Gold, Silver, and Platinum.
Pros
Cons
To start investing with American Hartford Gold, please click this link to download its 2023 gold investment kit for free.
The truth is that Noble Gold has not been around the scene for a long time, but it has, in the shortest time possible, made huge impacts on the gold IRA market. Since its inception, the company has captured customers' hearts via its vast educational resources gallery, a wide range of investment options, and low investment requirements. The company's commitment to customer service also has high ratings on third-party rating sites like BCA and Consumer Affairs.
According to the agent we spoke to, Noble Gold gives customers a committed account manager from the first day they decide to open a gold IRA account with it. The knowledgeable professionals will also give the customers all they need to know about how a gold IRA works and the setup process. In addition, they offer a smooth buyback process to their customers.
Noble Gold works with Delaware Depository and Brink's Global Services to provide storage services for its customers. In addition to these storage companies, Noble Gold owns its depository in Texas. Hence, customers can choose to store their metals in any of these three depositories.
Pros
Cons
To start investing with Noble Gold Investment, please click this link to download its 2023 gold investment kit for free.
Since it was established in 2003, the company has delighted customers and provided excellent customer education. Birch Gold Group's one-on-one interactions with customers are a fundamental advantage for those who want to make vital decisions impacting their financial future.
Pros
Cons
To start investing with Birch Gold Group, please click this link to download its 2023 gold investment kit for free.
We know how complex the entire process of rolling over your 401k to gold can be, especially when you have not fully understood how a gold IRA works. Hence, we have made this guide as detailed and straightforward as possible.
In addition, we have also shown you the best companies in the United States that can help you understand entirely gold IRA investments and how to conduct a gold 401k rollover successfully.
Our top five recommendations will ensure you thoroughly perform a successful rollover without incurring any tax penalties to get the best out of your investments in gold.
Through the years, our top five best gold IRA companies have gathered thousands of positive reviews and customer ratings through their dedication to meeting customers' gold IRA investment needs. You can be sure of getting the best services from them regarding gold IRA rollovers and investments.
Begin your successful rollover process, invest in gold for retirement through any of these companies, and start your gold IRA investment journey today. Click the relevant links in the previous section to download your preferred gold IRA company's investment kit for free.