Afraid of retirement is something that many Americans fear because of an unstable economy. When things seem difficult today, imagine how difficult they will be when we retire. Just as well, the government created Individual Retirement Arrangements – IRAs – that enabled individuals to save and benefit from tax breaks for retirement. It’s different from traditional retirement accounts because it offers more flexibility when choosing the assets to invest. See gold IRA to get more info.

Following the recent crash of the stock market, many IRA accounts owners have reevaluated the suitability of investing their IRA funds in traditional bonds, stocks and mutual fund. Due to the volatile nature of the stock exchange, many have suffered significant losses. In today’s world, stability is what most people seek. A gold IRA offers the greatest level of stability.

In order to secure your retirement money and the assets it contains, there are a number of important things that you must be mindful about when making a gold IRA. With a Gold IRA you are allowed to buy precious metals, such as silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. Economic crises with their negative consequences such as devaluation, inflation, or other economic problems have little effect on these precious metals. Because of their high demand and low supply, these precious materials are resilient in such situations.

It’s a good idea to choose a custodian of your IRA who will allow you to add precious metals. A self-directed gold IRA is the only option if you do not want to set up your own. To keep your gold IRA, you must open an IRS approved depository if you are a physical asset investor. IRS rules prohibit handling gold and silver bullion bars or coins. It is important that you deposit the precious metals directly into the vault to avoid penalties.

There are some gold bars and coins that do not meet the IRS standards for gold IRAs. IRS defines the standards of fineness for physical assets that are eligible as account investments. All bullion gold and silver coins must be at least.995 fine to qualify as account investments. Only a small number of coins are eligible for the program. They include American Gold Eagles (Platinum, Silver, Gold), Canadian Gold Maple Leafs coins, Australian Kangaroo Nuggets or Austrian Philharmonics. Bullions are the safest bet since they’re 99.9% pure.