Investing
If you’ve built up significant amounts of retirement savings, you’re probably concerned about protecting them against loss. And with the fear of recession or stock market crashes always at the back of your mind, you’re probably wondering how you can do that.
One way of protecting yourself against calamity is through precious metals like gold and silver. Silver, in particular, has been favored by many investors who believe that it has the potential to outperform gold (and the gold IRA).
How much do you know about buying silver? Whether you have previous experience purchasing precious metals or not, you should know that there can be numerous advantages to starting a silver IRA.
Shiny, strong, and suitable for use in various industries, silver can be a great choice to help bolster your retirement savings. And if you have existing retirement savings accounts, a silver IRA rollover can help you protect those savings, without subjecting you to unnecessary taxes.
Jewelry, coins, and bars are the most obvious uses for silver, but there are even more uses for this versatile precious metal:
These are only a few examples of silver’s industrial uses. But with rising demand for silver, and silver mining not being able to fully supply that demand, this rising silver demand could push the silver price ever higher.
A silver IRA is just like other IRAs except that it owns physical silver. Rather than owning paper assets like stocks, bond, or shares in funds, a silver IRA actually owns physical silver coins or silver bars.
But a silver IRA retains the same tax advantages as other IRA accounts, allowing you to benefit from the tax protections of an IRA while still enjoying the safe haven of silver. With a silver IRA you can diversify your portfolio, hedge against inflation or recession, and even take advantage of asset growth during times of economic turmoil.
Silver IRAs are a form of self-directed IRA, in which you are responsible for choosing your own investments. That can require a bit of knowledge of the IRA process, especially if you’re doing a silver IRA rollover.
Funding a silver IRA through a rollover is popular for a number of reasons.
Silver IRA rollovers can be done tax-free by transferring funds directly from a 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA or similar account directly to a silver IRA. It isn’t terribly difficult to do, although you may want to consult with your tax advisor to make sure that you don’t accidentally incur any tax liabilities.
Rolling over funds into a silver IRA can provide you with a greater level of freedom over your investments because self-directed IRAs generally offer a broader range of investment options than 401(k) accounts. And you can get your silver IRA rollover done in just three easy steps.
Silver IRAs are easy to set up, as long as you make sure to follow basic IRA rules and regulations. Just like any other IRA, silver IRAs aren’t allowed to own collectibles.
Collectibles generally include coins and metals, but there are specific exceptions for Silver American Eagle coins and any silver coin with a fineness of .999 or higher (99.9% pure silver). Goldco works with mints around the world to bring our customers high quality IRA-eligible coins.
Silver IRAs also must be managed by a custodian, just like any other IRA account. And your silver IRA assets must be stored at a bullion depository.
With an experienced custodian and a reputable silver dealer, your silver IRA can get up and running relatively quickly. Here are the three easy steps it takes.
Open a silver IRA by signing an agreement to secure your purchase and understand Goldco’s terms of doing business. A Goldco representative can help you with this step of the process.
This is the stage at which you will pick your silver IRA custodian. Goldco works with trusted silver IRA custodians who have years of experience managing silver IRA assets.
Once you have started your silver IRA, you need to fund it. If you’re funding your silver IRA with a rollover, you’ll start your existing IRA custodian or 401(k) plan manager to start the rollover process.
These rollovers or transfers from your existing retirement accounts are normally tax-free, but they can take days or weeks, depending on how your existing custodian’s process goes. They’ll want to make sure that it’s really you requesting the money, will want to make sure where the money is going, and could take some time to do their due diligence.
Expect this stage to take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on whether the funds are wired or sent by mail. Once your funds are secured in your silver IRA, you can then start the silver IRA purchase process.
Once your IRA is funded, you can choose which precious metals you would like to have as part of it. You can choose from solid stalwarts like the Silver American Eagle or Silver Canadian Maple Leaf, limited mintage silver coins from Australia and the UK, or silver bars and rounds.
With so many possibilities, there’s a silver coin or bar to satisfy everyone’s needs. And remember, Goldco’s relationships with mints around the world means that you can trust that the silver you buy is guaranteed to be authentic.
Silver IRAs aren’t just limited to purchasing silver assets. As a precious metals IRA, your silver IRA can also purchase IRA-eligible gold, platinum, or palladium coins and bars. That can offer an extra level of diversification.
With the help of Goldco’s experienced IRA specialists, the silver IRA rollover process can be done with relative ease. If you’re looking to protect your hard-earned money with precious metals, contact Goldco today to learn more about how you can benefit from a silver IRA rollover.
This article was originally published in April 2019 and was updated in April 2024.
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Free Precious Metals Guide
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