Quick: picture “wealth.” Go ahead, close your eyes and imagine what wealth means to you. To some people, envisioning wealth might come jam-packed with images of yacht clubs and expensive travel. To others, it simply means enjoying a secure, large estate (and maybe a Self-Directed IRA).

But for a certain percentage of the population, real wealth means only one thing: physical gold bullion.

And for good reason. Gold has been one of the most instantly-recognizable forms of wealth since antiquity, when it was used as hard currency. These days, gold still retains its value in the marketplace and often climbs higher and higher. If you want to maintain your retirement portfolio’s security, you’ll do well to look into a gold Self-Directed IRA, one that allows you to place your investments in a form of wealth that predates the country itself.

Rolling Over: A Quick Way to Access a New Self-Directed IRA

If you’re interested in getting started with holding physical gold in your retirement portfolio right away, then a rollover can be a great way to kick it all off. Many people who have had 401(k) plans at their former workplace…or even people who still work there, find that a tax-free rollover from a 401(k) to a traditional IRA allows you to hold assets of gold, silver, or platinum. These assets include mining stocks and gold ETFs, as well as actual coins and bullions, though these are subject to certain restrictions that you’ll want to be aware of before getting started. For example, you’ll be restricted to bullion or coins, not precious metals in the form of jewelry within an IRA.

Even with those limitations, it’s very easy to get started investing in precious metals through a Self-Directed IRA; it only requires a quick rollover and an understanding of which kinds of investments are available to you.

What Kinds of Gold Can You Have?

Let’s talk specifics. In a retirement account, you can hold:

• Gold ETFs
• Gold mining stocks
• Physical gold in the form of coins or bullion

Jewelry, as stated, should not be included in your retirement plans. You might include it in your overall portfolio, but they can’t be held within the confines of a Self-Directed IRA.

Other Ways of Owning Gold

Making investments in precious metals is much easier than you might think. Some people tend to think about owning gold as buying a few coins and storing them in a safe somewhere. And that can certainly be the case, but there are more ways to have money tied up in the gold market. The most popular form might just be Gold ETFs, or exchange traded funds. These funds offer a stable form of investment that helps you to keep money in gold without doing a heck of a lot of research or stock-picking.

If you’re comfortable with stock picking, it is indeed possible to hold gold mining stocks…though for most investors, ETFs tend to be the safer picks.

Bullion in the form of coins or bars is a popular way to own physical gold. You shouldn’t expect that you can own a gold necklace in your Self-Directed IRA, but gold coins and bullion are another issue entirely. One reason for this is that it’s easy to measure the value of gold that’s been pressed and labeled with its weight and purity.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@iraexpert” hidden_hashtags=”#PreciousMetals #Gold #Silver”]Interested in investing in gold with a Self-Directed IRA? [/tweetthis]Call us at (866)-7500-IRA(472) to talk about rollovers and how Self-Directed IRAs can help you grab the reins of your retirement plans. You’ll be amazed at what you can do when you look into all of your options.

Images by: presentermedia.com