Decided to invest in gold for your retirement? Or perhaps in some other precious metals? Whatever metals you choose, the point is you’ve decided to go for some alternative assets instead of sticking solely to bonds and stocks, as those alternatives have proved to be rather beneficial and have a great growth potential. Of course, so as to make these investments, you may want to do something called a rollover first, which is further explained here.
What does the rollover concept entail, and why is it even important for you in this case? Let me explain. Imagine wanting to invest in gold, silver or other precious metals, but not having any funds in your IRA. As you know, the gold IRA, or the self-directed one as it’s also called, is the only account that allows for such investments today, meaning you will certainly need to fund it before being able to make these investments.
Before you fund it, though, you remember one thing. You have a 401k and it has enough funds – funds you could use to buy precious metals, if they were simply not trapped in that account, and if they can be moved to the gold IRA. Having the funds trapped in an account is certainly not favorable for anyone, so it is no wonder that you will want to think about whether you can do that rollover we have mentioned, that is, whether you can transfer the funds from your 401k to your new gold IRA.
Can You Move Your 401k to a Gold IRA?
Source: money.usnews.com
So, can you? Is this something you can expect to be able to do, or should you immediately forget about the whole idea and make peace with the fact that an amount of your assets will remain trapped in your 401k? You don’t really like the idea of the money trapped, do you? Who on Earth does? Is there anything you can do about it, then?
There seems to be! Checking out Goldco.com or visiting another useful source, you’ll realize that these rollovers, and I’ve explained them above in details, really aren’t that unusual at all. Put simply, people often do this when they decide to set up their gold IRAs and fund them so as to be able to invest in precious metals. Instead of making peace with their funds being trapped in the 401k without having the possibility to buy gold, silver or other metals, people basically transfer those funds to the self-directed IRA, the account allowing for such a possibility.
No need to wonder about this anymore, and no need to think that your money will be trapped in one account or another. Thanks to the idea of the rollover, you can do a transfer easily and basically move your 401k to a gold IRA without any problems whatsoever. This option allows most people who have already invested in their 401ks and who have since changed their minds about the portfolios and want to add precious metals to those, to do that quite easily and without facing any issues along the way. Thus, it’s an amazing option.
How to Do It?
As amazing as this option is, you’ll still need to be careful when using it. Learning how to actually move the 401k to a gold IRA the right way is a necessity if you really want to do everything the right way and be absolutely sure that you’ll get the best out of the process. In different words, if you really want to go through this process without facing any issues along the way, you’ll need to do some learning on how it is all done, and on which steps to take.
What could happen if you don’t do this the right way? Well, to cut to the chase, you would have to pay certain penalties. Basically, when performing the rollover, you can move funds from your existing tax-advantaged account to the new IRA tax-free. There are, of course, rules to be followed during a 401k to gold IRA transfer, and if you don’t stick to those rules and regulations, that’s when you’re bound to pay those penalties. Understanding the rules is, thus, of utmost importance.
For one thing, there are contribution limits that you cannot exceed. And then, there’s also the fact that, if you don’t do the transfer right, that is within a specific time-frame, it may be considered a withdrawal, and an early withdrawal is bound to be penalized. When you do the rollover in a timely manner, though, you’ll get to avoid those penalties. In any case, now that you’re aware of the rules, let me tell you what the most important steps to take during the rollover actually are.
Open Your IRA Account
Source: moneycrashers.com
You can’t exactly transfer your funds from a 401k to practically nowhere if you don’t have the necessary account type. This would qualify as a withdrawal, and you’d have to pay a penalty for it. Since your goal is not to withdraw, but to transfer the money to a gold IRA and start investing in precious metals, the very first thing you’ll need to do is set up your IRA account. Pretty logical, isn’t it? Working with a gold IRA specialist will lead to easily filling out all the necessary forms and setting up this particular account.
Find a Precious Metals Company
Source: thebalancemoney.com
Before you can even think about funding it and about, of course, buying precious metals for your retirement, you’ll need to find a company to cooperate with during the whole process. Partnering up with one of those companies is a necessity, so you can’t skip this step. After all, they are the ones that will sell you the precious metals you want to buy, but they will also do quite a bit more than that, as you’ll learn in a few minutes.
In any case, the point is you’ll need to find a precious metals company to be your partner, and that’s a bit easier to say than to do. Not that there aren’t any out there, though. In fact, there are plenty of companies operating in this particular industry, and the reason why choosing one could be difficult is because you’ll need to do quite some research on various ones before making your selection. The research, which should be focused on checking background info, legitimacy, trustworthiness, experience and fees, will ultimately lead you to comparing all your findings and selecting one of these firms.
Let Them Help You Do the Rollover
As mentioned, these companies will do a bit more than simply selling you the assets. They will, naturally, help you move your 401k to your gold IRA without a penalty, which is practically what you want. So, let them help you with the rollover, and you’ll certainly do it successfully.
Start Investing
What’s the next step after funding the account? Investing, of course. You may have some ideas as to which precious metals you want to add to your portfolio already, or you may need some advice on it. Fortunately, you can get the advice from the company you choose to be your partner, so remember that if feeling indecisive.
