Gold has always held a special allure for investors. An investment in gold diversifies your investment portfolio. Despite the fact that the price of gold have dipped from their highs of a 2011, gold continues to offer a safe haven from the stock market. In recent years, many investors are hearing more and more about investing in precious metals within their individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Depending on your investment goals, there are few paths you can take to use gold to solidify your retirement plans.

More Choices 

For most individual investors, putting money into an IRA means buying traditional stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. However, with an IRA with checkbook control, the IRS allows individual investors the opportunity to take greater control over their financial future and invest in a variety of non-traditional IRA assets including gold and other types of precious-metals bullion. This bullion is allowable under the law if it has a certain level of purity and if the physical bullion is held by a qualified trustee.

Find the Service Best for You?

Finding a trustee may seem daunting, but there are many specialized services designed just for this purpose. Use due diligence and educate yourself about these services. Selecting the appropriate trustee is a critical step in your financial plans so do the research necessary to make an informed decision. Once you find a trustee, you establish your account with them, use your IRA funds to buy physical gold, and the trustee in turn holds the gold for you.

Diversify with Metals 

Investing in gold is an excellent way to diversify your portfolio. Additionally, precious metals have historically risen in value during stressful periods such as wars, inflation, deflation, and times of a weakening U.S. dollar. The biggest risk to any retirement account is inflation. As the dollar loses its strength, the value of your savings dips as well. By diversifying your retirement wealth into precious metals, which perform well in inflationary times, you protect your well-earned assets.

Additionally, since precious metals are not paper-based assets, your ownership of an asset like gold is not affected governmental decisions regarding interest rates. The self-directed IRA offers a way to move beyond paper assets to real physical investments that offer growth opportunities.

Due Dilligence and Preparation 

Investing for retirement requires diligence, study, and patience. However, you do not want all your hard work to quickly disappear if and when there is another stock market crash. Asset allocation is key to minimizing your risk and investing in precious metals, especially gold, is an excellent way to both grow your money while offering you protection.

Additionally, a unique feature of gold IRAs is that you can take physical possession of the actual gold when you make your withdrawals. This feature offers you the flexibility to meet your financial needs in an uncertain future. A gold IRA can let you benefit when the gold market performs well without some of the tax hassles involved in owning bullion or gold-related stocks outside a retirement account. Do your research and integrate gold into your retirement planning.

Jeremy Davis was a councilor for financial expenses for years. He now enjoy his retirement by writing blogs to help with the difficulties of financial issues and retirement. Aside from writing blogs Jeremy enjoys walks with his wife, gardening and tutoring young children in math and history as part of his retirement routines.