Back in July of this year CoinLink ran a story about Gold IRA’s and the choices available to consumers/investors. Since we are coming up to the end of the year we thought it would be prudent to re-examine the topic, especially in light of the exceptional performance of Gold in the past 12 months, and the rather extraordinary events that have unfolded in 2009. But first a bit of background.

What is a “Gold IRA” ?

Traditional IRA investment accounts you open with a Bank or stock brokerage firm DO NOT allow you to purchase physical precious metals in the account. The closest you can come to this is to select one of the many ETF’s that have become available in recent years. Two of the most popular ETF’s are the GLD and SLV for Gold and Silver respectively. However what if you want to purchase the actual physical gold or silver itself? To do that, you need to set up a Self Directed IRA account.

Self Directed IRA’s require a bit more effort to set up initially, but they offer the investor the greatest level of flexibility possible by allowing you to place “non-traditional” assets into a tax deferred vehicle such as an IRA, in this case precious metals.

How do Self Directed Precious Metals IRA’s Work?

Essentialy Self directed IRAs are composed of three different elements; The Precious Metals Dealer, The Third Party Administrator and finally The Depository where your IRA assets are stored. Lets take a look at these components.

1) Your Precious Metals Dealer – where it all begins…..
For many investors this is where it all starts. Since most investors do not have existing relationships with the more esoteric components of the the Self Directed IRA , namely the third party administrator or the depository service, they often rely on the advise and hard work of their Bullion / Precious metals dealer to assist them is setting up and selecting the other two “legs of the stool”. But here is where you need to make sure that you, as the investor, are educated as to what your choices are, how they will effect your investment and to guarantee that you get the most bang for the buck.
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