Diversifying an IRA over several products is a popular choice for many Americans as it allows them to spread their risk over several different markets
. One such product that has performed spectacularly in the last decade is gold bullion. With the long-term outlook still looking very rosy for gold, this article discusses how you can add gold bullion to your IRA.
Adding Gold Bars to an IRA
Prior to the 1997 Tax Payer Relief Act, the only gold bullion allowed in an IRA was the American Gold Eagle coin. The Act however made it permissable to add gold bullion bars as well. This is a great advantage for investors as gold bars generally carry a smaller mark-up or 'premium' than gold coins. In other words you get more gold for your money when buying bars.
When buying gold bars, there are also a couple of legal issues to bear in mind:
# 1 - Purity
Gold bullion bars for IRA must have a minimum purity of 99.50% or what is also know as 9950 fineness. Credit Suisse gold bars fit the bill perfectly as they are 99.99% pure/ 9999 fineness (also known in the industry as 'Four 9's Gold').
# 2 - Accreditation
The bars must be hallmarked by assayers approved by the New York Mercantile Exchange or NYMEX, the biggest bullion exchange in the US. One such approved assayer is Valcambi, the refinery that has been producing Credit Suisse gold bars for over 40 years. Their famous hallmark 'CHI Essayeur Fondeur' can be found on all of their minted gold products.
So how do you actually go about adding gold bullion to your IRA? Two companies with a proven track record in precious metal IRAs are Goldstar Trust and Entrust.
Hopefully you now have a better idea how you can add gold bullion to your IRA and why Credit Suisse gold bars are an excellent choice. Bear in mind this is just one avenue to owning gold. You can also buy gold directly and store it in the bank.