If you are like most people who are keeping an IRA, you probably wondered to yourself “what is a gold custodian” and what he does. Well, to be simple about it, having the word “custodian” means that a gold custodian manages your physical gold on your behalf.
A gold custodian is not optional. When congress first created gold IRA, they made the law so that a gold custodian is in charge of the physical gold in the retirement account, not the IRA owner (read: YOU). While we don’t know why gold IRA was set up that way, we do know that when you do get IRA, you own physical gold. This is very important in that can buffer your retirement account against the volatility of paper-backed assets like bonds and stocks.
Gold has intrinsic value, meaning that it will always be valuable and can be bought and sold no matter what the economic conditions are. Even when a country is bankrupt, owners of gold items like jewelry and coins can still sell and make money.
Are you ready for gold? You should be. While the precious metal experienced a downward trend in price in the 1980s, it has been on a general uptrend in the 2000’s. Of course, the daily price fluctuates daily, but the price is much higher now than it was 30 years ago, and the price is only expected to rise how many years from now.
If you are interested in adding gold to your retirement account, you should buy from gold brokers that are also gold custodians (don’t just stop to ask “what is a gold custodian). There are many of these broker/custodians out there, it’s just a matter of finding one who is certified by the IRS.
When you enroll in a gold IRA, the gold custodian will buy gold on your behalf. The gold custodian ensures that the item is in keeping with the standards set by the IRS, and you might get a US gold coin or bullion. Once the transaction is completed, your gold will be stashed in an IRS-approved vault where it will stay there until you decide you want to sell your gold. When you do decide to sell, the custodian will do all the necessary paperwork. You will be taxed accordingly.
In order to make the most of your old IRA, it is very important that you keep the gold for the long term. Do research on what the long-term prospects are for gold. Make sure to read articles written by the different financial experts (read at least ten articles written by different experts). As well, take note of the historical price of gold. Just like anything else, gold prices follow a trend, and for every low, low turn, the price always bounces back.
You can plot an expected time for when you are going to sell your gold just by doing a little research. The key here is to buy low and sell high.