About seventy years ago, an iconic character first graced the pages of a comic book. It isn’t Superman. Nor is it Batman, Spiderman, or The Thing. But it is a character that many people aspire to be like.
The character is Scrooge McDuck. If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching any of the shows or movies that he’s featured in, I’ll give you a brief introduction. Scrooge is an anthropomorphized duck who spends his days running his many business ventures while wearing a top hat, a jacket, and spats. He’s even got a nifty walking stick that he abandons when things get really dicey.
One of Scrooge’s nephews just so happens to be Donald Duck. You might have heard of him? Scrooge, though, is the one who’s really got it going on. He’s operating at an Elon Musk level while Donald is getting into fist fights when snowmen.
That’s right, Scrooge is a billionaire. He is frequently seen taking a trip into his gold vault. Scrooge has had a diving board built over the top of his secure deposit box that is seven stories deep. Whenever he feels down, he bounces on the board and sends himself plummeting into the gold sea below.
Then he proceeds to swim through his money. He dips below the surface, then comes back up and spits gold coins into the air. He does the backstroke, the frog, and more.
If you’re looking into a Gold IRA because you’ve always wanted to be like Scrooge McDuck, well, I have some good news and some bad news for you.
The good news is that you can certainly invest in gold. The bad news is that you can’t swim in it – mostly because of physics, unfortunately.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at Gold IRAs. What are they, where are they, who are they for and what are the best gold IRA companies? Let’s dive in.
What is a Gold IRA?
A gold IRA is special type of investment account. It is intended to be a means of saving for retirement. Click here for more information about investment accounts.
Just like other retirement accounts, any money deposited will remain in the account until it reaches its maturity date. No, this doesn’t mean you send your gold to its room until it can learn to talk nice.
In this case, maturity just means that it has reached a predetermined marker in time. In other words, if you set your maturity date to coincide with the day you turn fifty-nine and a half, you’ll have to wait until then to be able to take any of your investment out of the account.
If, for some reason you have to withdraw funds early, you could be subject to fines or penalties. One example of these kinds of fees are taxes. Money deposited into a retirement account isn’t subject to taxes, but if you withdraw early, you’ll have to pay at that point.
Where is a Gold IRA?
Much like a traditional investment account, your assets are kept in a secure facility. You do not have to worry about the safety or security of your investment. Let’s walk through a day in the life of your investment.
Let’s say you wake up in the morning, take a look at your paycheck, and decide how much you want to invest in your gold IRA. Your next step is to make a call to your custodian. A custodian in this instance refers to the person who is in charge of your account.
So you call your custodian and tell them that you would like to invest, let’s say, one hundred dollars. Your custodian, let’s call her, say, Janet, gets off the phone with you and immediately gets to work. She scours the world looking for the high-quality gold coins, bars, or bullion. Click the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullion for more information about gold bullion. You can decide with Janet which type of metal investment you prefer.
Janet secures the investment. Then she brings the physical material into an on-site vault. Depending on your preferences, it might be a vault dedicated solely to your own investments, or it could be a vault shared with other investors. Either way, when Janet leaves the vault is secured behind her.
Left behind is a guard. Let’s call him Barney. Barney is there to make sure that your investment is secure.
Who are Gold IRAs for?
There are no restrictions about who is eligible for a gold IRA. Anyone can decide to open an account with the help of a certified investment firm.
The account is ideal for adults of working age who are looking to put away for their retirement. Again, there are no restrictions, so you are free to open one even if you are older or younger than the targeted age. The decision is yours.
Many people are drawn to this kind of account because they know the value of gold and other precious metals is less temperamental than other commodities. Gold is recognized the world over for being highly valuable and sought after.
Due to inflation, the relative value of paper currency decreases over time. You might have seen that in action recently, as the prices of many everyday household goods have risen dramatically during the last year.
Just try buying a gallon of gas with two dollars. You can’t do it. It’s impossible. Your two dollars won’t even fill your car up enough to get you out of the gas station parking lot.
But gold doesn’t decrease in value. Its value isn’t tied to the health or security of any one nation. In these times of governmental instability, that can be a selling point for the savvy consumer.
If this sounds like you, your next step is to check out a website like this one: https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/05/28/gold-ira-guide/ to help you determine your next steps on your way to gold investment.
No matter how you choose to invest, make sure you’ve done all of your research before committing to any new opportunities.