How a Gold IRA Rollover Works, Step by Step

The word "rollover" makes people nervous, and the industry's junk mail does not help. In practice, moving retirement money into a Gold IRA generally involves standardized account and transfer paperwork. What follows is the entire process, in order, with the places where things can go wrong marked plainly.

You choose a gold company; the gold company works with a custodian (a licensed trust company) who opens a new self-directed IRA in your name. This is signature-and-ID paperwork. Account-opening fees and timing depend on the custodian and the provider's agreement.

There are two direct routes. A transfer moves funds custodian-to-custodian between two IRAs. A direct rollover moves funds from an employer plan — 401(k), 403(b), TSP — straight to the new custodian. In both cases the funds are not paid to you personally.

In both of these direct routes the funds move between institutions rather than being paid to you. The IRS sets out how such movements are treated, and converting previously untaxed retirement funds to a Roth IRA is treated differently again. Read the IRS material below, and ask a qualified tax professional how the rules apply to your circumstances.

IRS rollover rules · IRS explanation of Roth conversions

The other route is the indirect rollover, where your old plan pays you directly and you redeposit the funds within 60 days. If the deadline is missed, the amount may be treated as a taxable distribution, and an additional 10% tax may apply unless an exception is available. Treatment depends on the account type, contribution history and individual circumstances.

Transfers commonly take one to three weeks depending on how cooperative your old administrator is. Once cash sits in the new IRA, you select the metals with the dealer and the custodian executes the purchase on the account's behalf. Insist on a written quote — coin, quantity, premium over spot — before you authorize anything.

Eligible metals must be held by a qualified IRA trustee or custodian, often through a depository accepted by that institution. Storage, insurance, auditing and segregation arrangements vary between providers. Whether your records identify specific individual items, or an equivalent quantity of the same product, depends on whether the storage is segregated or commingled. From here the account is administered like other IRAs: you receive statements, and you can generally take distributions either in cash or in the physical coins themselves. Distribution rules, including whether and when required minimum distributions apply, are set by the IRS and differ between traditional and Roth accounts. Check the current IRS rules or ask a qualified tax professional about your account type.

Ask these on the first call, and pay attention to whether you get numbers or noise: