5 Reasons You Should Start a Gold IRA

As you save for your retirement, there are a number of different ways you can invest your money. You can put it into the stock market, in a managed fund or index fund. You can buy bonds that will mature around the time you’re ready to exit the workforce. There are plenty of different options. But if you look at them carefully, many pose significant risks as well. In the event of a disaster; you can end up losing your savings. If you really want to secure your future, you should consider starting a gold IRA. Here are 5 reasons why.

1. It’s Historically Proven

Gold and silver have been used as currency for 5,000 years. For centuries, people have relied on it as a source of wealth and security. The U.S. dollar used to be backed by these precious metals, to show the people their money was stable. Then we left the gold standard, and the economy suffered permanently as a result.

But despite this, the precious metal remains a safe and secure source of wealth. If you want to keep your retirement savings safe in the face of disaster, you can’t beat gold’s track record.

2. It Helps You Safeguard Against Inflation

When you think of someone trying to safeguard their savings against economic cataclysm, the image most commonly conjured up is of stuffing cash into a mattress. It’s not subject to the losses of the stock market, and whenever you need it, the exact amount you saved will be right where you left it.

Unfortunately, this image is deceptive. Hoarding cash will not protect your savings. Why? Inflation. The amount of goods or services you can buy today with a $20 bill is far less than what you could get a decade or two ago. So by the time you reach retirement, you’ll have the same amount in currency, but its value—hence buying power—will be far less.

Gold, on the other hand, is not subject to inflation. It’s a physical commodity with real, intrinsic value. Therefore, its price tends to go up, just as everything else does. So if you buy gold coins or bars in preparation for your retirement, a decade or two from now they’ll have the same buying power they do today.

3. A Gold IRA Provides for Tax-free Savings

Ben Franklin said that the only two sure things in life are death and taxes. Well, while you can’t take your gold with you when you die, it can provide certain tax advantages while you’re still alive. Holding the physical precious metal, in coins or bars, allows for tax-deferred growth. If you decide to roll over your retirement account to a gold IRA from a standard IRA or 401(k), 403(b), or even a government TSP plan, you won’t accrue any penalties.

4. It Protects You in a Financial Crisis

In 2008, when the economy collapsed, many people who had been putting away retirement money for decades suddenly lost a large chunk of their savings. Even the housing market, which for so long was considered one of the most stable investments you could make, saw its bubble burst, with property values plummeting.

Today experts agree it could happen again in the near future. The stock market is headed for another crash within the next year. Housing is worrisome, as is the up-and-down oil industry. Even savings bonds are suffering. In our current near-zero interest environment, they’re not appreciating as much as buyers planned – and hoped.

To guard against economic disasters like these it’s important to have a safe haven; an investment that won’t be affected by market volatility or difficult economic times. But there are fewer now than there used to be. Precious metals are one of the last havens where you can invest your money to keep it protected in times of financial crisis.

5. It Helps You Avoid Counterparty Risk

With almost any investment you make, there’s the underlying worry of counterparty risk—that is the possibility the other party involved in the transaction won’t come through as expected. In stocks and bonds, this means instead of making money, you’ll lose your initial investment. The higher the potential for profit, the higher the counterparty risk.

Gold and silver don’t carry this risk. As physical commodities, you get exactly what you pay for. No one can ruin your gold’s value by mismanaging it. It exists outside the system, and therefore remains secure, ready for you whenever you choose to retire.

These are just a few of the reasons to consider a gold IRA in your retirement planning. Building up a percentage of your savings in gold guarantees a safe haven for those assets, rather than risking losing everything in a world where little makes sense anymore.