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Are you preparing to retire in the future? Nobody wants to work forever, so we have to begin preparations now before it’s too late.
In this particular case, opening a gold IRA account is a great way to shore up your retirement future. This account allows you to buy physical precious metals in the form of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
Many people realize the benefits of opening this type of account. It’s a valid way to take precaution while protecting your wealth from economic volatility, inflation, and stock market and housing market crashes amongst all the things.
Initiating a gold IRA rollover seems like a complicated process that many people unfortunately fear. There’s a good reason to worry because it’s possible to make a mistake that could lead to an additional 10% penalty and paying early withdrawal taxes.
To avoid this prospect, it’s important to learn about the rules and regulations regarding a gold IRA rollover. I’ll also share information about a gold IRA transfer, which is a safer alternative depending on whether or not it’s allowed for your particular account.
Gold IRA Rollover Important Info
The main way to initiate a gold IRA rollover is to take a distribution from a retirement account already in existence, and use the distributed proceeds to fund the gold IRA account. There are many options for investors to choose from as far as personal and employer-sponsored retirement accounts are concerned. The eligible accounts allowed during a gold IRA rollover include:
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Traditional IRA
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Roth IRA
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SEP IRA
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Self-directed 401(k)
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Employer-sponsored 401(k)
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TSP
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403(b)
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457(b)
When dealing with accounts that are employer-sponsored, the person who owns the account must no longer remain as an employee of their former employer in order to be able to initiate a gold IRA rollover. This is the case all around, but the majority of employers will not allow rollovers from their sponsored retirement accounts.
On the other hand, an employee can initiate a partial rollover once they reach 59 ½ years old as long as their employer allows it.
Please note: when you ask your custodian or administrator to initiate a rollover, the funds will be withdrawn as a distribution from your existing retirement account. The custodian will send the funds directly to you via wire transfer or check.
At this stage, you become responsible to deposit the distribution into your new gold IRA account. You have to make this deposit within 60 days of the distribution taking place.
If you fail to deposit the money within 60 days, you will have to pay an early withdrawal fee in the form of a 10% penalty. Plus, since the rollover is now considered a distribution because you missed the 60-day window, you are also responsible to pay taxes on the income the next time you file with the federal government.
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Gold IRA Rollover Rules
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As previously mentioned, it’s important to pay close attention to the 60-day deposit rule. Failure to do so can lead to an early withdrawal penalty that costs 10%, as well as paying tax consequences within your next filing. You have to deposit the funds into your new gold IRA account within the 60-day window. If you miss the window, the rollover then becomes a distribution according to the IRS.
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The account holder isn’t always responsible to pay an early withdrawal penalty depending on their age. If the account holder happens to be 59 ½ years of age or older, they could potentially miss the withdrawal window and avoid the early withdrawal 10% penalty. Why? 59 ½ years of age is the minimum withdrawal age requirement. Anyone at this age or older isn’t technically taking an early withdrawal because they’ve reached retirement age. Just remember that failing to complete the rollover means you’ve taken a distribution, which also means you must pay taxes on the income when you file a tax return next.
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Gold IRA account holders must also be aware that they are only allowed to initiate one rollover every 365 days, or once a year to put it another way. If a second rollover is initiated during the same calendar year, this will be considered a distribution and an early withdrawal penalty will kick in if the account holder is younger than 59 ½ years old.
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When rolling over funds from one IRA account to a gold IRA account, there is no need for tax withholding. This isn’t the case with other types of retirement accounts, so keep this in mind. With a 401(k), as an example, there is a 20% tax withholding after initiating a rollover.
Gold IRA Transfer Rules
A gold IRA transfer is an entirely different way to fund your brand-new gold IRA account, and quite frankly, it’s the easiest and most convenient way to fund the account without having to worry about early withdrawal penalties and other tax consequences.
The rules for a gold IRA transfer include:
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Account holders are not subjected to a 60-day deposit rule during the transfer process. Why? This is a custodian to custodian transfer, meaning the account holder never gets involved during the entire process. The money goes directly from one retirement account to the other, and the new custodian deposits the funds into the new gold IRA account without your intervention.
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Account holders never have to pay early withdrawal penalties during a gold IRA transfer. It’s never going to be an issue because the money moves directly from one account to the other, so a potential distribution never actually happens.
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Gold IRA transfer funds aren’t taxable. The only time anyone will pay taxes on funds from a gold IRA account is if they take a distribution. This usually happens when the account holder reaches 59 ½ years old.
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There aren’t any limits to the number of gold IRA transfers made with an account during the year. You can transfer funds once a day, once a week, once a month, or once a year if that’s how you want to handle things.
Final Thoughts
Clearly, gold IRA rollover is likely a little more complicated than you originally imagined, but it isn’t mine numbingly difficult to complete. Follow the rules mentioned above and you’ll have no problem initiating a rollover or transfer and properly following the steps so you aren’t subject to early taxes or early withdrawal penalties.
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