401k to Gold IRA - my recent experience and a question for the group

Brian Edwards

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401k to Gold IRA - my recent experience and a question for the group

brian_edwards🌟Ultra (5m+)

about 9 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•Just wrapped up my 401k transfer into a Gold IRA, and wanted to share my timeline for anyone else considering it.
•I had a significant chunk – just over $1.2M – sitting in a couple of old employer 401ks that were just… not performing to my liking.
•The process itself took about 6 weeks from my first call to seeing the allocation in my new account.

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Just wrapped up my 401k transfer into a Gold IRA, and wanted to share my timeline for anyone else considering it. I had a significant chunk – just over $1.2M – sitting in a couple of old employer 401ks that were just… not performing to my liking. I’ve always been heavy into physical metal, especially silver, but wanted some of my paper assets to have a bit more stability as well, especially with all the market fluctuations lately. The process itself took about 6 weeks from my first call to seeing the allocation in my new account.

The initial setup with the custodian and dealer was pretty smooth, took about a week to get all the paperwork signed and accounts opened. The real hold-up, as I expected, was with the old 401k administrators. One of them actually sent the check to my address in Aspen first, which was annoying, but thankfully my advisor caught it before I even knew. Had to get them to reissue it directly to the custodian. That added an extra 10 days right there. The other one was a bit faster, but still took over two weeks to process the distribution request. Honestly, it felt like pulling teeth at times, but my Gold IRA specialist was on top of them constantly.

Once the funds hit the custodian, it was another 3-4 business days for the actual metal purchase and allocation. I went with a mix of Gold American Eagles and Canadian Maple Leafs. Feels good to have that diversification, especially with the real estate market in a bit of a weird place right now. My portfolio is north of $5M, and this was a strategic move to de-risk a portion of it. For those of you who’ve done similar transfers, how long did your old 401k providers drag their feet? Did anyone face similar issues with checks being sent to personal addresses?

Overall, it was a worthwhile process for the peace of mind. Just curious if my 6-week timeline is about average, or if I got off easy/had it rough. Always appreciate hearing other people's experiences!

5 comments

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Best Answer▲ 9 upvotes

margaret_chen🏆Advanced (250-500k)

Congrats on getting it done! Sounds like a smooth process for you. Gotta admit though, $1.2M is a serious chunk to move. While I totally get the appeal of physical metal (I dabble myself), putting that much into a single asset class, even precious metals, feels a bit... aggressive for retirement savings. Are you keeping any diversified equity exposure or is this pretty much your entire portfolio?

Comments (5)

dorothy_lopez💰Established (100-250k)Real Investor•less than a minute ago

Awesome, glad to hear your transfer went smoothly! I had a pretty similar experience last year, though with a much smaller amount. Still, the peace of mind knowing a portion of my retirement is in something tangible like gold is a huge relief. Like you, I was tired of just watching the market roller coaster everything around. What's your next move with it?

karen_robinson💼Starter (0-50k)•less than a minute ago

Hey, glad to hear your transfer went smoothly! Sounds like a smart move, especially if you're already big into physical metal.

You mentioned it was "just over $1.2M" across a couple of old 401ks. Was there any difference in how straightforward the process was for the two different accounts, or did it all feel pretty similar?

margaret_chen🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor•less than a minute ago

Congrats on getting it done! Sounds like a smooth process for you. Gotta admit though, $1.2M is a *serious* chunk to move. While I totally get the appeal of physical metal (I dabble myself), putting that much into a single asset class, even precious metals, feels a bit... aggressive for retirement savings. Are you keeping any diversified equity exposure or is this pretty much your entire portfolio?

richard_garcia👑Elite (1m-5m)Real Investor•less than a minute ago

Congrats on getting that rollover done! It's always great to hear about people taking control of their retirement. For anyone else looking into this, knowing the IRS rules on rollovers beforehand can save you some headaches. There are some specific timelines and requirements, especially for indirect rollovers, so it's good to be aware.

patricia_miller📊Growing (50-100k)✓ Verified•less than a minute ago

Totally agree with this! I actually just finished my own 401k to Gold IRA rollover. Mine was a bit smaller, around $450k, but the process was really smooth for me too. Glad to see more people securing their retirement with something tangible.

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