Been holding physical gold in an IRA for 5 years now, still feeling good but curious about others' RMDs

Donna Rogers

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Been holding physical gold in an IRA for 5 years now, still feeling good but curious about others' RMDs

donna_rogers🏆Advanced (250-500k)

about 5 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•Hard to believe it's been five years since I first rolled a chunk of my old 401k into a Gold IRA.
•I started with about $300k, mostly in physical gold coins and bars, and have added a little bit to it each year.
•My thinking was, if the economy went sideways, I'd rather have something tangible that’s held value for millennia than just bits on a screen.

The 3-step rollover process explained

Hard to believe it's been five years since I first rolled a chunk of my old 401k into a Gold IRA. Initially, I was pretty nervous, especially coming from a background in bourbon where the assets (whiskey barrels!) are a bit more…liquid, in a different sense. I started with about $300k, mostly in physical gold coins and bars, and have added a little bit to it each year. My thinking was, if the economy went sideways, I'd rather have something tangible that’s held value for millennia than just bits on a screen. Plus, there's something to be said for investing in legacy assets, much like aging high-quality bourbon.

The returns haven't been like some of the tech darlings out there, obviously, but they've been incredibly solid and, more importantly, stable. I've probably averaged around 8-10% annually over the five years, which I'm more than happy with, especially considering the current market volatility. It’s comforting knowing that a significant portion of my retirement is insulated from some of the everyday market craziness. Living here in Lexington, I see enough of the highs and lows in other industries to appreciate a steady climb.

I'm starting to get closer to retirement age (still a ways off, but thinking ahead!), and the thought of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) has been creeping into my mind. I've found a pretty neat tool, the RMD Calculator at Gold IRA Blueprint, that helps estimate what those distributions might look like. It's been really useful for scenario planning, but I'm curious to hear from others in a similar boat. For those of you who have started taking RMDs from your Gold IRAs, how has that process been? Any unexpected hurdles or things I should be aware of?

4 comments

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Best Answer▲ 9 upvotes

daniel_wright💎Premium (500k-1m)

Interesting post. While I totally get the appeal of gold for stability, five years is a good chunk of time. Are you at all concerned about the opportunity cost of having $300k tied up in a non-growth asset for that long? Especially with the market doing what it's been doing lately, even a conservative ETF could have seen some significant gains. Just a thought!

Comments (4)

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

Glad to hear your Gold IRA is still looking good after 5 years! That's awesome. I'm actually in a similar boat, though not quite as long. Rolled a decent chunk of an old 401(k) into a Gold IRA about 3 years ago now. Haven't hit RMDs yet, but it's definitely something I've been thinking about. Good to know others are in it for the long haul too!

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

Hey, that's awesome you've been in for 5 years and are feeling good about it! Super interesting that you came from bourbon barrels too, haha. I'm curious, when you say "mostly in phy," are you referring to physical gold coins or bars?

daniel_wright💎Premium (500k-1m)Real Investor✓ Verified•less than a minute ago

betty_king📊Growing (50-100k)•less than a minute ago

Hey, that's awesome you're feeling good about your Gold IRA after five years! It's always great to hear about long-term success, especially with something as significant as retirement savings.

Since you're starting to think about RMDs, I found this article from Oxford Gold Group that breaks down the rules specifically for precious metals IRAs. It covers everything from when they start to how distributions work with physical assets. Might be a helpful read as you plan ahead: Required Minimum Distributions from a Precious Metals IRA.

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