Inherited IRA to Gold - My Experience and Questions

Christopher Young

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Inherited IRA to Gold - My Experience and Questions

christopher_young🌟Ultra (5m+)

about 1 hour ago

Key Takeaways

•It was my mother’s IRA, bless her soul, and she had a good chunk of it in fairly standard mutual funds.
•After taxes and probate, there was still north of $1.5M in there.
•I’ve always been heavy into physical metals for my personal portfolio, but navigating the inherited IRA rules was a bit different.

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Just went through the process of converting a substantial portion of an inherited IRA into physical gold, specifically some great AGEs and a few Canadian Maples. It was my mother’s IRA, bless her soul, and she had a good chunk of it in fairly standard mutual funds. After taxes and probate, there was still north of $1.5M in there. Given the current market volatility and my own conviction about the dollar, parking a significant portion of that in precious metals felt like a no-brainer. I’ve always been heavy into physical metals for my personal portfolio, but navigating the inherited IRA rules was a bit different.

The custodian I used was fantastic, really held my hand through the whole thing. The setup for the SDIRA was surprisingly straightforward, and then the actual transfer and purchase of the coins was executed without a hitch. I was a bit nervous about the timelines – didn't want to get hit with any nasty surprises from the IRS on the distribution end, or have the market tank while funds were in transit. Thankfully, everything aligned. My biggest challenge was honestly deciding on the exact allocation between American Gold Eagles and others; ultimately went with about 70% AGEs and 30% Canadas for some diversity in mints and intrinsic value representations.

For those of you who have done something similar with an inherited IRA, especially if it was a significant amount, what were your biggest takeaways? Did you encounter any snags with custodians or regulations that I might have just lucked out avoiding? And for the gold bugs out there, any thoughts on whether to hold a small percentage in silver within a gold-heavy IRA like this, or just keep it purely gold? I'm already stacked on silver outside of IRAs, but curious about the strategic play within the retirement account.

It’s a big sigh of relief having this portion of my inherited wealth secured outside of the traditional financial system. With my other ventures and my main portfolio, I'm usually dealing with much more aggressive strategies, but this felt right for what Mom left behind. Just curious to hear other investors' experiences, especially if you're holding a similar level of assets in tangible gold. Based in Scottsdale, AZ, if that provides any context for anyone.

5 comments

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Best Answer▲ 10 upvotes

gary_stewart📊Growing (50-100k)

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! It's always helpful to hear firsthand how these things go. One thing I found really useful when I was looking into this was a clear breakdown of the different types of gold you can hold in an IRA. Not all gold is IRA-eligible, so double-checking that your particular coins meet the fineness requirements can save a headache down the line. Here's a quick search result that usually has good info on that.

Comments (5)

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

Hey, glad to hear you got that squared away. I went through something similar a few years back with my grandfather's IRA. He had a pretty diverse portfolio, but a good chunk was in some old mutual funds I wasn't thrilled about.

Ended up rolling a significant portion into a Gold IRA myself, mostly AGEs and some 1 oz. bars. The process was surprisingly smooth, though the paperwork felt endless. How did you find the custodian part? That was my biggest hurdle.

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

Hey, that's really interesting! So you went with AGEs and Maples. Did you consider anything else, like bars, or were those particular coins recommended for some reason? Just curious about the thought process behind those choices.

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

Hey, that's interesting you went with AGEs and Maples right away. While they're definitely solid choices, I've heard some folks on here suggest diversifying into a wider range of bullion, or even some numismatics, when doing a rollover from an inherited IRA. Might offer a bit more flexibility down the line if you ever want to rebalance without liquidating everything. Just a thought!

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

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

Totally agree with your positive experience! I went through a very similar process with my father's old 401k, rolling it over into a Gold IRA. The process was way smoother than I expected, and I also went with AGEs and some Silver Eagles. It's great to have that peace of mind knowing a portion of my inheritance is safely diversified.

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