Inherited IRA to Gold - My Experience and Questions
- •Been seeing a few threads about converting traditional IRAs to gold, but not much on inheriting one and then doing it.
- •My folks had a good chunk of change in a traditional IRA, mostly in mutual funds, and I inherited it last year.
- •We’re talking around $300k of the inherited funds went into physical gold and silver, mostly gold coins but a decent slug of silver too.
Been seeing a few threads about converting traditional IRAs to gold, but not much on inheriting one and then doing it. My folks had a good chunk of change in a traditional IRA, mostly in mutual funds, and I inherited it last year. After looking at the market for a bit and seeing how things have been going, especially with the inflation we've been seeing, I decided to move about half of it into a Gold IRA. We’re talking around $300k of the inherited funds went into physical gold and silver, mostly gold coins but a decent slug of silver too. My main goal is capital preservation, especially for some of that inheritance money.
I worked with a company some folks here have mentioned, Augusta Precious Metals, and the process was pretty straightforward. They helped me roll the inherited IRA over into a new self-directed IRA and then facilitate the purchase of the metals. It felt a little nerve-wracking moving that much money, but their reps were pretty patient with my endless questions. Being in the dairy business my whole life, I’m used to tangible assets, so holding something real like gold just feels right, especially with the uncertainty out there.
One thing that’s been on my mind, living here in Madison, is the storage aspect. The metals are in a Delaware depository, which is what Augusta uses. Part of me sometimes wonders about having them closer, but I know the security at those places is top-notch. For those of you who’ve inherited an IRA and then converted it to precious metals, what’s your long-term strategy for distributions? Are you planning to take in-kind distributions or sell the metals and take cash? I'm curious what others are doing, especially as I get a little closer to needing that money down the road.
Also, how often do you all look at rebalancing your precious metals portfolio within your IRA? I haven't touched it since the initial setup, but I'm wondering if a yearly check-in is enough, or if I should be more proactive. Any insights from fellow midwesterners or anyone with a similar experience would be great.