Inherited IRA to Gold - My Experience and Questions for Others

Donald Nelson

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Inherited IRA to Gold - My Experience and Questions for Others

donald_nelson💎Premium (500k-1m)

about 8 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•My dad passed a few years back, God rest his soul, and I inherited his traditional IRA.
•It wasn't a massive amount, about $350k, all in mutual funds.
•My own portfolio is strong in gold, probably around 60-70% metals and mining stocks, sitting comfortably between $700k and $800k.

The 3-step rollover process explained

Thought I'd share my experience with converting an inherited IRA into a Gold IRA, and see if anyone else has gone through something similar or has insights. My dad passed a few years back, God rest his soul, and I inherited his traditional IRA. It wasn't a massive amount, about $350k, all in mutual funds. I've been a gold bug for over 20 years myself, since the dot-com bubble burst, and I've seen the value in having physical assets, especially living through the market ups and downs from a retiree's perspective here in Detroit.

My own portfolio is strong in gold, probably around 60-70% metals and mining stocks, sitting comfortably between $700k and $800k. So, naturally, I wanted to move this inherited IRA into something tangible. I reached out to Augusta Precious Metals, as I'd used them for my own rollover a few years back. The process for an inherited IRA is a bit different, obviously. They were pretty good at walking me through the 'beneficiary distribution' rules and setting up a new Gold IRA account in my name as the beneficiary. The main thing was understanding the required minimum distributions (RMDs) and how those apply when it's converted to gold – essentially, the gold has to be valued yearly for those distributions, which can be a bit of a paperwork dance.

It took about 4-5 weeks from start to finish to liquidate the mutual funds and get the physical gold into the depository. I opted for a mix of American Gold Eagles and some Canadian Maples, just for diversification and liquidity. The peace of mind knowing that money is now backed by something real, not just paper, is huge for me. Especially with all the talk about interest rates and inflation again. I've lived through enough economic cycles to know that paper money can vanish overnight, but gold has always held its value.

So, my questions for the community are: 1. Has anyone else done an inherited IRA to Gold IRA conversion? What company did you use and what was your experience with the RMDs? 2. Any lesser-known considerations or pitfalls I should be aware of regarding beneficiary IRAs and physical gold? I feel good about my decision, but always open to learning from others' experiences.

3 comments

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Best Answer▲ 9 upvotes

dorothy_lopez💰Established (100-250k)

Hey, appreciate you sharing your experience! It's definitely a big decision, especially with an inherited IRA. While I get the appeal of gold for stability, I'm a bit curious about one thing. You mentioned your dad's IRA was in mutual funds, which are generally diversified. Moving it all into gold, even a Gold IRA, feels like putting a lot of eggs in one basket, doesn't it?

I know gold can be a hedge, but it doesn't typically offer income or the same growth potential as a diversified portfolio over the long term. Did you consider keeping some of it in more traditional investments for balance, or was the all-in gold strategy specifically for the peace of mind?

Comments (3)

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

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! I actually went through something pretty similar, though with a much smaller inherited IRA from my grandmother. It was a bit overwhelming trying to figure out all the rules, especially with the RMDs and then the Gold IRA conversion on top of it. I ended up converting about 70% of it, just for peace of mind more than anything.

Did you find the rollover process itself fairly straightforward, or were there any unexpected hiccups with the custodian? That was my biggest worry, making sure all the paperwork was ironclad.

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

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! It's super helpful to read about. I'm curious, when you say "all in mutual funds," were those actively managed funds or more like index funds? Just trying to get a sense of the initial portfolio before the conversion. Thanks!