Platinum IRA Rollover - Tax Questions After Selling Some Gold

Richard Garcia

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Platinum IRA Rollover - Tax Questions After Selling Some Gold

richard_garcia👑Elite (1m-5m)

about 1 month ago

Key Takeaways

•Been watching that market bounce around, and recently decided to take some gains.
•Cashed out about $150,000 worth of platinum a few months back.
•Now, I’m kinda scratching my head over the tax implications.

The 3-step rollover process explained

Alright, so I’ve been sitting on a good chunk of platinum in my IRA for a while now, probably close to 15 years since I rolled over a portion of my old 401k into a Precious Metals IRA. Been watching that market bounce around, and recently decided to take some gains. Cashed out about $150,000 worth of platinum a few months back. Now, I’m kinda scratching my head over the tax implications.

My advisor always just says "it's all good, it's in an IRA," but I'm a hands-on guy, always have been, even when I was running units offshore for BP. I like to understand the mechanics, not just take someone's word for it. So, my question is, since it was all done within the IRA, just selling one metal and letting the cash sit there for a bit before reinvesting in some other assets (maybe a little more physical gold, who knows), is there any immediate tax hit? I’m thinking no, because it’s still in the retirement account wrapper, but this is a substantial amount of money, and I want to be 100% sure I’m not missing something that's going to bite me come tax season. My wife would kill me if I messed this up.

Also, kinda thinking ahead here. Given the current market volatility, and frankly, my advancing age (pushing 70 now, enjoying retirement in Houston), I'm considering maybe taking some distributions from the IRA in the next year or two. Not all of it, obviously, still got a few million tied up, but enough to maybe upgrade the boat or even just have some extra liquid cash for travels. For those of you who’ve taken distributions from your Gold/Platinum IRAs, did you liquidate the physical metal first and then take a cash distribution, or did you ever have the physical metal shipped to you? And if you did, how did that affect the valuation for tax purposes? Any insights on that would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to plan this out right.

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5 comments

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Best Answer▲ 10 upvotes

betty_king📊Growing (50-100k)

Totally get this. I did a similar thing a few years back, though with silver. Had a pretty decent sum in a Silver IRA, watched it climb for a while, then decided to take some off the table. The tax side of things definitely threw me for a loop initially. Ended up talking to a financial advisor who specialized in precious metals, and it made a huge difference in understanding the best way to report it and avoid any nasty surprises. Definitely recommend getting some professional advice if you haven't already!

Comments (5)

betty_king📊Growing (50-100k)•about 1 month ago

helen_turner💰Established (100-250k)Real Investor•about 1 month ago

Interesting! So you're talking about platinum, but the title says "Gold IRA Rollover." Did you have both gold and platinum in that IRA, or was the original rollover for gold and you later diversified into platinum within the same account?

catherine_bell🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor•about 1 month ago

Hmm, interesting situation. While capital gains tax on collectibles (which precious metals are generally considered in an IRA) can be steep, it usually applies when you *sell* those assets outside of a tax-advantaged account. If you just sold some platinum *within* your IRA and kept the proceeds in cash or reinvested them in other IRA-eligible assets, you generally wouldn't trigger a taxable event until you take distributions in retirement. Are you sure you actually "cashed out" in a way that pulled the money *out* of the IRA?

thomas_walker🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor✓ Verified•about 1 month ago

Hey, that's a nice chunk of change! When you're dealing with moving assets within or out of an IRA, it can get tricky with the tax implications. It's always best to get professional advice.

A good resource to check out is the IRS Publication 590-A, "Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)." It covers a lot of the rules around rollovers and distributions, which would apply to your situation. Even if you're working with an advisor, knowing some of the basics yourself can be super helpful for asking the right questions!

donald_nelson💎Premium (500k-1m)Real Investor✓ Verified•about 1 month ago

Totally agree with your approach here. Selling off a portion and taking profits, especially after 15 years, just makes sense. I did something similar last year with some silver I'd been holding – nowhere near $150k, but still a nice chunk of change to rebalance my portfolio.

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