Rolled over a big chunk of my 401k to physical gold - best decision in years

• •Thought I'd share my experience with rolling over a significant portion of my old 401k into a Gold IRA, especially with all the noise lately.
• •For context, I’m retired now, living it up in Palm Beach, and have always been a believer in hard assets.
• •I started really looking into it about 18 months ago.

Thought I'd share my experience with rolling over a significant portion of my old 401k into a Gold IRA, especially with all the noise lately. For context, I’m retired now, living it up in Palm Beach, and have always been a believer in hard assets. My portfolio is north of a few million, and I was holding a pretty sizable sum in my old employer’s 401k – maybe $850k or so still sitting there, mostly in mutual funds that frankly felt a bit too exposed to the current market shenanigans.

I started really looking into it about 18 months ago. The process itself was surprisingly straightforward, though you absolutely need to work with a reputable custodian. I settled on Augusta Precious Metals after doing a ton of due diligence – spoke to a few different companies and they just felt the most transparent and professional. The actual transfer of funds from my old 401k to the new Gold IRA custodian was seamless. Then came the fun part: picking the actual metals. I went primarily with American Gold Eagles and some Gold Buffalos. I also added a smaller allocation of silver – about 20% of the metals portion – just for extra diversification. The physical metals were then shipped to a secure, IRS-approved depository in Delaware, which gives me peace of mind knowing it's safely tucked away.

Emotionally, it’s been incredibly reassuring. Watching the market swings lately, especially with inflation stubbornly high and all the geopolitical instability, I feel a lot more secure knowing a substantial part of my retirement is in an asset that has historically held its value. It’s not about getting rich quick; it’s about capital preservation and having a real hedge against currency debasement and market volatility. I still have plenty in stocks and other traditional investments, of course, but this move has significantly de-risked my overall position.

Anyone else here made a similar move recently? What were your considerations and what metals did you choose? Always interesting to hear other perspectives on asset protection strategies.