Thinking about Platinum for my IRA - What are thoughts on timing it?

Robert Thompson

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Thinking about Platinum for my IRA - What are thoughts on timing it?

robert_thompson💰Established (100-250k)

about 14 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•Maybe 10-15% of what I currently have in gold?
•I live here in Phoenix, so I like to keep an eye on all sorts of economic indicators, even in my retirement.
•Or did you just DCA in like I tend to do with everything else?

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I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter lately, both here on the sub and in some financial news, about whether it's even worth trying to time the market, especially with precious metals. As someone who’s mostly stuck with gold since my own wake-up call after '08 – which was a tough time for a lot of us, Lord knows – I’ve always been a buy-and-hold kind of guy. My Gold IRA is sitting pretty at around $180k now, which isn't huge but it's a good chunk of my retirement nest egg, and that’s after I started building it up slowly over the years.

Lately, though, with the whispers about potential industrial demand picking up for platinum and some of the price fluctuations we’ve seen, I’m seriously considering diversifying a small portion of that into a Platinum IRA. Maybe 10-15% of what I currently have in gold? I live here in Phoenix, so I like to keep an eye on all sorts of economic indicators, even in my retirement. My gut tells me platinum could be undervalued right now, but then that voice in the back of my head screams, "You can't time the market, old man!"

So, for those of you who have actually held platinum in your IRAs – did you try to time your entry point? Or did you just DCA in like I tend to do with everything else? I’m truly on the fence here. I appreciate the long-term security precious metals offer, which is why I got into them after spending 30 years teaching. But it feels different when you're looking at a metal with more industrial use like platinum compared to gold’s traditional safe-haven status.

Any thoughts or experiences you guys have had with platinum, especially regarding entry strategies, would be super helpful. Has anyone here actually successfully timed a significant platinum purchase? And for those of you planning your retirement with precious metals, have you checked out that Retirement Planner tool? I used it to model some scenarios for my own gold allocation and it was pretty insightful. It makes me wonder how platinum would fit into those long-term projections.

5 comments

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Best Answer▲ 10 upvotes

catherine_bell🏆Advanced (250-500k)

Yeah, timing the market is tough, everyone says that. But with platinum specifically, I wonder if there's a slightly different angle. It's got those industrial uses that gold doesn't really have to the same extent. So while general market timing might be a fool's errand, maybe keeping an eye on certain industrial sectors or global manufacturing trends could give some insight for platinum? Not market timing in the traditional sense of 'buy low, sell high' with daily fluctuations, but more like anticipating macro shifts. Just a thought.

Comments (5)

gary_stewart📊Growing (50-100k)•about 4 hours ago

Totally get where you're coming from on the timing thing. After '08, I was so convinced silver was going to pop, I dumped a chunk into it for my IRA. It did okay, but honestly, looking back, I spent way too much time refreshing charts and stressing. Now I just DCA into my gold allocation and try not to overthink it. Platinum's interesting though, definitely a different beast.

barbara_white🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor✓ Verified•about 4 hours ago

Totally get the hesitancy after '08, that was brutal. You mentioned sticking mostly with gold since then – what made you start looking at platinum specifically now, if you've been happy with gold for so long?

catherine_bell🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor•about 4 hours ago

thomas_walker🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor✓ Verified•about 4 hours ago

Hey, interesting thought on platinum! Timing the market is definitely a tricky beast, especially with metals. It feels like everyone has a strong opinion, and '08 was a harsh lesson for many. Instead of trying to nail the perfect entry point, have you considered dollar-cost averaging into platinum? It can help smooth out the peaks and valleys over time, and takes some of the pressure off trying to predict the future. Here's a quick read on it if you're curious: Investopedia on DCA.

mark_adams👑Elite (1m-5m)Real Investor•about 4 hours ago

Completely agree here. Trying to time the market, especially with something like platinum, just feels like a recipe for disaster. My own experience backs this up. I dabbled in silver back in 2011, thought I was a genius for a bit, and then promptly lost about 15% when things dipped. Made me realize I'm much better off adopting a "set it and forget it" mentality, particularly for my long-term retirement holdings.

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