Lately, it feels like I have seen more and more people talking about gold investing both online and in my everyday life. Brokers are popping up everywhere, and watching these trends made me wonder if it was something worth looking into. Now that I have done my research, I would like to share some of my findings with you!
The most pressing question, of course, is whether you really can create a retirement plan that is based upon something like gold or another precious metal. Through what I have discovered, I think that it is safe to conclude that yes, it is a possibility! Whether it is a viable one is a matter for discussion, of course.
So, if that sounds like something that you want to know a bit more about, stick around! I will be covering the viability of such a plan for retirement and how it can work in the first place. Do not be intimidated by the topic – I will do my best not to make it overly complicated!
Retirement Funds: Why they Matter so Much
In our youth (primarily young adulthood), it can be easy to think of retirement as something far-off. Honestly, I felt that way for a long time. However, it is hard to understate the importance of preparing for that time of your life. Trust me when I say that you will not regret starting as soon as you possibly can.
Now, I am not saying that everyone needs to get their start as teenagers in high school, sweating away in a minimum wage job and setting aside fifty percent of our paychecks even back then. However, there is nothing wrong with saving a few dollars here and there even during that time of your life.
Essentially, your goal should simply be to begin the process of saving for your retirement as soon as it is feasible for you. Right now, a lot of young adults in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck. That means that they are one incident away from complete disaster a lot of the time. No one expects you to dedicate your wages to your retirement in this stage.
Instead, consider utilizing any of the money that you get from gifts (such as birthdays or Christmas) to make a retirement account, if that is something realistic for you.
Resourcefulness is going to be a useful trait either way. At the end of the day, it will take a pretty high net worth to live comfortably during your golden years, so that is definitely something to consider.
What about Gold, Then?
By now, you are probably wondering what gold and precious metals have to do with what we have been talking about. Admittedly, at first glance there does not appear to be a very strong connection. With that being said, though, there is good reason to lump them into the same article. Let me explain.
In the image above, you can see something called “bullion.” It is a gold bar, albeit in a format that we do not see all too often these days. While this is the traditional style, nowadays they tend to be smaller and more easily portable for consumer and investor convenience.
If you did not already know, precious metals are a booming market in investing right now. You can see some examples on sites like this one, Gold IRA Reviews, which also give some details on how you can turn some bullion into a solid retirement plan. Isn’t that an intriguing thought? How does it work, then?
Addendum: IRAs
Before we proceed with the precious metals talk, first I want to briefly explain to you what an IRA is. The acronym stands for individual retirement arrangement. They are a way for us to prepare for the age of being a retiree while enjoying some tax benefits along the way.
Depending on which type that you opt for (some examples are traditional or Roth plans), you will either pay taxes when you deposit or when you withdraw. Gold IRAs are something called a self-directed one and are more generally referred to as precious metals IRAs. That is probably all of the important things that you need to know, here.
Precious Metals Retain Value
With that out of the way, we can shift our attention to why we would invest for our retirement with gold or other precious metals at all. The main four metals in question here are silver, palladium, platinum, and of course gold. All of them have unique chemical properties that make them both appealing and useful for us humans.
You see, the fact that they can be used in manufacturing is a huge draw in the modern day. Sure, they have pretty much always had some value because of the ways that they can be used as status symbols (think jewelry and coinage), but today their worth is a bit more practical. That should be a comfort to anyone looking to store their wealth in such a manner – it is unlikely that we will stop needing them any time soon.
In addition to that, they can serve as a hedge against inflation. While that might sound complicated, all it really means is that it is much less likely to lose spending power versus paper currency. So, if the recent news is scaring you and making you worried about your current savings, this could be a way to protect yourself from that.
Generally, there are plenty of reasons that a person might opt to add precious metals to their investment portfolio. Now that you know some of them, I do hope it allows you to be a well-informed buyer once you start looking into brokers.
Most financial institutions and banks have options for opening IRAs as well, so it is worth asking about the self-directed type and whether they offer them. Most importantly, though, make sure to do some of your own research on this as well!
Read Also:
- Put Your Retirement Savings To Work For You With Gold IRA’s
- Review Benefits Of Investing In Gold IRA W/ Lear Capital & Other Dealers
- Are There Age Conditions When Opening An IRA
