A Gold and Silver IRA, or a Precious Metals IRA allows you to invest your retirement fund in products other than stocks, bonds, mutual funds and similar assets. This is the only IRA type where you can hold your investments in physical gold or silver, but that you can also use to hold other investments.

A Gold and Silver IRA offers many advantages. These include:

Profit

Gold has handily OUTPERFORMED the S&P and the stock market 8 out of the last 11 years and is up well over 22% compared to the stock market in 2016 alone. Gold though doesn’t generate any revenue for financial institutions and represents pulling your money from the financial system, the last thing the Fed wants anyone to do.

Diversification

Gold, silver, and other precious metals are effective risk diversifiers as their values are generally not affected by the same conditions that affect stocks, bonds, mutual funds and similar assets. This allows for a more balanced investment portfolio, and provides various avenues for gaining profit.

Protection against inflation

Gold and silver have demonstrated a direct correlation with inflation – that is, their values improve as the inflation rate rises. The U.S. dollar has shown a staggering 90% decline in value in the last 45 years or so, a trend that, by all indications, would continue well into the future.

It’s hard to predict how much your dollar-denominated assets would be worth at liquidation time, but your precious metal investments would most likely increase in value, given their positive correlation with inflation.

Wealth storage

The value of gold and silver is not only retained over time, but is also very likely to appreciate. The resiliency of gold and silver has been proven through centuries of trade. Their purchasing power is just as strong, if not stronger, today than it was a century or more ago. Given the length of time it would take before you can liquidate your retirement investments, it would be comforting to know you have a safe haven in your Gold and Silver IRA.

Intrinsic value

Gold and silver have their own values that are not dictated by businesses, the government, or any other outside entity. This intrinsic value is not lost in times of war, political uncertainty, financial crisis, or any of the factors that leave stocks, bonds and other paper assets vulnerable.

Physical ownership

Unlike other IRAs, a Gold and Silver IRA allows you to invest in physical gold and silver hard assets with NO counterparty risk, political affiliations and convertible into any other currency globally, and not just paper shares or certificates.

Tax benefits

You get the same tax benefits from your Gold and Silver IRA as from other IRA types. In a traditional Gold and Silver IRA, your precious metal investments are tax deductible, and you only pay taxes upon distribution. In a ROTH Gold and Silver IRA, you pay for taxes now but enjoy a tax-free distribution.

Additionally, your investments within the IRA can grow tax-free. If you sell an asset but keep the money within the IRA, you won’t have to pay capital gains until distribution.

Other investments

A Gold and Silver IRA is essentially the same as other IRA types. The main difference is that this is the only IRA where you can keep your physical investments in gold and silver. However, you can put in other investment types into this IRA, including non-traditional ones like real estate and franchises. This gives you utmost flexibility in diversifying your retirement nest egg while keeping them easy to manage under one IRA account.