APMEX Precious Metals IRA Review

APMEX is the world’s largest online reseller of precious metals, providing the highest quality products from mints around the world. Their Oklahoma-based business offers a diverse selection, ranging from gold and silver to platinum and palladium, as well as a variety of numismatic items. Not only does APMEX offer a trusted source for various precious metals, but they also provide diverse avenues for investing in them.

They offer a Precious Metals IRA, a self-directed retirement account that allows investors to diversify their retirement portfolio with physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. With their Precious Metals IRA, APMEX aims to provide customers with an easy, secure, and cost-effective way to diversify their retirement portfolio.

Types of Precious Metals Eligible for Investment in Apmex

apmex logo APMEX offers a variety of products and services to meet the needs of any investor. From personal storage of gold, silver, palladium, platinum, and rare coins, to investing in gold IRAs, APMEX has everything you need to make informed decisions about your investments. Additionally, APMEX offers a secure and reliable way to buy and sell precious metals, ensuring you receive fair market value for any transaction you make.

They also offer other bullion products, such as bars and rounds. All products are backed by APMEX’s commitment to quality and customer service. APMEX also sells the following items:

  • The Austrian Gold Bar

Austrian gold bars are a popular choice among gold investors due to their distinct features. One of the most distinguishable features of Austrian gold bars is their weight, which can reach up to 250 grams, or 8.04 ounces. This makes Austrian gold bars a great choice for those looking to have a tangible level of gold in their possession. In addition, all gold bars sold by Austrian providers contain an imprinted national seal, which adds to the bar’s authenticity and ensures that it was produced in Austria.

  • The American Eagle

The American Eagle, created by the United States Mint, is a popular gold and silver bullion coin that has become a staple of many precious metal investments. The coin’s front face features a striking design of Lady Liberty, while the back face depicts a bald eagle, both representing the spirit of America. In addition to these designs, the American Eagle also contains special inscriptions that highlight the coin’s origin and intrinsic value.

  • The Gold Panda

This gold coin is particularly attractive to investors due to its beautiful design and its high level of purity. Produced by the Chinese Mint, the Gold Panda is composed of .999 pure gold, making it a 98.9% pure gold bullion coin. This coin features the Temple of Heaven on its obverse side with a different panda design on the reverse side each year, making it a popular collectible with numismatists. Each Gold Panda coin is also assigned a unique serial number by the Mint, which can be tracked and accessed through the Gold Panda’s official website.

  • The Gold Buffalo

The Gold Buffalo is an investment grade, 1 oz gold bullion coin produced by the United States Mint and available for purchase through Apmex. It is the first pure 24-karat gold coin ever struck by the US Mint and features the iconic design of a Native American on one side and an American Bison on the other. This coin is a highly desirable and sought-after form of precious metal investment and is eligible for a variety of other precious metals available for purchase through Apmex.

  • The Australian Platypus

The Australian Platypus is a beautiful and unique coin issued by the Australian government, making it the perfect addition to your individual retirement account (IRA). The reverse of the coin features a stunning image of a leaping platypus emerging from beneath a cluster of foliage, while the obverse of the coin displays the profile of Queen Elizabeth II. The coin itself is crafted from a smooth and durable precious metal, making it an ideal choice for long-term investment.

Opening an Apmex Precious Metals IRA

Opening an APMEX Precious Metals IRA is a great way to invest in the future of your finances. This type of IRA allows you to diversify your retirement portfolio and access the potential growth of the precious metals market. By taking advantage of this comprehensive and secure retirement option, you can provide greater financial security for yourself and your family. Opening an APMEX Precious Metals IRA is a straightforward process that can be completed in just a few simple steps:

  1. Open A Custodian Account

When opening an Apmex Precious Metals IRA, you will need to open a custodian account with Apmex. This account is kept separate from your own personal bank account, so you will need to provide some personal information in order to open the account. This includes your address, Social Security Number, date of birth, and other financial information.

  1. Fund The Account

The second step in opening an Apmex Precious Metals IRA is to fund the account. This involves transferring existing retirement funds, such as a 401k or traditional IRA, or contributing new funds to the account. You can do this by sending a check for the total amount or by using a wire transfer for larger amounts.

  1. Purchase Approved Products

The third step in opening an Apmex Precious Metals IRA is to purchase approved products. Apmex offers a wide selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium products that are eligible for inclusion in an IRA. These include coins, rounds, bars, and other collectibles. The products must meet certain specifications in order to be approved for purchase in an IRA. Apmex will provide thorough guidance when selecting IRA-eligible products, including detailed product descriptions and pricing information.

Tax Benefits of an Apmex Precious Metals IRA

apmex holiday items

An American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) Precious Metals IRA offers a number of tax benefits that makes it an attractive investment option for those looking to diversify and secure their retirement savings. With an APMEX Precious Metals IRA, investors can enjoy the following tax benefits:

  • Tax-Deferred Earnings: Any gains or income earned on assets held in an APMEX Precious Metals IRA are deferred until the assets are withdrawn. This allows investors to maximize their return on investment without having to pay taxes on their gains until later in life.
  • Tax-Free Investment Growth: All investment growth within an Apmex Precious Metals IRA is completely tax-free.
  • Tax Deductible Contributions: Contributions to an Apmex Precious Metals IRA are tax deductible up to the annual IRS limit of $6,000 for individuals or $7,000 for those aged 50 or older.

How to Open a Precious Metals IRA

What does the best retirement plan look like? The kind of plan you choose will definitely depend on the kind of earnings and investments you are currently involved with. Investing in Individual Retirement Account has been the ideal way out for most people around the world with diverse items to invest in. You can choose to invest in bonds, stocks or even mutual funds; however, those are not the main aims of our discussion today. Individual Retirement Account also known as IRA allows you to invest in wide assortment of precious metals like Gold and Silver.

How do I invest in precious metals today?

As you already know when investing in IRA, there are a number of items you can purchase as your plan for retirement. Among the many items you can plan on include stocks, real estate, mortgages and most importantly precious metals. There are two main strategies you can use for investing in precious metals that include:-

  • Physical possession – this is the case when you personally choose to purchase precious metals and hence have ownership rights completely transferred to you by the seller. You must also be prepared to store your precious metals safely knowing that they may attract criminals. It is however ideal possession option because then only the people that you tell of your possession will know, which makes it safer if the list is smaller.
  • IRAs Precious Metals – By resorting to this method of ownership, you will be using IRA as an instrument to help you invest in wide range of precious metals, for instance gold, platinum, silver and even palladium. The best part about shopping for precious metals with IRA is the amount of metal purity (99.5%) you get. It is globally preferred by investors because of the tax benefits channeled to the holder. Remember IRA not only deals in precious metals but can also be where you invest in real estate, stocks and mortgages.

Main reasons to go for precious metals IRA

Lots of investors around the world are planning for the future by investing in precious metals IRA today. This comes with a long list of benefits that might intrigue you to make an investment in the same. The first merit of owning precious metals IRA is the tax reliefs from the state. Did you for instance know that precious metals IRA investors can defer payment of taxes until after they have made their withdrawals from the account? This can go a long way into helping you enjoy some financial relief through the period you own an IRA account.

The other great reason people invest in precious metals IRA is to avoid fees and also enjoy augmented control over your assets. This is only possible because the IRA account is self-directed account with the ability to option of choosing the account custodian. It also allows make depositories to the account as you augment your investment.

It is super easy to get scammed when trading in precious metals in the market today. How do you determine both the purity and the source of the metal when you do not trust the seller? When you choose precious metals IRA, you are assured of 99.5% of metal purity which means you are always assured of value for your money even in the future when you are making your withdrawal.

Precious metals IRA is the right form of investment when you want security for your assets. You can rest assured that the precious Gold or silver belonging to you is getting the top quality security protection they deserve. This can be a better method of planning for your future than having physical precious metals in your possession where you may be vulnerable to attacks.

Investing in precious metals IRA is also another great way to watch your assets increase in value over time. When planning for the future, this can be an ideal method of securing your investment against external forces like inflation and periods of economic instability and uncertainties. It supersedes most forms of investment that are susceptible to depreciation, especially when projected over a long period of time.

Guide to Setting up precious Metals IRA

If you have gained interest in securing your future or retirement through precious metals investments then you are on the right page. Discussed here are a few steps involved in the process of setting up your precious metals IRA account today.

Choose self-directed IRA custodian

This refers to the account that will be used to accept contributions, production of statements and full set up of your account. This Individual Retirement Account holder or custodian does buy the precious metals from either the dealer or transfer of funds from traditional IRA to your self-directed IRA account for the purchase process. You must however be careful of the kind of custodian you choose as they should have your goals at heart besides being affordable to your budget. It is also ideal to check out other kind of services that they provide before you hire them.

Open your account

Your custodian will help you create the precious metal IRA account which is why you must insist on hiring the right one for you. Your custodian can also assign an account partner that is meant to make the application process easier for you. Processing of the applications along with the account activation can take a day at most and self-directed IRA custodians can get the applications from mail, fax or even their email.

Transfer the money

It takes some time before a bank wire can be successfully completed today. It is however essential you transfer money to your newly made account even though your custodian is to help you through it. The degree of help accorded to you by your custodian and any other duties are however best done after your authorizations. Your custodian, for instance, has to get your permission before they can make withdrawals from the current custodian.

Choose the desired precious metal (s)

After a successful bank wire, the transaction will be noted in your account which means the floor is now open for you to choose the kind of investments that you want to make. Since making a decision without being properly informed can be suicidal, you must consult your account partner assigned to you. They will expound the kind of investments available as precious metals and also get a chance to understand more about your precious metal IRA account. It is only then that you can make up your mind on the metals to buy and have them at your self-directed IRA.

Ship the metals to your desired designation

Congratulations on purchasing precious metals as your investment for the future, the next step is all about working on the safety of your new investment. Your custodian needs to ensure that the metal is successfully shipped to Delaware Depository Service Company also known as the DDSC. Since the DDSC is complied with UL standards and Bank Protection Act, it provides an insurance underwritten by Lloyds of London. All this does is guaranteeing the security of your precious metals secured at non-government depository storage location.

The two ways you can fund an IRA

Rollover – this is among the common methods of funding an IRA account and it entails withdrawing money from your other retirement plan and using it for your precious metals IRA. The duration between withdrawing from your other retirement plan and investing in your precious metals IRA is approximately two months or sixty days. This is the kind of transaction that is done once a year by people who are tied under employer-sponsored retirement plans. You are not subject to any taxation when the transaction from previous plan to current precious metals IRA is done within sixty days, after which you will be subject to some form of penalty or taxation. To avoid all the hectic nature of the process or transaction, most precious metal IRA owners delegate the duty to their IRA custodians.

Trustee to trustee – there are few reasons why this type of funding is preferred over rollover option. It allows you to make as many transfers as you see fit and besides you are not subject to any taxations. Trustee to trustee funding is also called direct transfer considering current IRA trustee account holder to the new precious metal IRA account. Direct transfers can only be made from the same type of accounts, for instance pre-tax account to another pre-tax account or post-tax account to another post-tax account. You must consult with your custodian and account partner to determine the right funding method you should use for you.

Qualities of IRA allowable precious metals

  1. Gold should be 99.5% pure and both platinum and palladium must be over 99.9%, however the silver must be 99.95% pure.
  2. All the bars, coins and rounds that are produced by refiner, manufacturer or assayer who is accredited by COMEX, LME, TOCOM, ISO9000, NYSE/ Liffe.
  3. Proof coins should be in mint package accompanied with the right authenticity certificate.
  4. Small bullion bars need to be manufactured to their exact weight. This includes any bars that are not 400-ounce gold, 100-ounce gold, 1000-ounce silver, 0-ounce platinum and lastly 100-ounce palladium.
  5. Non-proof coins have to be in great shape and should be uncirculated and damage free from careful handling.

What are the different types of IRAs?

As you already know IRA stands for Individual Retirement Accounts and does refer to personal savings accounts that people have for as retirement plan for the future. There are a lot of reasons why people should invest in IRAs including tax reliefs and the diverse investment paths to choose. Discussed here are some of the different types of IRAs that you can choose for yourself.

Custodial IRA

This is an ideal method of securing the future for your children or anyone who is under the legal age of 18 years. It is also called minor IRA account which is for those who are still growing and may need the investment or savings in the future. It is especially meant for young teenagers or children that are actively earning income through different avenues. This IRA account can either be traditional or Roth and the funds used to invest in it can be used in the future for college or retirement needs.

Traditional IRA

This is common IRA options that have a lot of investors preference around the world. The contributions of traditional IRA can be subject to tax deductibles. During the retirement period, the pre-tax contributions or earnings will be taxed in the form of current income. There are however no income limitations that it is subject to like other IRA options. Your custodian can best help you understand the account and most importantly make investment decisions.

Roth IRA

What makes Roth IRA unique is that the contributions made are not subject to tax deductions. Owners of Roth IRA accounts also tend to make their withdrawals without being subject to any taxation or penalties five years after creating it. You are allowed to enjoy these benefits once you have surpassed the age of 59.4 years. Your custodian should however help you understand that income eligibility limitations exist for the account and the better you understand, the better decisions you will make moving forward.

Rollover IRA

Rollover IRA tends to cost lesser fees than 401(K) and besides has a lot of choices for you to choose from. Through consulting your custodian, you can evaluate the multiple options before you and then make up your mind whether rolling to an IRA can work out for your best interests. With this account, your money can continue growing without being subject to any taxation forces.

Inherited IRA

This is also called beneficiary IRA and it is meant for the next of kin who inherits either a traditional or Roth IRA account. The contributions for this account are subject to taxes and the IRA conversions allowed with other accounts may be limited here. There are also compulsory annual distributions or liquidation of the account before a certain period that you will be informed of by your custodian.