I currently have a 401K plan. I would like to convert some of this to Gold coins. Can this be done without incurring a penalty? How would I go about this?

ebaines

Most likely not. If you are no longer employed by the company where your 401(k) is located, you can roll the assets to a roll-over IRA, and as part of that invest in gold futures or gold coins - but only if they are US coins. You are not allowed to invest in collectibles, including other types of coins. If you are still employed where the 401(k) is located, it is highly unlikely that your 401(k) plan allows you to do an in-service rollover, but you could always ask your administrator about that.

Here's an article on how to invest in gold and other "unusual" investments in your IRA:

Unusual IRA Investments (Tax Matters: Personal Finance) at SmartMoney.com

AmericanGold

American Gold Investing

You can can hold precious metals within a traditional IRA, Roth IRA or a 401K. You may transfer an existing Traditional or Roth IRA to a qualified gold IRA with no taxes or penalties. In some cases, your existing 401k can be converted into a gold IRA as well.

More information here - Owning gold in 401K

Request free information by mail.

curtisst

It would be very wise to limit your investment in gold to no more than 10% of the total value of your Ira. Gold is a commodity like so many others that is tied to too many mitigating factors that most of us have no control over. Gold investing might have been a good idea BEFORE the current financial crisis hit but has become so expensive that it would be hard at this time to see any immediate or short term gains. You might actually see some losses short term. Most financial experts currently agree that gold might certainly go up again in the neat future as president elect Obama initiates his new " New Deal". This would be because of adding more debt to the federal bodget in which case the value of the dollar would decline and the value of gold as a safe haven would increase. Cover all your bases when investing in gold. Talk to the experts, research every day and invest no more than you would be comfortable in losing if gold goes sour.

aleskx

Which, BTW, has not happened for about 5,000 years. So, you can still buy e.g. a fine tailored man's suit for an ounce of gold, just like you could 100 years ago. Milk goes sour over time, gold does not.

As for the "experts", if what we witnessed in the last century is not a proof of the rotten nature of the "expertise", then I don't know what is.

The main problem is where your gold is physically located. If history is of any value, they'll crack down on it again, just like FDR did in 1933.

nomoneyhere

Gold IRA and 401K was new to me. I spent hours trying to figure it our because I just thought I'd buy some gold bullion and put it in a safe or something. I called Regal Gold Coins and a guy name Tyler called me back and spent 30 minutes answering all my questions. I would say call someone that deals with this everyday because everyone is different.