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February 07 2019
If Financial Markets Make You Nervous, It’s Time to Own Physical Gold in Your IRA Instead
If the sharp selloff in stocks late last year has you looking for other places to invest your retirement money, self-directed IRAs are worth a look. These accounts allow you to switch some of your Wall Street assets for tangible assets such as gold, silver, and real estate.
Nervous investors are making the switch in increasing numbers. In addition to the diversification away from paper assets, it is easy to transfer funds from an existing IRA.
And the cost of maintaining the account is often well below what Wall Street charges to “manage” the funds.
Banks and brokerages successfully cultivated the idea that IRAs should contain only conventional securities – stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The vast majority of retirement funds are invested in those assets, and financial institutions get a rake on every nickel invested. It is no accident that paper is the ONLY option in most accounts.
Annual maintenance and storage fees for $100,000 in IRA funds invested in physical gold, including the storage at Money Metals Depository, are roughly 35 basis points (.0035) for the first year and 20 basis points (.002) ongoing. The maintenance and management fees built into many ETFs and mutual funds are triple that amount.
Word is getting out about the “Self-Directed IRA” alternative. In return for assuming personal control over investments, people can buy a wider range of assets – including many options their stock brokers and financial planners either don’t mention at all or speak of dismissively.
Today, there are a number of good IRA companies offering self-directed plans, so it is worth covering how an investor might go about choosing one.
Find out more: https://goo.gl/ZBq5z5
November 30 2017
How to Choose a Firm to Set Up Your Precious Metals IRA
Self directed IRAs are increasingly popular as investors discover they can use them to escape the ring fence represented by traditional IRA accounts.
Banks and brokerages successfully cultivated the idea that IRAs should contain only conventional securities – stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The truth is that they get paid handsomely for selling those paper assets, so that is all they put on the menu.
But word is getting out that it is perfectly legal and easy to own tangible assets, including real estate and precious metals, in an IRA. Investors just have to leave Wall Street and find a custodian which specializes in self-directed IRA plans. Today, there are a number of firms offering this sort of plan, so it is worth covering how an investor might go about choosing one.
You’ll want to start by evaluating the basics. Choose a firm with a reputation for providing great service at competitive fees. You might give extra points for a firm which is well established in the industry. There has been a fair bit of consolidation and changes in the space recently.
We would not recommend custodians charging more than $150 in annual fees or those charging more than $50 for each transaction. There are some very good firms with fees significantly below those levels.
The capability to enroll, view and manage transactions online should be a big consideration if you prefer the convenience of managing affairs electronically. Those people who prefer to deal in person should inquire by phone to see if you can reach a service rep easily and get good care.
Continue to the full article (source)
September 25 2017
U.S. Retirement Market Ponzi Fueled By Record Concentration In Stocks By Young Americans
For the U.S. Retirement Market Ponzi Scheme to continue, there must be a new group of suckers to pay for the individuals who are receiving benefits. Without a new flow of funds, the Ponzi Scheme comes crashing down. Such was the case for the individuals who invested in the $65 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme that came crashing down in 2008.
Interestingly, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that investigated Madoff Securities in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006, found no evidence of fraud or the need for legal action by the commission. The failure of the SEC to find any wrong-doing by Bernie Madoff should provide Americans with plenty of reassurance and confidence that their 401k’s are the highest quality sound investments in the market.
Regardless, the concentration in equities by young Americans reached a record high since the 2008 financial crisis. According to the most recent data put out by the Investment Company Insititute (ICI), Americans in their twenties who participated in 401k plans, 75% of the group invested more than 80% of their funds into equities in 2015 versus 48% of the group in 2007:
In just eight years, Americans in the 20’s age group invested in 401k’s, increased their equity exposure (80+%) from less than a half to three-quarters. Furthermore, those in the 30’s age group increased their equity concentration from 55% to 70% in the same period.
All this means is that younger Americans participating in the 401k Retirement Market have considerably increased their exposure to stocks while net benefits paid out have now gone into the red. I wrote about this in my article, Something Big, Bad and Ugly Is Taking Place In The U.S. Retirement Market:
As we can see in the chart, the Private Defined Contribution (DC) Plans paid out $28.7 billion more than they took in in 2014…. the last year the Investment Company Institute provided data. Simply, Private DC Plans are mostly 401K’s.
Unfortunately, the ICI only has data on 401k net benefit withdrawals up until 2014. However, young Americans invested in the 401k Market have no idea that their funds are being used to pay off those who are retired. Moreover, the record concentration of 20-30’s age group into equities hasn’t been enough to support the 401k Retirement Market as more money is going out than is coming in. That is extremely bad news.
Continue reading: (Source)
July 27 2017
Something Big, Bad And Ugly Is Taking Place In The U.S. Retirement Market
While the highly inflated value of the U.S. Retirement Market reached a new high this year, something is seriously wrong when we look behind the scenes. Of course, Americans have no idea that the U.S. Retirement Market is only a few steps from falling off the cliff, because their eyes are focused on the shiny spinning roulette wheel called the Wall Street Stock Market.
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