Gold IRA Rollover Guide
A Gold IRA rollover is not a special loophole; it is a retirement-account funding process. The cleanest route often avoids taking personal possession of the funds, but eligibility and tax treatment depend on the source account and transaction.
Key points
- Direct rollovers can move eligible plan assets straight to an IRA.
- Trustee-to-trustee IRA transfers are not treated as rollovers.
- A distribution paid to you generally has a 60-day rollover window.
- Employer-plan distributions paid to you can be subject to 20% mandatory withholding.
- Verify whether the source plan permits the transaction.
Direct rollover
For eligible employer-plan money, a direct rollover sends funds to the receiving IRA rather than to you. The IRS says no taxes are withheld from the transfer amount when handled as a direct rollover. IRS rollover guidance.
Trustee-to-trustee transfer
An IRA-to-IRA trustee transfer moves money directly between trustees. IRS Publication 590-A says this is not a rollover and is not affected by the one-rollover-per-year limitation. Publication 590-A.
60-day rollover
If the distribution is paid to you, the IRS generally gives 60 days to deposit an eligible amount into another retirement account. Withholding can make this harder because you may need other funds to replace withheld amounts if you want the full distribution rolled over.
After funding
Once money is in the self-directed IRA, the account can purchase qualifying precious metals under the custodian's procedures. The metal is then held in accordance with IRA custody requirements.
Augusta currently states a $50,000 minimum order. If that fits the amount you are considering, review its current materials and ask for up-to-date costs before making a decision.
Explore Augusta Precious MetalsWhere to go next
Continue with the Rollovers resource center, or review our Gold IRA company due-diligence framework.