For a lot of us out there, retirement might seem like a long way away.  Maybe it’s not on our radar yet, or maybe it just doesn’t seem feasible to set aside money each paycheck at the moment – no matter the explanation for it, it’s understandable.  Especially when we’re in our early-to-late twenties, it feels like we’ll be stuck working forever.

Honestly, these days, that feeling is getting even stronger.  With worries of social programs like social security and pensions dissipating thanks to legislature changes, well…it’s more important than ever to start worrying about this stuff, though.  There’s not really a guarantee that we’ll still be able to collect social security checks once we reach retirement age.

At this point, even if we are able to do so, they probably won’t be enough to sustain a truly comfortable lifestyle once we’ve stopped working.  Retirement is really expensive.  That comes as a surprise to a lot of people, but it’s the truth.  Without a proper plan, there’s a good chance that you could end up stuck working long after you hit the age of retirement.

How can we really prepare these days, though?  There’s not really one, easy answer to that question.  However, there are strategies that we can employ to increase our chances of retiring comfortably – heck, we can almost guarantee it.  To learn more about those, though, be sure to stick around.

Retirement Funds

If there are two main tenets of retirement preparation that you should be aware of, they are as follows: one, cultivate a savings account as soon as you can, and two, start investing early and often.  Obviously, this is rather over-simplified – there’s a lot to unpack with each of them.  However, it’s a good place to start.

Retirement funds sound super simple on the surface, right?  They’re bank accounts that you set up to help you save for the future.  In practice, though, things are a bit more complex.  There are a ton of different types of funds that you can create.

Perhaps the most popular of them are known as “IRAs,” or individual retirement arrangements.  They’re quite flexible in terms of all the different types of them that you can open, which is probably what makes them so appealing.  There are so many options that you can play with to figure out what will work best for your needs.

When working with a group like Coral Gold, you can learn about some other opportunities available as well in relation to IRAs.  Most of us are already aware of the basic ones, right?  Traditional and Roth IRAs each bring slightly different tax benefits to the table, but your choice will mostly depend on whether you think you’ll be in a higher bracket before or after retirement.

With something like a self-directed account, though, things do get a bit more complicated.  What sorts of assets can we place into these self-directed options?  Are there still fees to pay?  Spoiler alert for that one – you’re probably not going to escape fees any time soon.  However, if you’re prepared for them, they’re usually not as bad at least.

Where do Precious Metals Come into Play?

Precious metals are a style of asset that fall into the category of “commodities.”  In investment terms, a commodity is just a type of raw material that’s traded in that form that can be refined further on in the manufacturing process.  If you haven’t heard of them before or if you’re unfamiliar, you may want to check out this page: https://www.finra.org/investors/investing/investment-products/futures-and-commodities.  It offers a deeper explanation.

The reason that they’re relevant here, though, is the fact that they can be added into self-directed IRAs.  At first glance, that doesn’t really seem like such a big deal, right?  Who really cares about that sort of thing, considering how complicated the self-directed ones can be to manage.  Here’s the thing, though – with the proper guidance, they don’t have to be difficult to understand and utilize.

Precious metals happen to be an excellent example of that, so they’re the focus today.  Why is that?  Well, they’re a type of asset that can be quite versatile and can come in many forms.  Investors can get involved in this market in all sorts of different ways.

Gold IRAs

The other piece of the puzzle here is the fact that there are entire individual retirement arrangements dedicated solely to gold.  How does that even work?  Well, that versatility that was mentioned earlier really comes into play, here.

Whether you opt for bullion, which you can read about on this page, coins, or even stocks for companies in the market, they might be eligible to be places in a precious metals-based IRA.  There are a few stipulations to be aware of, though.

As with all of these sorts of accounts, there are fees for opening them and for keeping them open.  Each deposit is going to be taxed at some point, whether it is in the traditional model or the Roth one.  The issue is that gold and other precious metals are considered collectibles, so they are taxed as such.  Those expenses can add up over time.

However, if you play your cards right, precious metals can serve as a store of your wealth that won’t be impacted by inflation rates.  Inflation is a hot-button topic right now for good reason – the rates that are plaguing not just the United States but the entire world are truthfully rather scary.  Paper currency is what is at risk there, though.

Something like gold bullion isn’t really at risk of losing value because of inflation, though.  That’s because it has been such a strong type of asset for years, and it’s not likely to lose that status any time soon.  So, a lot of investors are turning to precious metals as a hedge against the nasty inflation rates that we’ve been seeing.

Anyone who has a coin collection will probably be happy to hear that you can also put certain types of gold coins into a precious metals IRA.  The catch is that they have to have a certain percentage of the raw metal within them.  So, only some of them count.  However, the ones that are eligible can be put into these accounts for later!

Most folks opt for bullion, though, since it’s a lot more simple to deal with.  The trick is typically finding the right vendor, which admittedly can get kind of difficult sometimes.  However, if you’re willing to set aside some time to read reviews and the like, you’re a lot more likely to find a good broker.

It’s not exactly rocket science, there – look for reviews from all sorts of demographics to get the best idea of what to expect.   That might be professionals and consumers alike, if you’re not sure.  Additionally, if you’ve got a financial advisor, this might be the time to consult with them.

Remember – it’s important to start working on your retirement funds as early as you possibly can.  No matter what you decide to do, having an IRA can make a huge difference once you get there.  We all deserve to be comfortable during our golden years.