Gold IRA Investment Risks: What to Know Before You Buy

Written by John Halloran. Updated September 14th 2026

Gold is often called a safe-haven asset, but safe haven does not mean risk-free.

Gold prices can fall. Precious metals do not pay dividends or interest. Physical metals have transaction costs. Gold IRAs involve custodial, storage and tax rules. Investors can also face liquidity, concentration, counterfeit and opportunity-cost risks.

But for someone buying physical precious metals, CGE believes the number-one avoidable gold investment risk often occurs before the gold price moves at all:

Choosing the wrong supplier and being sold the wrong product at the wrong price.

That risk deserves to come first because two investors can invest the same amount of money in gold on the same day and begin in dramatically different financial positions.

One investor may receive widely recognized American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs or bullion bars at a competitive price.

Another may be sold unfamiliar, proprietary, proof, “exclusive,” semi-numismatic or high-premium coins whose prices are difficult to compare.

Both investors technically own precious metals.

They may not have made remotely comparable investments.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has repeatedly warned consumers about precious-metals dealers recommending collectible coins with high markups and low liquidity. The CFTC also notes that precious-metals salespeople are often paid based on the products they sell and generally are not fiduciaries required to put the customer’s financial interests ahead of their own compensation.

That is why understanding gold risk requires separating two very different categories:

Gold Risks you cannot control and risks you can.

You cannot control tomorrow’s gold price.

You cannot control future interest rates, inflation, geopolitical events or dealer inventories.

But you can control which dealer you choose, what product you buy, how many ounces you receive and how much you pay before authorizing the transaction.

For physical precious-metals investors, that is where risk reduction should begin. 

Although this page focuses primarily on gold investment risk, the same general risks also apply to silver, platinum and palladium.

In some cases, these metals can carry greater price volatility, wider spreads, lower liquidity or more pronounced supply-and-demand swings than gold.

The dealer, product-selection, markup, storage, IRA, tax, liquidity and market risks discussed below should therefore be considered precious metals risks, not risks unique to gold.

The Biggest Gold IRA Investment Risk: Choosing The Supplier

The gold itself does not know which dealer sold it.

An ounce of gold does not perform better because it came from a persuasive salesperson, a famous spokesperson, an expensive television campaign or a company calling itself a retirement expert.

But the transaction surrounding that ounce can be dramatically different.

Dealer selection matters because most consumers know substantially less about precious-metals pricing than the company selling to them.

That creates an information imbalance.

The dealer knows its acquisition cost.

The dealer knows the markup.

The dealer knows how much commission or profit is attached to different products.

The dealer knows which products other wholesalers actively trade.

The customer often knows none of those things.

That difference becomes particularly dangerous when the products being recommended are difficult to independently price.

The CFTC and FINRA jointly warn that precious-metals fraud frequently targets older workers and retirees and that inflated prices, excessive fees and commissions can seriously damage retirement savings. They also advise consumers to compare actual metal weight and pricing rather than relying solely on a salesperson’s representations.

CGE’s position is simple:

If precious metals are being purchased primarily as an investment, the transaction should be easy to understand and easy to price-check.

That is why Certified Gold Exchange generally recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and recognized bullion bars for investment purchases.

CGE buys and sells many other types of coins when clients specifically request them, and the wholesale precious-metals market trades thousands of different products.

But what CGE is willing to buy or sell inside an IRA or for home delivery is different from what we believe is most appropriate to recommend to someone purchasing metals primarily as an investment.

For an investment buyer, simplicity is a form of protection.

To help reduce supplier risk before investing in gold or silver, speak with a CGE Gold IRA Specialist at 800-300-0715.

Why Overcomplicated Coins Increase Your Precious Metals Investment Risk

There is nothing inherently wrong with collecting rare or unusual coins.

Collectors knowingly pay additional money for scarcity, condition, history, grading, beauty, mintages and personal interest.

That is collecting.

An investment buyer usually has a different objective.

The investment buyer is primarily trying to obtain precious-metal exposure and preserve or increase purchasing power over time.

When those two purposes become blurred, risk increases.

A salesperson may describe a coin as:

“exclusive”

“limited”

“premium”

“proof”

“rare”

“semi-numismatic”

“collector grade”

or available through some special program or discount.

Those descriptions may sound valuable.

They do not tell you whether the price is good.

In fact, the CFTC and FINRA state that “semi-numismatic” is an industry-created term with no special meaning and warn that coins sold this way may be less liquid than bullion.

The CFTC has separately warned that collectible coins can carry significantly higher premiums than ordinary bullion and can be difficult to value objectively.

That creates several risks at once.

The first is markup risk.

A larger percentage of the investor’s money may be going toward the dealer’s premium rather than toward precious-metal ounces.

The second is valuation risk.

The investor may have difficulty finding an independent market price for the exact product.

The third is liquidity risk.

Fewer dealers may actively trade the product.

And the fourth may be the most dangerous:

Dependence on the salesperson’s story.

When a product cannot be easily compared with identical products in the open market, the buyer becomes increasingly dependent on the seller to explain what that product is supposedly worth. That is exactly the situation an investment buyer should try to avoid.

Gold IRA investors are often targeted by dealers with extremely expensive customer-acquisition models. These companies may rely on national advertising, celebrity endorsements, “free gold and silver” promotions, aggressive sales teams, and paid websites that rank them among the “best Gold IRA companies” in the country.

This is the paid-influence model. An affiliate or lead-generation website can receive a substantial percentage of the transaction simply for referring the customer. That cost is incurred before the dealer pays sales commissions, celebrity endorsement fees, television advertising, promotional giveaways, and the other expenses required to support a high-cost marketing operation.

Those costs do not disappear. They must be recovered somewhere in the business.

In some Gold IRA transactions, the result can be a total product markup or transaction cost far above the relatively modest premiums available on widely recognized bullion. A purchase that might otherwise involve a single-digit premium can become dramatically more expensive when the investor is steered into high-markup, premium, exclusive, or difficult-to-compare products.

For that reason, investors should focus less on the marketing surrounding the dealer and more on the economics of the actual transaction: What am I buying, how many ounces am I receiving, what am I paying per ounce, and can I independently verify the price?

Why Asking the Salesperson About the Spread May Not Protect You

Investors are frequently told to ask:

“What is your spread?”

or:

“What would you buy this coin back for?”

Those questions sound sensible.

But CGE does not believe that asking a potentially conflicted salesperson for another verbal number is the best protection against overpaying.

There are two reasons.

The first is obvious:

If the salesperson is dishonest, the answer may also be dishonest.

This is not merely hypothetical.

In a 2023 enforcement action involving a Los Angeles-area precious-metals dealer, the CFTC and state regulators alleged customers were led to believe markups on certain coins would fall within ranges such as approximately 1% to 5% or 4% to 29%.

According to the CFTC complaint, the actual markups allegedly charged on those coins were approximately 100% to 130%. Regulators also alleged misrepresentations involving pricing, purported discounts, bonuses and the supposed market value of the coins.

That illustrates an important weakness in traditional precious-metals due diligence:

If the seller is the source of the problem, asking the seller for more unverifiable information does not necessarily solve the problem.

The second problem is different.

Even an honest dealer cannot tell you exactly what the spread on a product will be years from now.

Precious-metals markets change.

Dealer inventories change.

Wholesale demand changes.

Supply changes.

Investor demand changes.

A dealer may desperately need American Gold Eagles during one market and already have more Eagles than it needs during another.

The amount wholesalers bid above or below the underlying metal value can therefore change substantially.

Today’s liquidation quote is a snapshot of today’s market.

It is not a guaranteed future value.

That is why CGE believes investors should focus primarily on something much more reliable:

What can be independently verified before the purchase?

The Best Way to Reduce the Risk of Overpaying for Gold

CGE believes the best way to reduce the avoidable risk of overpaying for physical precious metals is straightforward:

Buy widely recognized bullion, know exactly how many ounces you are receiving and price-check the identical product before you invest.

For most gold investment purchases, CGE recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs or recognized bullion bars.

Why?

Because another dealer knows what an American Gold Eagle is.

Another dealer knows what a Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is.

Another established dealer knows what a recognized one-ounce bullion bar is.

There is no elaborate explanation required.

The metal content is known.

The product is known.

The spot price is publicly available.

The retail price can be compared.

The investor can determine the number of ounces being received.

And there is an established and active dealer-to-dealer market for the product.

This does not eliminate the normal spread between buying and selling physical precious metals.

Every physical precious-metals investor faces transaction costs.

It also does not guarantee that tomorrow’s wholesale bid will equal today’s.

What standardized bullion does is eliminate much of the unnecessary complexity that can conceal excessive markups.

That is a very different form of risk reduction.

A Simple Gold Price-Check Investors Can Perform Before Buying to cut gold IRA risks. 

For an investment purchase, the most useful information is information that does not depend upon trusting the salesperson.

Before authorizing a precious-metals transaction, know:

1. The exact product being purchased.
2. The exact quantity.
3. The precious-metal weight of each product.
4. The total number of precious-metal ounces.
5. The complete purchase price.
6. The effective price per ounce.
7. What established competitors charge for the same product, weight and quantity.

To calculate the effective price per ounce, divide the total amount invested in each metal class by the total precious-metal ounces received in that metal class.

Then compare the identical product with other established dealers.

That is a far stronger protection than asking a salesperson to predict what an unfamiliar coin may someday be worth.

A standardized product and a written price create something valuable:

independent verification.

The Exclusivity Trap

Sovereign mints like the Royal Canadian Mint produce two distinct products: globally recognized bullion coins—such as Maple Leafs and Eagles—and “exclusive” strikes commissioned for a single dealer.

While standard bullion trades liquidly on an open market, custom-minted coins carry massive dealer markups wrapped in marketing stories and arbitrary rarity caps. When you try to liquidate an exclusive strike, no outside dealer will pay for that initial markup; it trades strictly at its spot metal value.

Before buying, apply one simple test: Could three independent dealers quote you a firm bid price on this exact coin tomorrow? If not, you aren’t buying a liquid sovereign asset—you’re funding a single dealer’s profit margin.

Past Performance is Never a Guarantee of Future Performance. Gold Prices Can Fall

Once the transaction itself is sound, the most obvious remaining gold investment risk is market risk.

Gold prices fluctuate.

They can increase rapidly, decline rapidly or move sideways for extended periods.

Gold prices can be affected by interest rates, inflation expectations, currency movements, central-bank policy, investment demand, geopolitical concerns, economic growth and broader financial-market conditions.

Those forces do not always affect gold in predictable ways.

Gold may perform well during some periods of economic stress and poorly during others.

No precious-metals dealer knows with certainty where gold will trade next month, next year or five years from now.

Statements that gold “has to rise,” “cannot decline” or is a guaranteed safe investment should therefore be treated skeptically.

FINRA expressly warns investors that physical precious metals can decline in value despite gold’s reputation as a safe-haven investment.

Gold can protect purchasing power during some periods without being risk-free during all periods.

 The Retail-to-Wholesale Spread

Physical precious metals have a spread. A retail investor generally purchases metal above the underlying wholesale or spot value.

When the investor sells, a dealer makes a bid based on the current wholesale market for that product.

That creates a gap that the investment must overcome before producing a profit.

The important point is not that spreads exist.

They should exist.

Dealers have costs. Products must be sourced, verified, financed, hedged, stored, insured, shipped, resold and marketed.

The problem arises when a normal physical-metal spread becomes an excessive product markup that the customer does not understand.

The higher your initial cost relative to the underlying metal value, the further the market generally has to move before you reach break-even.

This is another reason CGE distinguishes standardized bullion from high-premium investment sales.

The investor cannot eliminate legitimate transaction costs.

The investor can reduce the risk of paying an excessive premium that was difficult to identify in the first place.

Physical Gold Produces No Income

Physical gold does not pay interest.

It does not pay dividends.

It does not collect rent.

It does not generate corporate earnings.

That creates opportunity-cost risk.

Money invested in physical gold is money that is not simultaneously invested in an income-producing asset.

This does not make gold a poor investment.

It simply means physical gold serves a different financial purpose from a profitable business, bond, rental property or dividend-paying stock.

For an investor to earn a financial profit on physical gold, the eventual net sale proceeds must exceed the total cost of acquiring and holding the metal.

Your Holding Period May Be Longer Than Expected

There is no guaranteed holding period for gold.

An investor who purchases immediately before a major decline may have to wait longer than expected before recovering the original investment.

Transaction costs can extend that break-even period further.

This is why money that may be needed for near-term living expenses, taxes, medical needs or emergencies deserves special consideration before being committed to a volatile asset.

Holding gold for three years, five years, ten years or any other period does not guarantee a profit.

Time can provide an investor with flexibility. It does not eliminate market risk.

Liquidity Changes With Market Conditions

Gold is generally considered a liquid physical asset, particularly when investors own products actively traded among established dealers.

But liquidity and dealer bids are not constant.

During periods of strong retail demand, dealers may pay unusually aggressive premiums for certain products.

During periods when inventories are heavy as we see in the first half of 2026, those premiums can contract or disappear.

This is why CGE does not believe consumers should base an investment decision on a dealer’s prediction of a future buyback price.

The better protection is owning widely recognized products that numerous dealers understand and trade.

The goal is not to guarantee tomorrow’s bid. It is to avoid becoming dependent upon one original seller when tomorrow arrives.

Gold IRA Rules Add Another Layer of Risk

A Gold IRA combines ordinary precious-metals risk with retirement-account rules.

The metal still fluctuates in value.

But the investor must also consider an gold IRA custodian, approved storage, administrative procedures, eligible metals, distributions, taxes and prohibited-transaction rules.

The IRS generally treats metals and coins as collectibles for IRA purposes, subject to specific exceptions for certain U.S. coins and qualifying gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion meeting statutory requirements. Qualifying bullion must also satisfy custody requirements.

The term self-directed IRA is important.

The investor directs the investment.

The custodian generally is not deciding whether gold is suitable for the investor, how much gold the investor should own or whether today is a good day to buy.

Certified Gold Exchange assists with precious-metals transactions and Gold IRA coordination.

CGE does not determine a client’s portfolio allocation, market timing, tax strategy or investment suitability.

Storage, Custody, and Bankruptcy Risk

The single greatest physical asset risk in recent years doesn’t come from safe-crackers or market crashes—it comes from the dealer selling you the metal.

When a precious metals firm collapses, investors routinely learn too late that the metal they paid for was never truly theirs. Dealer insolvency traps buyers in two main ways:

• The Unhedged Pre-Order Trap: Many high-overhead dealers operate on a “sell first, buy later” model. Instead of holding the physical bullion or hedging their position instantly, they take your funds upfront and attempt to source the metal weeks later. If gold prices surge rapidly, the dealer’s cost to acquire your metal suddenly exceeds what you paid. When the math breaks, the company files for bankruptcy, leaving customers holding undelivered orders and empty promises.
• The “Vault Storage” Mirage: Investors who pay a dealer to store their metal often assume it sits in a secure, segregated box with their name on it. In reality, unless you hold legal title under a strict, third-party bailment with an independent custodian and audited bar serial numbers, your metal is legally treated as an “unallocated” asset.

When a dealer enters Chapter 11 liquidation, an unallocated storage balance or a paid pre-order is classified as a standard debt. Bankruptcy courts do not ask how much gold you paid for; they ask who legally owns the inventory.

Without explicit, segregated title at an independent vault, you become a general unsecured creditor. You are placed in a long line behind secured lenders, tax authorities, and bankruptcy lawyers—frequently recovering only pennies on the dollar for metal you thought you already owned.

Counterfeit and Misrepresented Metals

Counterfeit gold is a massive, industry-wide issue—so prevalent that even major institutions like JPMorgan have discovered fraudulent bars in their holdings. In over three decades of operation, 

Certified Gold Exchange has never had a counterfeit claim or a bad item in inventory, but common scams across the market include plated products, false hallmarks, off-weights, and altered metal designed to mimic legitimate bullion.

To protect yourself against physical metal fraud:

• Rely on Established Dealers: Work with long-standing precious metals dealers who maintain rigorous inventory verification standards.
• Stick to Recognized Sovereigns: Widely circulated sovereign coins and major mint products have a distinct advantage; professional dealers test, authenticate, and trade them daily.
• Be Wary of “Deals”: Physical gold trades on a globally transparent market. Any offer priced significantly below prevailing wholesale value is an immediate red flag.
• Keep Detailed Documentation: Maintain exact transaction records detailing the weight, purity, mint or manufacturer, and quantity of every item in your portfolio.

An offer dramatically below the prevailing wholesale value of genuine gold deserves skepticism.

Taxes Can Affect Your Return

A market-price chart does not show an investor’s after-tax return.

Physical gold and other precious metals held outside a retirement account may be treated as collectibles for federal income-tax purposes.

IRS Publication 550 states that gains involving collectibles can include metals such as gold, silver and platinum bullion and may fall within the maximum 28% collectibles capital-gain rate, depending upon the taxpayer’s circumstances.

Precious metals held inside an IRA are governed by the applicable retirement-account tax rules and buying and selling inside the IRA structure are the same as mainstream assets.

Tax treatment varies by circumstance and can change.

CGE does not provide individual tax advice.

Investors should consult a qualified tax professional about their specific situation.

Concentration Risk

Even fairly priced gold can become a poor financial decision if too much of an investor’s wealth is placed into it.

No asset needs to be fraudulent to create concentration risk.

If an investor puts an excessive portion of available resources into gold and later needs cash while the gold market is down, that investor may be forced to sell at an unfavorable time.

Precious-metals dealers should not determine how much of a person’s retirement portfolio belongs in metals unless they are appropriately licensed and qualified to provide that type of individualized advice. 

CGE does not tell clients what percentage of their assets should be invested when to buy or sell in gold or silver and we never offer investment advice. 

Fear Can Become an Investment Risk

There is another form of precious metals risk that rarely appears on a price chart: making an investment decision while frightened.

Concerns about inflation, government debt, banking problems, wars, currencies and financial markets can be legitimate subjects for discussion.

But fear should not replace ordinary due diligence.

The CFTC has warned specifically that fraudulent precious-metals dealers may use frightening forecasts involving economic collapse or threats to retirement accounts to create urgency and push investors toward overpriced coins.

A frightening economic prediction does not change the mathematics of a transaction.

If you believe gold belongs in your financial plan, you still need to know:

What am I buying?

How many ounces am I receiving?

What am I paying?

Can I compare the exact same product somewhere else?

Fear is never a substitute for those answers.

The Difference Between Market Risk and Dealer Risk

This is the most important distinction on this page.

Market risk is what happens after you own the metal.

Gold rises.

Gold falls.

Spreads change.

Demand changes.

Economic conditions change.

No dealer controls those outcomes.

Dealer risk is what happens when the transaction is structured.

Which product are you sold?

How many ounces do you receive?

How much do you pay?

Is the product widely recognized?

Can you independently price-check it?

Were you given facts or a sales story?

That is why CGE believes the first objective should be reducing the risk you can control before accepting the risk you cannot control afterward.

CGE’s Approach to Reducing Precious Metals Risk

CGE cannot eliminate gold investment risk.

No ethical precious-metals company should claim otherwise.

We cannot guarantee tomorrow’s gold price.

We cannot guarantee tomorrow’s dealer inventories.

We cannot guarantee what the wholesale premium on an American Gold Eagle will be years from now.

What we can do is keep the investment transaction straightforward.

For investment purchases, CGE generally recommends:

American Gold Eagles. Canadian Gold Maple Leafs. Recognized bullion bars.

Products that are widely traded.

Products that are easy to identify.

Products that are easy to price-check.

Products that make it easier for investors to see exactly how much metal they are receiving for their money.

The objective is not to eliminate legitimate precious-metals spreads.

It is to avoid unnecessary complexity and make excessive overpricing substantially harder to hide.

You cannot control the future gold market. You can control what you buy and how much you pay today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gold Investment Risk

What is gold investment risk?

Gold investment risk is the possibility of losing money because of changes in the gold price, transaction costs, dealer markups, product selection, liquidity, storage, taxes, IRA rules, fraud or other factors.

For physical-metal investors, an important additional risk is paying too much for a product whose value is difficult to independently verify.

What is the biggest risk of buying physical gold?

CGE believes the biggest avoidable risk when buying physical gold is choosing the wrong supplier and being sold an unnecessarily expensive or difficult-to-value product.

Gold-market risk cannot be eliminated. Dealer and product-selection risk can be reduced by purchasing widely recognized bullion and comparing the price before investing.

Can you lose money investing in gold?

Yes. Gold can decline in value, and physical gold also has transaction costs.

An investor can lose money because the gold price falls, because the original purchase premium was too high, because market spreads change or because the investor is forced to sell at an unfavorable time.

Gold is not a guaranteed investment.

What is the safest way to buy physical gold?

There is no risk-free way to invest in physical gold, but buyers can reduce avoidable transaction risk by choosing widely recognized bullion, knowing the exact metal weight and comparing the same product among established dealers before purchasing.

CGE generally recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and recognized bullion bars for investment purchases.

Why does CGE recommend Eagles, Maples and bullion bars?

CGE recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and recognized bullion bars because their metal content is clear, they are widely traded and their prices are relatively easy to compare among dealers.

That reduces product-selection and valuation risk.

It does not eliminate gold-price risk.

Are Premium or Exclusive Gold Coins Riskier?

Yes. They often are, and high-premium coins are at the root of many cases in which precious-metals investors are substantially overcharged.

Premium, proprietary, proof, “exclusive,” collectible and so-called semi-numismatic coins can introduce significantly greater markup, valuation, liquidity and break-even risk when they are sold primarily as investments.

There is nothing wrong with buying a rare, beautiful or unusual coin because you enjoy collecting coins. Collectors knowingly pay premiums for rarity, condition, history, design and personal interest.

The concern is different when someone investing in precious metals is persuaded to buy multiple high-priced coins of the same type because a salesperson claims they offer greater investment potential, special scarcity, superior appreciation or some other advantage over ordinary bullion.

In that situation, the investor should ask a fundamental question:

Am I buying this coin as a hobbyist or collector, or am I buying it because I want an investment in physical gold?

If the primary purpose is investing in gold, John Halloran, CEO of Certified Gold Exchange, believes investors should seriously reconsider paying large premiums for unfamiliar or complicated coins.

Instead, CGE generally recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and recognized bullion bars for investment purchases.

These products typically allow investors to stay closer to the underlying value of the metal, compare prices among multiple dealers and see more clearly how many ounces they are receiving for their money.

That does not eliminate normal precious-metals spreads or gold-price risk.

It does reduce one of the biggest avoidable precious metals risks: paying an excessive premium that may take a much larger increase in the gold price—and potentially much more time—to overcome before the investment reaches break-even.

If you are investing in gold rather than collecting coins, simplicity is protection: buy widely recognized bullion, price-check it before you invest and know exactly how many ounces you are receiving.

What Is the Spread When Buying Gold?

The gold spread is the difference between the retail price you pay to buy physical gold and the wholesale price a dealer is willing to pay when you sell it back.

Physical precious metals investors generally buy at retail and sell at wholesale.

That is simply how the market works. A dealer normally will not pay an investor more for a coin or bar than the dealer could purchase the same product for in the dealer-to-dealer wholesale market.

Spreads are not fixed.

They change with dealer inventory, wholesale demand, product availability and overall market conditions.

During periods when large numbers of investors are selling and dealers become heavily stocked with inventory, wholesale bids can weaken and spreads can widen substantially. The opposite can occur when demand is strong and dealers need inventory.

This risk can be even greater with premium, rare or less widely traded coins. These products may carry large premiums when purchased, but those premiums are not guaranteed to remain when the investor sells.

That is another reason CGE recommends American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and recognized bullion bars for investment purchases. Widely traded bullion generally has a broader wholesale market and is easier to price-check than unfamiliar or high-premium coins.

A spread quoted today is only a reflection of today’s market. It should never be treated as a guaranteed future liquidation value.

How can I tell if I am overpaying for gold?

The most reliable way is to compare an identical, widely traded product before buying.

Know the exact product, quantity, total precious-metal ounces and complete price.

Divide the amount invested in each metal class by the total ounces received to determine your effective price per ounce, and compare equivalent products from other established dealers.

Why shouldn’t I just ask the dealer what the coin will be worth when I sell?

Because no dealer knows what future market conditions or wholesale spreads will be, and a dishonest salesperson may give an unreliable answer simply to close the sale.

A better protection is to buy a product whose price can be independently verified before the transaction.

Is a Gold IRA risky?

Yes. A Gold IRA carries ordinary precious-metals market risk plus additional custodial, storage, administrative and tax-rule risks.

A self-directed IRA also places investment responsibility on the account owner.

The custodian generally does not determine whether gold is suitable for you or how much you should own.

Does gold protect against inflation?

Gold may preserve purchasing power during some historical periods and has performed strongly during certain inflationary or financially stressful environments.

However, gold does not automatically rise whenever inflation rises, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Is gold safer than stocks?

There is no universal answer because gold and stocks have different risks.

Physical gold does not have corporate earnings risk, but it has commodity-price risk and produces no dividends or business earnings.

Stocks can decline sharply but can also generate earnings, dividends and long-term economic growth.

The appropriate mix depends upon an investor’s circumstances and objectives.

Does physical gold have liquidity risk?

There has been no liquidity problem in the markets since US citizens were allowed to hold the metal in the 70s.  Widely recognized bullion generally has an established dealer market but there is never a guarantee of what will happen with premiums. 

So you may be able to always get a buyer but there is no guarantee that they will pay close to spot under some market conditions. Dealer bids and premiums can change considerably depending upon inventory and demand.

How long should I hold gold?

There is no minimum holding period that guarantees a profit.

Because gold prices fluctuate and physical metals have transaction costs, investors should be prepared for the possibility that recovering their original investment could take longer than expected. Typically unless you’re willing to hold precious metals for 5-10 years you may want to rethink your decision to purchase. And holding for decades is never a guarantee of profit. 

What is the best way to reduce precious metals risk?

Reduce the risks you can control before accepting the risks you cannot control.

Buy widely recognized products, understand exactly what you are receiving, know your total cost, compare prices before investing and avoid relying on fear, urgency, unusual product stories or predictions about future resale values.

The gold price will always be uncertain.

Your purchase price does not have to be.

CGE staff are not Investment Advisors

Certified Gold Exchange is a precious-metals dealer.

CGE specialists are not licensed investment advisers and do not provide individualized advice regarding market timing, portfolio allocation, investment suitability, securities, taxes or how much of an investor’s assets should be placed in precious metals.

Clients direct their own precious-metals transactions.

CGE can explain precious-metal products, pricing, transaction procedures, delivery, IRA coordination and liquidation procedures.

Investors should consult appropriately qualified financial, legal and tax professionals regarding their individual circumstances.

Every precious-metals investment carries risk. 

Understanding the transaction before you invest is one of the most effective ways to avoid adding unnecessary risk of your own.

To help reduce supplier risk when investing in gold or silver, speak with a Gold IRA Expert at Certified Gold Exchange before you purchase by calling 800-300-0715.