How to Sell a Gold IRA
Step-by-step instructions on how to sell a gold IRA:
- Call the Certified Gold Exchange today at (800) 300-0715.
- Our liquidation specialists will provide you with a buyback quote.
- We will send you an investment direction form to authorize with your signature.
- Upon receipt of your metal, we will wire the funds into your IRA.
Below is a sample Investment Direction form. This document is required by custodians when buying or selling gold within your IRA. Strata Trust forms are used in this example, however, we are authorized to assist sellers with all 19 self-directed precious metals custodians.
The following example screenshot is a liquidation direction form. It will list the items you’re selling and the total you are being paid. Your signature will authorize the transaction.
Here is a detailed outline of what to expect when you sell a gold IRA with us.
- Call CGE and request a buyback quote at 800-300-0715
- Once pricing is agreed on, we’ll email you a completed Investment Direction form.
- You’ll sign the document and email or fax it to us.
- We’ll confirm we have received it and will lock in your pricing.
- Our team will submit your documents to your custodian for processing.
- They will submit a transfer request to your precious metal depository.
- The depository will move your precious metals to our account.
- Within 48 hours of confirmed receipt of the precious metals, we will wire the proceeds into your IRA account.
- You are now free to take a cash distribution, purchase a different asset or transfer your IRA funds to another custodian.
Our gold IRA team is available to help make sure your transactions are completed efficiently. Call Pat or David today at 800-300-0715.
Two important things to consider before accepting a liquidation quote for your precious metals IRA:
- Does the dealer buying your precious metals keep an account at the depository where the physical gold and silver is stored? If so, your precious metals can be shifted internally from your IRA account to the dealer’s account. This would eliminate shipping or insurance costs.
- CGE does not, but some dealers require clients to assign them as Designated Representatives authorization. A Designated Representative is the equivalent of a Power of Attorney and should never be authorized. Reputable gold IRA companies would never make such a request, so consider it a cause for concern.
Below is a screenshot of the Designated Representative option on the application. This should be avoided, and you should only authorize the dealer as an interested party.
When you sell, we check the buyback quotes from several major dealers. This is an attempt to get you the highest buy-back price for your sale. Please learn more about our pricing policy here.
CGE and our major trading partners have accounts with the Delaware Depository and several other storage facilities. Therefore, in most cases, you will not need to ship when selling your IRA metals to us. Please call us at 1-800-300-0715 for a full list of depositories where we have access to a trading account.
Post Liquidation Options for Withdrawing Funds or Transferring Your IRA
Once you have sold your metals and received cash into your IRA account, you may want to:
- Take a cash distribution or fulfill your RMD
- Transfer your IRA to a new custodian
- Leave cash in the account until a later date
Taking Cash Distribution
Not having Federal Income Tax withheld is the most popular choice. This allows you to take a distribution and pay the tax liability at your own discretion. Be sure to mark it on your calendar to avoid IRS penalties.
If you take a cash or an in-kind distribution from the account, you can elect to have Federal and state tax withheld as seen on the images below. Additionally, if you are under 59.5 years of age, you will pay an additional 10% penalty on early distributions.
Selling Gold in Your IRA to Meet a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are the minimum amount you must withdraw from your existing IRA (or any other non-Roth account) each year once you turn 72 years of age.
You will receive an RMD notice from each account you have. This figure is calculated based on your account balance at the end of the preceding year divided by a distribution period determined from the IRS’s “Uniform Lifetime Table”.
You have until April 15th of the following year to take your RMD. If you fail to take your RMD in the allotted time, the amount not withdrawn is taxed at a rate of 50%.
When you receive your RMD notification from your custodian, simply contact the Certified Gold Exchange and inform us of the amount you must withdraw. We will then send an Investment Direction Form to sell the appropriate amount of metals. We will also provide you with a Distribution Request Form so you can receive the proceeds of your RMD sale.
You can then select how you would like to receive your distribution payment. Most IRA custodians will send an ACH payment or check for free, but will charge a fee to send a wire.
Below are screenshots of the payment options you can select on the Distribution Request form.
You Can Always Take An In-Kind RMD Without Selling Your Metals
A unique feature of Self-Directed precious metal IRAs are “in-kind” distributions. “In-kind” simply means you opt to take physical possession of a portion of your metal rather than sell it to receive a cash distribution.
To take an “in-kind” distribution of silver and gold coins, you’d simply contact us and provide the amount of your RMD. We will then complete a Distribution Request form that reflects the amount of gold and silver you’ll need to withdraw to satisfy your RMD.
Your custodian will provide you with a shipping quote from either UPS or FedEx for you to approve. You can pay for the shipping via a credit card over the phone.
Once your precious metals arrive, you’ll want to store them in either a safety deposit box or a home safe.
If you do take an in-kind distribution, please remember you’re still liable for the taxes. You have the option of paying the taxes out of pocket or selling a portion of your precious metals to raise the proceeds.
It may seem that there are quite a few moving parts when it comes to selling within a gold IRA. But you can rest assured that the Certified Gold Exchange’s gold IRA retirement experts have executed 1000’s of transactions. We’ll be happy to make sure all the paperwork is completed correctly and ready for your authorization.
To sell a gold IRA quickly and with the highest level of service, call the Certified Gold Exchange today at (800) 300-0715.
Written by Pat Collins and John Halloran
Avoid These 10 Gold IRA Scams.
DEALERS USE ON YOU