Jim,
I have been thinking about my 401(k) money that I can't get to till I am 59-1/2.
I have done some homework on it, and here is what I have found out. Our Federal
Government has confiscated the gold eight times in the past. When they do,
they pay face value. Double Eagles are $20.00, that's it. Talk about
taking it in the neck! There is a way to put gold into an account, where it
is stored for $100.00 per year, in the owner's name, but it seems one cannot
get [numismatic] pre-1933 gold coins (which are non-confiscatable) put away
in this manner. I am wondering
if any
of your readers might know of any coins that can be stored this way that are
not subject to confiscation?
The places I have talked to are Lear Financial, and Midas Resources. They both
put the gold physically in a vault somewhere in Delaware. Supposedly the largest
vault in the US.
If I pull my money out of the account before I am 59.5 years old, I end up
losing almost 50% to taxes and penalties. Maybe 50% is better than potentially
nothing? Then I could invest in numismatics, or silver, neither of which are
subject to confiscation, for all I know. - Sid, Near Niagara
Falls
JWR Replies: There is no sure way to avoid confiscation if your gold is held by any banking institution. The politicians might even get grabby with numismatics. I have a gold self-directed IRA vault account with . They hold a small quantity of Gold Eagles in my name. I'm a big believer in investing in tangibles. I do have an IRA, but since 1999 it has been a self-directed gold coin IRA with American Church Trust. The folks at Swiss America can help you set one up. Under some circumstances a 401(k) can be rolled over into an IRA. You might consider that. Parenthetically, I should mention that I'm 45 years old. The pessimist in me says that there is no 100% guarantee of ever cashing out my gold IRA. So I'll never increase the size of that account to any a substantial percentage of my net worth. I believe in tangibles, in hand!
I recommend that you consider any IRA and/or 401(k) strictly
a "maybe." At least the dollar units that they are denominated
in is a maybe, so that makes the whole proposition a maybe. The majority of
your gold and silver should be kept at home, very
well hidden Do
not trust safe deposit boxes. You never know when some "emergency" will
be declared. If that were to happen, then the only way that you'll ever get
back
into you safe deposit box is in the
presence
of taxing officials and their armed minions. That is the way that modern government
works, all over the world: wormy little bean counters with clipboards, and
big dumb oafs with guns to back them up. Call me paranoid, but I understand
both human nature and the nature of government.
