Dear CPT Rawles,
To follow up on the recent thread about cashing out of precious metals ETFs: Long ago, I took your advice and got out of stocks for my IRA and switched to a Gold IRA with Swiss America . It's done quite well and I was fortunate to read your advice several years ago. [Since then, most stocks went down substantially. Meanwhile gold has appreciated substantially, at least when denominated in US Dollars.]
My question and I'm sure I'm not the only one, is this: I will soon be 59-1/2 years old. Should I continue to keep my Gold IRA at the storage facility and pay storage fees every year, or should I withdraw the gold and keep it myself? I'd like your recommendation on this issue as your advice is always sound. Best Regards, - Michael B
JWR Replies: I also have a Gold IRA (also set up through Swiss America), and I highly recommend them. But given your age, I recommend that you get that gold in your own hands, at the first opportunity! Too many things can go wrong with warehousing, not the least of which is a change of government policy. In a severe economic crisis, all IRAs might become centralized (read: stolen) by the Federal government disappearing into some amorphous (and actually non-existent) "trust fund", just as they have done with our Social Security "contributions". We "contributed", all right!
