A Rare Opportunity to Fund Your IRA with Gold at a Fraction Above Production Cost

By Ryan Kirsch

How do you plan to deal with this record high stock market in making your 2013 and 2014 IRA contributions? Buying stock at peak prices in your retirement plan could be a dangerous move, especially if you have less than 20 years until retirement, or are already retired. It may not be possible to make up for market fluctuations unless you have decades to wait for a recovery, or are willing to take bigger risks.

Fortunately, there is an alternative for your IRA that gives your retirement portfolio protection in the face of unstable markets. The same Keep What's Yours asset protection you get from precious metals to balance your personal funds, works to balance your retirement plan as well.

Precious metals add balance for the volatility of our markets and take advantage of inflationary trends.

With Janet Yellen as the new Fed Chairwoman, we expect a pro-inflation bias which has traditionally been a boon to precious metals. So, we see precious metals as an intelligent growth/wealth insurance plan. But, there is more to it than that. Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 60. There are currently 78 million baby boomers. The majority of what they have saved is mostly in securities and traditional investments. The likelihood of liquidating these securities to create an income stream at retirement is very high. At some point, in the near future, the selling tsunami will begin, posing a treacherous threat to stock prices. Don't expose your nest egg to the fluctuations of the market.

At today's prices, it's the right time to add precious metals to your IRA.

Building a retirement nest egg requires a completely different strategy than just expanding your net worth.

IRA holdings need to...

1. Add up to a healthy bottom line
2. Be ready for liquidation when you need income
3. Keep up with inflation to protect your buying power
4. Protect you against currency devaluation especially if you have travel or offshore interests

Fortunately, if you act decisively, you can buy gold and silver around the cost of production, and platinum and palladium at attractive price points. Currently, production cost for gold is approximately $1,200 and production cost for silver is approximately $20.

In a recent article, Rich Checkan, ASI's President, revealed the likely outcome of today's unusual precious metals opportunity. With the cost of production equal to, and often greater than, the spot price of gold and silver, many mining operations are shutting down, consolidating operations, or going on hiatus until prices rise. All of this will decrease supply and raise spot prices. It's inevitable.

Of course, we can't predict the future. But, after over 30 years of watching the precious metals market, we believe we have reached a tested price bottom in gold and silver.

Recently, gold dipped below $1,200 per ounce twice - going as low as $1,180. But, gold prices found resistance at these levels. Overall, it's been range-bound between $1,200 and $1,400 for some time now.

We've seen the same with silver, trading between $18 and $21. The sell-off was more severe with silver, and many analysts predict its rise to be even more dramatic.

Yes, It's Legal to Add a Gold Lining to Your Bottom Line!

Alternative assets, like precious metals, real estate and foreign currencies, are approved IRA assets under IRS legislation. However, like any IRA asset, they all require a self-directed IRA to be established with a trustee/ administrator who follows carefully controlled rules and restrictions.

At ASI, one of our greatest innovations has been to simplify opening a self-directed IRA by providing an online platform through our ASI Precious Metals Direct Program. We have been helping our clients put precious metals in their IRA since the legislation was passed over 25 years ago, but ASI Precious Metals Direct is truly a game changer.

ASI cofounder, Glen O. Kirsch, lamented in his October 2009 article, "The DNA of an IRA",

"Americans currently hold more than four trillion dollars in their IRAs and other retirement accounts. Very few have ever considered what they can do to protect the purchasing power of those funds."

There's a simple explanation for this: when they learn about the opportunity, they find it complex, and they give up because they lack knowledge or trustworthy sources.

One, or more, of our programs is right for you. But you need to act quickly if you have yet to make your 2013 contribution - the April 15th, 2014 deadline is fast approaching.

Consider ASI Precious Metals Direct if you want the convenience and the immediacy of online access and minimal paperwork.

Our online retirement program is as simple as it gets when seeking to put precious metals, in the form of bars and coins, into your IRA. It takes under 10 minutes to open an ASI Precious Metals Direct relationship.

Simultaneously, you will complete your IRA application with Entrust, who will handle your paperwork online. From then on, you can check your statements online from your smart phone, computer or iPad, and add to your holdings in minutes, just like you can for a personal ASI Precious Metals Direct relationship.

This is a rare opportunity to buy gold and silver at depressed price points. Then, consider employing a dollar cost averaging strategy and buy into precious metals over time.

You can also open an individual, joint or corporate relationship as well, and link them for easy, one-stop access online.

Take advantage of our latest innovation, a Uniform Transfer to Minor Act (UTMA) account for minor children and grandchildren. In both the UTMA and non-IRA relationships, you can choose to automatically dollar cost average into precious metals by simply designating the bank and the amount you would like contributed on a monthly basis.

You are assured the best pricing as your order is bid for by around 12 different wholesalers and refiners. The same advantage is available when it comes time to sell. No wasting time calling around or insecurity that a better price is around the corner.

IRA and UTMA holdings are available for storage in New York City or Salt Lake City. For all other types of ownership, you can choose to store your precious metals offshore in Melbourne, Singapore, Zürich, London, or domestically in New York or Salt Lake City.

If you want time honored offshore security consider Perth Mint Certificates or Gold You Can Fold.

One of our best products, the Perth Mint Certificate Program (PMCP), is also approved for IRAs. If you are purchasing a certificate for your IRA for the first time, there is a $10,000 minimum. Subsequent purchases are a minimum of $5,000. These certificates are bought or sold in your IRA by first calling your Preferred Client Representative at ASI. Call us to discuss the different options available and how to get started.

The benefits of owning gold through a Perth Mint Certificate in your IRA include:

• Insured by Lloyds of London and backed by the government of Western Australia
• Low premiums
• Offshore storage
• Low or no ongoing storage fees

If you want to go old school with domestically stored metals in your IRA, call us to discuss options for custodians, precious metals allocations, and domestic storage for your IRA precious metals.

If you are interested in contributing precious metals to your IRA quickly, give us a call. We will guide you through the process of setting up a self-directed IRA with one of our proven trustees/administrators and their domestic storage options. Call 877-340-0790.

For another option to store your IRA assets offshore, consider Gold Money®.

Gold Money® combines the expertise of the Entrust Group, one of the leading providers of trustee/administration services for self-directed retirement plans, with that of seasoned custodians and secure storage facilities. Through Gold Money® you can hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium with great flexibility. Entrust created a trust structure called The Metals Trust with The Hong Kong Trust Company Ltd for IRA investment in offshore precious metals.

The Metals Trust permits you to:

• Have direct online trading access to GoldMoney® through which you, as the IRA owner, can instruct trades directly to GoldMoney® on a 24/7 basis rather than via Entrust
• Store your metals in Zürich, London, Canada or Hong Kong
• Trade on a real-time spot basis rather than only at the once a day London Fix price

All precious metals are held in the form of bars that meet the standards of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) for gold and silver and the London Platinum and Palladium Market for platinum and palladium.

Other Offshore IRAs

Although we strongly believe in adding precious metals to your IRA at this time, if your plans include domestic or foreign securities or foreign currencies, ASI has excellent alternatives for you as well. Many of our clients are surprised to learn that IRA assets can be managed and held offshore. Please call us if you are interested in private wealth management held in an offshore IRA account with offshore money managers or international holdings managed by domestic money managers.

Call us at 877-340-0790, or send an email, for information well before you are under the gun to make your 2014 IRA contribution and/or the remainder of your 2013 contribution.