Owning precious metals within your retirement portfolio can offer a degree of protection for your future, but how do you protect those precious metals?
The answer lies in how you store them – specifically, with whom.
Choosing us at Birch Gold Group means selecting from the industry’s leading depositories, with whom we proudly work. And while some professional depositories offer a wide array of bells and whistles, the best ones are built from the ground-up to provide storage of assets like precious metals – legally and safely.
Why there is no alternative to professional self-directed IRA custody and storage
Let’s review the hands that touch your self-directed (SDIRA) as you set it up, to better understand where the precious metal depository you select fits in.
Once you’ve reached out to us with a desire to open your own Precious Metals IRA, you can select from one of the industry-leading custodians that we work with, who will manage the account for you. This precious metals IRA custodian is an independent organization and approved by the IRS. You won’t have to worry about missing paperwork, incorrect audits, or regulatory oversight, because a vetted professional will handle this for you.
Besides taking care of the paper side of your SDIRA, the custodian will also ensure your precious metals are placed in an appropriate facility – the depository, chosen by you. In this step, one specialist will hand the reins to another.
From there, the depository – effectively the storage facility – of your choice will ensure that the metals are secured stored without any risk to you, the owner.
However thick the walls of your house safe are, and however robust your insurance policies, you will find that they pale in comparison to the physical storage options provided by the two depository options that most of our customers use: the Delaware Depository and Brink’s Global Services.
Delaware Depository offers careful inspection, expansive insurance
With 200 years of combined experience in the precious metals industry, the Delaware Depository staff brings seasoned expertise to their customers. Not only does this mean they get ahead of any potential issues that could arise and stay abreast of new industry developments and risks, but they know exactly what offerings are most effective for their customers.
What makes the Delaware Depository stand out the most is their expansive insurance policy. Besides the all-inclusive $1 billion coverage of assets under their management, the company also boasts a $100,000 transit insurance per package, meaning that your metals will be covered even while on the road.
Customers opting to store their precious metals with the Delaware Depository can pick between two facilities, one located in Wilmington, Delaware and the other in Boulder City, Nevada. Both locations are rigorously fortified using cutting edge security.
Delaware Depository takes responsibility for all incoming, outgoing and in-storage metals, yet doesn’t add the assets to its balance sheet. In other words, your metals will never be listed as assets or property of the company. Even while stored in their vaults, the metals are legally owned by you at all times.
Besides impeccable insurance and security, the company is fully compliant to store all four precious metals, and is a Licensed Depository of CME Group (Comex and Nymex divisions). The employees carefully inspect all incoming metals for purity and consistency and take charge of all the auditing and other IRS-related activities.
Brink’s Global Services, where armored trucks drive maximum protection
Many people think of the ubiquitous armored vehicles when they think of Brink’s Global Services, which makes sense. Brink’s is an industry leader in a wide range of secure logistics at the global scale, with over one thousand facilities worldwide.
Precious metals storage is one of their strongest suits; banks, jewelers and even governments are some of Brink’s frequent clients, highlighting the level of service that the firm is able to provide regardless of one’s needs.
For the storage of precious metals, most Birch Gold customers select from Brink’s locations in Los Angeles, New York City and Salt Lake City. Adding to their easily recognizable armored vehicles, the company also guarantees the secure transport of valuables by sea or by air.
Brink’s Global Services also excels at all aspects of customer service. The firm employs a team who is on hand to answer any questions you may have about the precious metals you place with them, or anything else you choose to store with them. Brink’s also assumes full liability for any assets that they are transporting or storing.
International Depository Services
Texas-based International Depository Services (IDS) is a solid choice for your Precious Metals IRA storage due to their security-first approach to precious metals custody and their established role in the precious metals industry. IDS offers two locations, in Delaware and Texas. Learn more about International Depository Services here.
Texas Precious Metals Depository
Texas Precious Metals Depository (TPMD) of Shiner, Texas offers fully segregated, sealed, annually audited, and 100% insured storage of your physical precious metals. Combine their world-class service with their low rates, and you’ll see why Texas Precious Metals Depository has quickly become a favorite among Birch Gold customers. You can learn more about TPMD here.
With certified depositories and vaults, simplicity and security come hand-in-hand
Precious Metals IRAs are valuable! So it makes sense to leverage industry professionals to handle and protect them for you. The tax code and regulations regarding SDIRAs obliges you to work with an experienced custodian, even if you have financial expertise.
You may have heard of home storage IRAs as an alternative – which, as their name says, involves storing these Precious Metals IRAs in your own home via an IRA LLC – but they’re a far cry from the simplicity that the name would suggest.
Home storage IRAs are extremely cumbersome to set up, questionably secure and, most importantly, liable to place the owner at odds with the IRS. Even a recent Tax Court ruled against home storage IRAs– a Rhode Island couple were ordered to pay over $300,000 in taxes and fees on a $730,000 IRA.
The sensible decision to place your self-directed retirement account under professional custody should be followed by the choice to get the very best when it comes to the storage of physical assets.
