Buy Gold in an Offshore IRA
When you buy gold in an offshore IRA, you create a hedge against currency risks, move assets out of the United States, and maximize asset protection, all the while maintaining the tax benefits of the retirement account. Buy gold in an offshore IRA LLC to maximize the benefits of taking your retirement account offshore.
When you invest in only U.S. stocks and U.S. dollar denominated assets, you place your retirement at risk. Diversify out of the U.S. by moving your retirement account in to an offshore IRA LLC and then buy gold in an offshore account.
When you buy gold in an offshore IRA LLC, you create a hedge against currency devaluation, economic turmoil, and volatile markets. As I write this post, the price of gold is lower and more attractive than it has been in years. But, I suggest you buy gold in an offshore IRA at almost any price. When you hold gold as a hedge against catastrophic risks, it makes little long term difference where the spot price moves. Buying gold in an offshore IRA LLC is the ultimate retirement insurance policy.
When you take your IRA offshore, you take control over all account decisions. You choose your investment mix and can reduce volatility and risk while safeguarding your standard of living. This type of control is not available onshore. Yes, you can form a domestic IRA LLC, but you will be limited to U.S. investments and tied to the U.S. government.
*Tax Tip: You are not required to report gold held in your name offshore. This is not an issue for gold in an offshore IRA, but it is for those who buy in a taxable account. For more information on this topic, check out my article on gold.
Note that I am referring to physical ownership of gold and other hard assets. I never recommend gold certificates or holding facilities like Perth Mint. Unless you take possession of the assets, they must be reported to the IRS and are not a true hedge against catastrophic events.
When you buy gold in an offshore IRA, you have the same tax benefits and responsibilities as if you made the investment in the United States. You are acting as the investment manager for your offshore IRA and must follow U.S. rules while offshore. This means that you may buy gold bullion and Golden Eagle coins, but you may not buy collectable gold coins.
When you buy gold in an offshore IRA, you must be buying it for the value of the gold. If the coin has a value in addition to its gold content, it is probably not a permitted investment.
I recommend you buy gold in an offshore IRA and take possession of that gold. We work with firms in Zurich, Switzerland and Panama City, Panama that offer bullion in just about any amount and private vaults that will store it in complete anonymity. The private vault company we work with in Panama will allow you to store just about any investment asset.
If you search the web for how to buy gold in an IRA or how to buy gold in an offshore IRA, you will find a number of U.S. providers. There are even some U.S. firms offering to buy foreign gold through a self directed IRA, without an offshore LLC or offshore bank account. This makes no sense to me. There is no value to going offshore if you are not going to take control over the investments.
When you use a self directed IRA, you can “direct” the custodian to make certain investments. You can’t force him to make an investment, but you can request and suggest investments. Also, all investments in the self directed account are under the control of the custodian/investment manager. If the U.S. comes calling, and tells him to bring the money back to invest in U.S. Treasuries or in the MyRa scam (see my article on MyRa), he will do so. You have very little control over the investments in your retirement account if things go bad or you want to make an investment that the custodian is not comfortable with. If you are buying gold in an offshore IRA as a hedge against catastrophic risks, you must use an offshore LLC.
I also note that the self directed custodian/investment manager earns a transaction fee from each investment you ask him to make. If he picks up the phone, he’s getting paid. If you move your retirement account in to an offshore IRA LLC, you make the investments, choose your gold broker, your vault, and the level of protection you feel is necessary. You will pay no transaction fees to the custodian.
If you want to buy gold in an offshore IRA, I suggest you go all in and dump the self directed U.S. controlled investment advisor/custodian. When you form an offshore IRA LLC, you are the signor on the bank account, gold purchase contract, and the vault. No one has access to or control over your investments. If you go offshore, then go offshore.
To clarify, when you buy gold in an offshore IRA LLC, there is a U.S. custodian involved, but he has no control over your investments or accounts. His job is to invest your retirement account in to the offshore LLC. Once the money is in the LLC, the custodian is responsible for annual reporting to the IRS… that’s it. He doesn’t charge a transaction fee on your investments in the LLC and has no control over your retirement assets.
As I said above, you must follow the same rules offshore as a professional advisor follows onshore. My point is that the choice of what to do if the U.S. decides to force retirement accounts to invest in Treasuries, is yours. The decision to comply or not comply is yours and not the custodian’s.
Also, most experts believe that offshore IRA LLCs will be grandfathered in should the IRS go after foreign transactions. They may close IRAs and prohibit the formation of new IRA LLCs (or the funding of offshore structures), but it is unlikely they will go after existing entities.
If you buy gold in an offshore IRA, go offshore with an LLC. If you plan on using a self directed IRA without an LLC, then save a few dollars and buy the gold in the United States. There is no reason to go offshore with a self directed account.
I hope this article on why you should buy gold in an offshore IRA has been helpful. We all come at risk and diversification from different points of view. If you want a hedge against catastrophic events, move your assets out of harms way and out of the control of a U.S. custodian with an offshore IRA LLC. If you think this risk is minimal, then a domestic self directed IRA is all you need.
Feel free to phone or email us at info@premieroffshore.com for a confidential consultation. We will be happy to help you take your retirement account offshore and diversify out of the United States.
