Invest in Physical Gold & Silver in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

How do I hold Gold & Silver in an IRA using BullionVault?

Through a Self-Directed IRA you can invest in gold and silver for your retirement. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) specifies the form and other requirements to make gold and silver allowable in an IRA. Gold and silver bought and stored through BullionVault satisfies all of these requirements.

IRS Requirements*	BullionVault
Minimum fineness (purity) requirement of .995 for gold and .999 for silver	All gold and silver bought through BullionVault is of at least these purities
Must not be in the form of rare or collectible (numismatic) coins	BullionVault only offers ownership of bullion in large bar format – the same form as traded on the professional markets
Must be kept at arm's length from the IRA holder and be secured in a depository for safe keeping	All bullion is stored in your choice of professionally operated vault in London, New York and Zurich

Steps to holding Gold & Silver in an IRA

1. Find an IRA Custodian or Administrator who offers the ability to hold gold and silver in an IRA. Several Custodians and Administrators already work with BullionVault on behalf of their clients. They are listed below**. We recommend you do your own due diligence to ensure the Custodian or Administrator you choose meets your personal requirements.

   IRA Custodians	IRA Administrators
   Pensco Trust	New Direction IRA MidAtlantic IRA, LLC AdvantaIRA Trust

2. Open an IRA account with your selected Custodian or Administrator and fund it via transfer, rollover and/or annual IRA contribution.
3. Inform your Custodian or Administrator you want your IRA to buy bullion from BullionVault by completing their Buy Direction or Purchase Authorization Letter. The letter will instruct the Custodian or Administrator to open a BullionVault account for the benefit of your IRA and to transfer funds into it. (See our payment instructions.)
4. Once the account has been funded, your Custodian or Administrator will send you the username and password for the BullionVault account and you can then buy gold and silver via our secure website.

BullionVault charges a commission to purchase and sell bullion and a monthly fee to store and insure your property. Please review our charges. To find out why BullionVault is the cheapest, most secure way of holding IRS permissible gold and silver in your IRA, we encourage you to review our FAQs.

*The various rules and laws that define eligibility of gold and silver bullion for an IRA can be found in these publications:

1. Investment in collectibles and the exceptions for gold & silver bullion: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch01.html#en_US_2011_publink1000230870
2. Section 304 of The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 specifies that the fineness of gold and silver bullion must be of a minimum fineness to satisfy a regulated futures contract: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-105hr2014enr/pdf/BILLS-105hr2014enr.pdf
3. Internal Revenue Code Sec 408 (m) (3) deals with the regulations for placing gold, silver and other precious metals into a self-directed IRA: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title26/pdf/USCODE-2011-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapD-partI-subpartA-sec408.pdf
4. 4. Section 7 of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. 7) refers to Designation of boards of trade as contract markets: http://www.cftc.gov/files/ogc/comex060601.pdf
5. The links below deal with contract specifications for gold and silver under CME (COMEX) exchange rules: http://www.cftc.gov/files/ogc/comex060601.pdf http://www.cmegroup.com/rulebook/NYMEX/1a/112.pdf

**Please note that though we offer this information to you freely, we are neither endorsing nor recommending any particular company. We have no affiliation with any of the custodians and do not accept any responsibility for any business you may transact with them. Your Custodian will charge you their custodial fees separately from our dealing and storage fees, which will be debited from the BullionVault account balance.

1. Endorsed and invested in by the World Gold Council

   The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. Its 23 members comprise the world's leading gold mining companies. It acquired 11% of BullionVault in 2010 and recommends BullionVault for retail gold bullion.
2. Full members of the London Bullion Market Association

   As full members of the LBMA BullionVault is part of the world’s largest physical bullion marketplace.
3. BullionVault’s users have positively rated us 4.9 out of 5 based on 44 reviews

   BullionVault’s users have positively rated us 4.9 out of 5 based on 44 reviews