Retirement Services Division

The hardest part of the process is deciding that you want to protect your hard-earned retirement savings. You could do that right now. What are you waiting for?

CALL OUR RETIREMENT EXPERTS AT THE U.S. GOLD BUREAU!

(512) 359-9328

Most retired folks live on fixed incomes directly connected to their retirement accounts and Social Security. Unfortunately, decades of political and financial mismanagement have put the longevity of the Social Security system in jeopardy. This sad fact makes retirement account income even more important than any other time in history. Most people think of their retirement assets as similar to a bank account they can withdraw from as needed. A major market correction will feel like the fear and frustration of waking up one day realizing your savings account has 30% or 40% less money than the day before, but you didn’t buy anything.

Depending on the structure and allocation, most retirement accounts automatically rebalance over time into traditionally less risky assets like bonds. Most people assume this will protect them if the market drops. Is this assumption accurate in how the numbers behave? Like so many things, the truthful answer is it depends on many factors outside of your control. The primary driver of bond prices is interest rates. As interest rates rise, the bonds in your portfolio are worth less. Why would someone buy a bond you previously purchased at 2% if they could get 3% today? The only way to sell your bond is to sell at a discount. The primary tool the Federal Reserve uses to slow inflation is to raise interest rates. This means bonds are not usually a safe hedge during a market crash if interest rates are rising simultaneously. This means inflation is a significant cause of the downturn and it is not a healthy market. Rebalancing into bonds can be very risky when interest rates are rising. Raising interest rates mean there is significant inflation that still needs to be controlled.

The easiest way to understand inflation is a loss of purchasing power. If you buy a pair of shoes today for $100 and one year from today you buy the same pair of shoes for $110, then your dollar has lost 10% of its purchasing power in one year. This can confuse people when they look at the numbers of their retirement accounts. The mistake that people make when thinking about their retirement accounts or other investments is they think in terms of their purchasing power when they originally made the investment instead of their purchasing power when they sell. A successful investment should increase your purchasing power over time, not decrease it. The way to measure whether an investment has increased your purchasing power is simple math. Subtract the inflation rate from the rate of return on paper.

Ex. On paper the investment returns 8% per year and inflation is 5%.    8% (return) -5% (inflation rate) = 3% actual increase in purchasing power.   

It works the other way as well. Any investment that does not keep up with inflation is losing purchasing power. Everyday goods cost more and the underlying value of your assets to afford those goods is simultaneously losing money. This is like burning the candle at both ends and, depending on how high inflation is, can be as though the candle was lit with a flame-thrower, melting most of the candle before lighting the wick. This is a very stressful situation to watch in any investment account, but especially a retirement account.

Investment fads and cycles have come and gone, but precious metals have remained the most trusted wealth preservation strategy for thousands of years. The primary strength of precious metals is protecting purchasing power, while also offering opportunities for growth and at times offering tax advantages. Since retirement is about wealth preservation, precious metals IRAs can be a well-suited, conservative and logical investment vehicle to help reach that objective.

Yes, it is completely legal to buy and sell Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium within an IRA account, as long as you do it the right way – and we can show you how.

It's not just "backed" by real metal, it IS real metal. With our Precious Metals IRAs, you will own physical gold and silver coins and bars that you can hold in your hand, not just read about in a monthly account statement.

During the rollover process, we will work directly with you to set up an account and transfer funds from an existing IRA. We can also help you set up a brand new account. Depending on your current custodian, the process can take as little as 10 days.

Yes, all investments involve risk and precious metals are no exception. As with all investments there is risk and the past performance of a particular asset class does not guarantee any future performance. The United States Gold Bureau, its principals and representatives, do not guarantee to clients that they will realize a profit or guarantee that losses may not be incurred as a result of acquiring precious metals or following its precious metal recommendations.

Yes, you can roll over assets from an existing IRA or a previous employer's 401K, or in some circumstances a portion of your current employer's 401K. Your specialist will be able to provide guidance for your specific situation.

Please talk with an Account Executive from our dedicated Retirement Services Division. They will walk you through the whole process and in most cases can fill out the application with you while you both are on the phone. We make it easy – and ensure that there are no unnecessary penalties or fees.

Your advisor will mostly offer investment services that they can control, which is understandable, but traditional advisors can't work with physical precious metals. We are not here to replace your advisor; we are here to protect and preserve your purchasing power. In fact, we can work hand-in-hand with your financial advisor, since we both have the same concern – the security of your long-term investments.

The decision to invest in precious metals depends on your specific circumstances and is a personal decision. Many of our clients enjoy the benefits of diversification within their overall IRA account by having an appropriate allocation to physical metals.