You can prepare for retirement in many different ways, some more successful than others. You can deposit your money in a savings account, invest in stocks, or dig a hole in your back yard and bury your money if that’s what you really want to do. However, investing in precious metals has many benefits you don’t get from any of these other methods. Here are 12 reasons to consider starting your precious metals IRA today!

1. 2-Way Diversification

Diversifying your investments is critical if you want to be prepared for whatever the future brings. One way you can diversify your investments is to own some paper investments like stocks and bonds and add a precious metals portfolio as well. This combination protects you, because when paper stocks are down, precious metals are usually up.

Another way to diversify with precious metals is to diversify within your precious metals portfolio. If you invested cash, no dollar bill would have a different value than another. So, if the dollar went down, your whole investment amount would suffer. However, different precious metals and different forms such as bullion, coins, and bars add variety do have different values. So, if one item isn’t performing the way you like, you may have other items that are much more valuable at the same time.

2. Weather Turbulent Times

When disaster strikes the economy, paper investments can plummet faster than you can convert them into cash or other investments. With precious metals, this has never happened. Sure, there may be times when it’s better to leave your precious metals portfolio the way it is to wait for a better selling climate. Yet, if you do need to take money out of your precious metals IRA at any time, you can rely on its intrinsic worth.

3. Hedge against Inflation

Besides the major shocks of catastrophic events in the market, inflation is usually at play in setting the prices for your cash and paper investments. Inflation can insidiously eat away at the value of the investments you hold, so that what you once invested decreases in real value over the course of time. When you have gold, silver, or other precious metals set aside in a precious metals IRA, those metals tend to hold their value despite the continuing downward pull on the value of paper investments.

4. Control

Often, regular investment portfolios are controlled by a broker who decides what to buy based on your long- and short-term goals. The problem with this is it can be kind of a cookie-cutter process. Most people let the broker or financial manager make the decisions and then just sit back and hope for the best.

If you have a self-directed precious metals IRA, though, you decide exactly what you want to invest in. It becomes a more active process if you choose to make it one. This makes investing more fun, but it also has a more serious advantage. That is, you get to invest in what appeals to you most rather than just what someone says will be a good deal.

5. Flexibility

When you have a precious metals IRA, you’re in charge of deciding what to put into it at all times. You may have other people to help or advise you, but the ultimate choice is yours. Because of this, you can always change the precious metals you’re investing in by selling some and buying more of others. A precious metals portfolio can be as fluid as you like it to adapt to your changing needs and desires.

6. Growth Potential

Precious metals can not only keep up with inflation, they usually surpass it. Precious metals have outperformed bonds for the last 25 years or more. Gold and other precious metals generally raise in value over the long run, even more than inflation, bonds, and even many stocks.

7. Have Never Been Worth Zero

Since gold was first discovered in ancient times it has always had value. The same can’t be said of stock. Many stocks that once seemed so promising are now worth a flat zero dollars. Even cash and bonds are worthless if the government that issues them fails. Since precious metals have always had value for such a very long time, there’s no need to worry that your investments will ever be wiped away.

8. Tax Advantages

When you put metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium into a precious metals IRA, you don’t have to pay taxes on that investment until you remove them from it. So, it can grow unfettered, becoming worth more each year without costing you a tax bill for gain on investment unless and until you take it out of the IRA.

9. Greater Stability

Precious metals are stable investments that tend to hold their value and gain over time. They are worth more or less at different times, but the fluctuations are typically must milder than with paper investments. The steady trend over the years is almost always to increase in value.

10. Reliable Balance

The inverse relationship between how well stocks do and how well precious metals do makes it possible to ride whatever fluctuations there are in the market. Take this along with the stable value of precious metals over the years, and it’s easy to see how adding precious metals to your investments can bring a more balanced investment portfolio.

11. Own Physical Assets

There’s a certain feeling of trust and comfort that comes with owning an investment that you can hold in your hands. Paper investments may have their place, but physical assets give you something you don’t get from a stock certificate. What they give you most is a strong, peaceful state of mind.

12. Precious Metals Investment Experts Can Help You

You might say at this point: That all sounds great, but I don’t know where to start. Fortunately, you can get help from experienced precious metals experts at GMRgold.com or by calling us directly at 1 (877) 795-9585 . Our advisors can help you choose the precious metals that are right for your investment needs and preferences. You’ll find investments to get excited about now and in the years to come!