By Doug Young

If you are one of the many small business owners who own a Solo 401k (Self-Employed 401k, Uni-K, Individual 401k, or One-Participant 401k), then you might be curious about just how wise it would be for you to add gold to your portfolio. If so, then you have landed on the right page.

When you add precious metals bullion to your portfolio you are exercising an excellent method for diversifying it and providing yourself with a hedge against currency devaluation and economic troubles.

Here I will show you what exactly a Solo 401k is and how it matches up with other tax-advantaged retirement vehicles. I will reveal the benefits to adding gold onto your portfolio and how you can get started if you believe this is a good idea for you.

The Solo 401k Plan Explained

As stated on the IRS website, the Solo 401k isn’t a different kind of 401k plan as far as functionality is concerned. Rather, it is a retirement plan that enables business owners, along with their spouses, who have no other employees, to be able to still partake in one of these tax-deferred 401k plans.

It was introduced originally in 2001 as part of our Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. They were the first ever employer-sponsored retirement vehicles to be specifically aimed at self-employed workers. Those workers had been relegated previously to having to use Profit Sharing Plans, IRAs, or Keogh Plans.

A Solo 401k plan has nearly all the same rules and requirements as a traditional 401K. There are 2 exceptions between them, however, which are:

  1. The owner/Employer and the business will not be subject to any of the costly and complex guidelines set down by the ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act).
  2. The business can have no other employees who are considered to be ‘full-time’, which is 1,000 hours plus per year.

Solo 401Ks are not required to utilize special custodians like traditional IRAs. That means any financial institution or bank may act as the trustee. If the owner of the Solo 401k can find an institution that allows it, their plan can invest in a whole range of alternative asset classes like precious metals or real estate.

There are some circumstances under which a Solo 401k plan can even invest into life insurance. Even a self-directed IRA plan can’t do that.

Properly used, a Solo 401k is nearly unmatched in its ability to offer a solid retirement plan with high flexibility, low fees, easy transaction, and high contribution limits.

I can find only 2 major drawbacks concerning these plans –

  1. They are not made available for most workers.
  2. They require a huge amount of paperwork as well as document maintenance when compared to other plans.

How Can Gold Protect Your Retirement?

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Dedicating a Percentage of Your Retirement Fund to Precious Metals

Investing in Gold can be a safe and simple way of diversifying your retirement portfolio. Investing in precious metals like gold, palladium, platinum, and silver, help give our assets protection against inflation and market volatility.

Gold is does more than just make a great hedge, it gives the owner lots of growth potential. There are actually many investors who will buy gold specifically for the growth prospects alone. Gold should be seen as a long term investment. Historically it has always increased in value over the long term.

Physical Gold or Paper Gold?

Paper Gold stocks are simply shares from companies that explore, produce, and mine for gold. You can literally find hundreds of gold stocks to invest in like these, from large companies like GDX (Gold Miners Index) or HUI (BUGS Index).

Dealing with Gold stocks can be a bit more risky than just owning physical gold. The reason is that historically these gold stocks appreciate much faster as the spot prices of gold rise. If gold prices fall, these gold stocks tend to fall faster as well.

I have written elsewhere about more risks involved with Gold stocks

You can invest in physical gold via your retirement fund by rolling over or transferring your Solo 401k to a Gold IRA.

BREAKING: Are We Looking at a Retirement Crisis?

This video highlights the worrying implications for your retirement savings of:

  • changes to social security benefits
  • the big increases in cost of living expenses
  • the volatility in traditional investment methods (stocks and bonds)

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About the Author: Doug Young
Doug YoungDoug is a highly experienced professional and widely trusted authority in financial investing, commodity trading, and precious metals. With over 20 years of expertise, he helps others make informed decisions by sharing a combination of personal experience, extensive knowledge and meticulously researched information on gold IRAs, precious metals investing and retirement planning. He regularly writes news items on these topics. He has considerable experience of evaluating Gold IRA and Precious Metals Companies, gained over a period spanning more than a decade.

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