Commodities in an IRA
The prohibition on owning “metals” in an IRA seems problematic if someone wants to diversify his investments within an IRA to include commodities. If, for example, you invest in a commodity mutual fund, how do you avoid inadvertently violating the prohibition on “metals” if you aren’t sure about the underlying investments of the fund. Most of these funds invest in futures contracts or a variety of derivatives and it is unlikely that they would ever invest directly in the metal itself but I suppose they could. I’m thinking of funds like the PIMCO Commodity Real Return Stategy or the T.Rowe Price Real Assets Fund. Any help in diversifying an IRA’s investments to include commodity funds safely without risking a violation of the “metals” prohibition would be much appreciated.
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Sat, 2011-12-24 02:37
This information should be stated in the fund summary information. For example, the TRP Real Assets fund has this statement under the “fund objectives” section:
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The fund is designed for more aggressive investors with a long-term horizon who want significant exposure to real assets and can withstand inevitable setbacks in an effort to achieve potential long-term growth. Appropriate for both taxable and tax-deferred accounts, such as IRAs.
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In the event a fund was NOT allowed to be held by IRAs, the statement would probably be MORE pronounced than the one above.