GOLD!  No matter how expensive or cheap gold is, there’s always a lot of conversation about investing in it through an IRA or 401k.  But the IRS says you can’t use your IRA to invest in collectibles, which includes metals and coins.  Is it even possible or legal to buy gold in your IRA or 401k?  I’m Bryan Ellis.  I’ll tell you the answer right now in Episode 147.-----Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy, self-directed investors like you!It’s always easy to stir up conversation and find out what a person’s world view is by bringing up the topic of gold investing.  Gold is the one asset where many otherwise intelligent investors are wholly willing to completely ignore declining value just because of the feeling of security offered by ownership of the asset.  It’s as if Gold occupies some rarified plain of uniqueness among asset classes.And you know, I’m not really going to argue with that.  I’m not a total brainwashee to the whole “gold” thing… but I certainly see the point of those who are.Having said that, there’s a curiosity – more of a technicality, actually – that you need to know about if you’re interested in using your retirement account to purchase gold.The technicality is that, technically, you can’t really do it.  The IRS specifically includes bullion and coins in the definition of the term “collectibles”.  And collectibles is one of only two asset classes specified as wholly unavailable to retirement accounts, with the other being life insurance.And if you can’t buy gold in the form of bullion or coins, how will you buy it?Fortunately, there are exceptions.  Those exceptions are rather specific, but not unreasonably restrictive.  Here’s the gist of it:If you want to buy bullion – specifically, gold, silver, platinum or palladium – the purity of the bullion must be equal to or greater than the level required by public exchanges like COMEX or NYMEX, which is measures about 99.9%… in other words, very, very pure bullion.  If it meets that standard, then your retirement account is allowed to purchase it.And then there’s the question of gold coins.  The rules are fairly rigid here as well.  By and large, government-manufactured gold coins are acceptable.  For example – American Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs and Australian Nuggets.  But the purity standard still applies.  For that reason, some popular government-issued gold coins, including the South African Krugerrand, which has a purity below 92%, does not meet the qualifications.But that’s not the end of the story.  Now that your retirement account has purchased bullion or coins of the appropriate purity, the next big question becomes:  Where are those assets physically housed?  Do you get to take possession of those items, such as to store in a home safe or safe deposit box?Folks, this answer certainly isn’t going to make you happy if you’re one of the many people who have an inherent distrust in either financial institutions or the government – which certainly includes me.  The answer is that – with only one exception – if you own coins or bullion, they must be physically in the custody of a trustee, which will likely be the custodian of your self-directed retirement account.I hate to burst your bubble on that one, for those of you who like the idea of stashing a lot of gold at your home in the event of a systemic collapse.But there is, as I mentioned, one exception.  The exception is that if your retirement account purchases a specific type of gold coin – American Eagles – then those coins can be held by you personally at your discretion.  So, bottom line:  If you want to use your retirement funds to buy gold and you want to hold that gold in your home safe or otherwise, then you must purchase American Eagles.As an aside, have you ever looked at an American Eagle coin?  Those coins are absolutely stunning, just an absolutely magnificent design.There you have it, folks… the rules for investing in Gold or other precious metals in your retirement