$60K SEP-IRA - Buying Recommendations Please

[nanovation]

Hey Everyone,
I'm new here and was hoping to get some wisdom from the group. I have a $60K SEP-IRA that I've setup over at STRATA and I'm looking to invest it in silver.

What Would You Buy?
ASEs are my top choice, but am wondering if anyone that's been in my situation before has any recommendations. Canadian Maple Leafs just as good?

Best Way To Get A Good Deal?
Any recommendations on how to leverage the whole $60K to get the best deal? I.E. Call up JM Bullion and try to negotiate over the phone for bulk price?

My Long Term Strategy
My long term strategy here is to buy silver and hold it for 10-20 years. I'm fully expecting the Feds to print so much fiat that the currency becomes debased and thus silver is not only a wise investment that I expect to continue to go up, but at the very least should hold its value.

Thanks
Thanks in advance for your help!

[DoubleEagle]

Well you have a PM IRA and they do not normally segregate silver because it is too bulky. You can usually pay extra and have gold segregated, but since this is an IRA and you can't touch the metal few people do this. But it doesn't really matter because you direct the sale later, and you never are allowed to see or touch the metal. The custodian has the metal, and you normally pick the bullion depository that the custodian will use. 

So say you are retired and want to get an income check many years from now. You arrange with the custodian to sell some silver through the dealer you choose. So you still never see the metal. The dealer you pick then sends a check to your custodian. The custodian posts this money as cash to your account. It usually makes money market interest when held as cash. Now you tell custodian to issue you a distribution, which does not need to be the entire current cash balance. If you want to sell some before you retire (and possibly then invest in something else), the same process is used, but you simply leave out the distribution step. 

Therefore, you can buy the cheapest thing you can find per ounce; you won't be touching it anyway, nor auctioning off on ePay or anything like that.

Because of the way the whole thing works, most do not buy coins. The account quickly becomes all about 'how many ounces' are in storage. So you may buy 1000 oz. COMEX bars, or 100 oz investor bars, or whatever you want. If you still want to buy coins, consider Maples or Philharmonics, etc, etc. That's because these are selling for $22 an oz, whereas the eagles are $25 an ounce. There is no huge hurry if you can't find a deal to your liking. The custodian will hold in cash and pay you interest while you are finding a deal you like.

You can also buy gold, which has a lower premium versus silver. With gold, you can segregate if you want. But most people buy bars (such as kilo bar, or 10 oz bar) and do not segregate.

If your storage was not an IRA, then all of this would change. In that case, people do pay for segregation, and then pick the exact thing they want. And then when they want some metal delivered, they pay a fee and it is delivered to your house.

[nanovation]

Outstanding feedback. Thank you so much!!! I couldn't find anywhere online that offered solid advice on what to buy and not buy in this situation.

My IRA is a Self Directed IRA, and I will never touch or see the PMs in there, and Brinks will be where they are held, so I'll go with the bars.

[DoubleEagle]

OK then if you want, seek out a few dealers who are enthusiastic to deal with Brinks storage and Strata IRA custodian. If you can't find anyone talk to CNI out in LA area. Golddealer.com. They only trade over the phone, and have an 800 number. 

[giantsforever1]

DoubleEagle, I'm thinking of investing in a PM IRA. When I am eligible for distributions, is it better to take delivery of the PM or have the custodian sell it? Also, what sort of insurance should the custodian have?