Tax-efficient Gutting of 401(k) and IRA

[buggles]

1st off, I'll admit I have not done any homework. Retirement accounts are a black box to me. I barely understand the principles of their function.

I have a decent amount of money in a 401(k) account.
My wife had a 401(k) balance that rolled into an IRA when she changed employment. She has a small amount in her current 401(k) from contributions from her new employment.

I am considering emptying all of the above accounts and vesting the balance in PM. I understand that there are tax penalties for early withdrawal. I have yet to determine how much that is going to hurt.

I'd like to know if there is a more tax-efficient route to follow. Is it possible to roll from one account type to another, like her 401(k) found its way to an IRA with no penalty, so that the final account emptying results in us having more of the money in hand than if we just dumped the accounts directly.

Also, I am curious how I need to relate the transactions with our employers. Is it possible to dump the accounts but keep the accounts open so that they essentially begin at $0 with contributions continuing to be made every week?

TIA, buggles

[Trvlr45]

From what I understand Gold Money now has IRA's you can set up with PM's. You may not have to take a hit. I don't know. Go to Goldmoney.com and ask them how it works.

[clr8ter]

Actually, the govt. allows certain forms of PM in regular & roth IRA'S. Mostly US Govt. issued stuff. See cmi-gold-silver.com, and there is a section on the home page about this topic.

[mick silver]

i would just take some of the money , but i would want the metal in my hands , but that just me

[Renegade]

There goes another retirement! Hope you like your job.

Renegade