You want physical gold. It is believe that there is not enough gold to back up the the iras
http://hubpages.com/hub/Gold-Why-Owning-Physical-Metal-is-Better-than-Paper-Metal
just google
tungsten gold bars
your gold ira could be backed with this stuff
is there gold in Fort knox
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5989271.ece
Even if you have gold you can not eat it! and some one has to want it you want to have like 1/10 oz coins for easy transaction
Also the new finance law is going to track all gold purchases sooo are they going to confiscate it again
Gold has risk also
I agree with the points you are making, and have already seen the links you provided. I never at any time said Gold did not have risk. In fact, the best time to have acquired gold was several years ago. I would buy one of the cheaper precious metals to store at home, myself.
If you cash in your IRA or 401k, you could raise yourself to a higher tax bracket, and pay 10% penalty. I have no intention of paying the government 60% or more of the money I have left in my retirement nest egg. I simply gave one of hundreds of options to consider - not a blanket recommendation. Must I also point out that your portfolio should be diversified? I kinda assumed Freepers were smart enough to know that.
If a person did invest in a gold IRA, they could treat it like a ponzi scheme, get in & get out before the crash of the coming gold bubble. Get necessities in order, stash some precious metals, and goods likely to keep for a long time and able to be bartered. etc etc.
You are still going to need liquidity to pay your property taxes, and buy perishables. If hyperinflation hits, that liquidity can not be cash in the bank, because it will loose it's value too fast. Bottom line there are no perfect options.
By the way, everyone knows you can't eat gold. I assume everyone has enough sense to know to get the necessities covered first, especially since that has been a recurring theme on this forum for months.