Gyroscopic Investing

I have a 401(k) and my wife and I have Roth IRAs. I've implemented a PP in the 401(k), and it'd easy enough to create a big PP across the three accounts, but how do people deal with rebalancing? Say you need to sell a bunch of stocks held in a Roth IRA and buy gold in a 401(k), or vice versa. What do you do about the tax consequences of moving money from the different types of accounts? Don't you bump into yearly contribution limits with the IRAs?

basically, how do folks handle the nuts-and-bolts details of a situation like this?

Pointedstick wrote: ...basically, how do folks handle the nuts-and-bolts details of a situation like this?

I just get as close as I can. 

I know that's probably not the answer you're looking for, but the reality is that as long as you're somewhere in the 15-35% (or maybe even 10-40%) ballpark you'll be okay. 

Also, most 401K's will allow you to borrow money from yourself.  This can be a good tool.

I keep ours as a whole PP across all accounts, which currently encompasses seven accounts.  You should be able to hold any of the assets in your IRA's.  Our 401k's have a brokerage window, so I'm able to hold any assets there.  We have our emergency fund in two different savings accounts.  Plus a taxable brokerage/mutual fund account.  There are certain places I prefer to hold certain assets; I can hold bonds directly at Vanguard, where we have our IRA's.  VTSAX is also available at Vanguard with a 10k minimum.  Our 401ks are all etfs, so I buy IAU there, then TLT.  It just depends on the scenarios.

Our savings have all cash, I have bonds and stock in our IRA's, I have bonds and gold in our 401ks; I had cash in our 401k until the last rebalance (out of cash).  I use my portfolio tracking spreadsheet to make sense of it all.  I guess it helps to have a priority list for each account.  Then add/rebalance accordingly, as long as the rebalance gets within a few percent of 25, I don't sweat it.  At some point you have to give up optimizing and say it's good enough.

In your situation, I'd sell the stocks in the IRA, then buy gold in the IRA.  I'm not sure who your IRA is with, but Vanguard let's you link a mutual fund and brokerage account inside an IRA.  I wouldn't try to move money between the accounts.  My goal is always to maximize contributions into the IRA's.

Here's a link to my spreadsheet if you want to adapt it for your own use.  I just update the tickers and share quantities manually.  I hope that helps.