Gold IRA Investing

Gold IRA investing has been making loud noises lately, and the current inflation has something to do with it. Many people continue to look for ways to secure their money’s value. Investing in IRA-eligible gold and other precious metals is one way to make this happen because they are not directly tied to any currency or stock market. They also tend to retain their value over long periods, despite the changes that may happen in the value of dollars.

If you want to start with this journey, these are the best gold IRA companies to help you secure your wealth’s value while diversifying your retirement portfolio.

At a Glance Rating:

Top 4 Gold IRA Companies Review

Augusta Precious Metals: Editor’s Choice – Great Buyback Program (4.9/5)

Star Rating

If you are an experienced investor, you might have heard of Augusta Precious Metals at least once. They are a premier gold IRA company in the industry and offer one of the widest variety of products and services for its investors.

They started business and 2012 and have since provided many Americans with quality service related to gold and silver. They are now praised and receive excellent ratings from different review platforms.

The Better Business Bureau has given them an A+ rating, the highest possible rating from the platform. Other considerable ratings come from the Business Consumer Affairs at AAA and TrustLink at 5/5 stars, with over 283 reviews from verified clients.

If one thing sets Augusta Precious Metals apart from other Gold IRA companies, it is their genuine concern for their investors’ education. They made it their goal to inform every person regarding their concerns in precious metals investments.

If you choose to work with this company, you can rely on them for everything you need. Questions related to setting up your gold IRA investment account, what type of account to open, which products work best for you, and how much should be put into your retirement portfolio are only some things they can help you with.

Their website has a page that discusses how to avoid gold and silver IRA scams in the industry. The company understands the rampant misinformation across the internet and wants to change it as much as possible.

If that’s not good enough, you can get lifetime account support if you choose them as your precious metals dealer.

Remember that the price of gold, silver, and other precious metals may rise and fall temporarily. Although they are not tied to any currencies, you can still see some changes in value over time. However, these changes are not as drastic as with other assets.

You can always contact them to learn more about their prices and packages. They have many products you can add to your self-directed gold IRA, and their minimum investment cost is $50,000. They can also help you find the best market custodians to handle your precious metals account.

Augusta Precious Metals’ most suggested client custodians are the Equity Trust, GoldStar Trust Company, and the Kingdom Trust.

Pros

• They prioritize investor education
• Currently has a long-term partnership with Kingdom Trust, which manages more than $12 billion in assets
• Wide variety of precious metals bullion to choose from
• Free shipping on all orders

Cons

• Steep minimum investment cost: $50,000
• High markup on premium purchases

American Hartford Gold: Runner up – Best Price for Bullion (4.8/5)

Star Rating

American Hartford Gold understands the importance of having a comfortable financial status during retirement. They offer IRA and non-IRA precious metals purchases to fulfill your investment goals.

They launched this company in 2015, and they got the attention of many investors in the industry. Their main products are gold and silver, and you can hold them in a precious metals IRA account or have them delivered straight to your front door. Just keep in mind that home storage only refers to non-IRA purchases.

If there’s one thing you must know about American Hartford Gold, it is their commitment to providing top-notch customer service. They believe transparency is essential in building trust and long-term relationships with their beloved clients.

They always provide their investors with the most updated news and market information, so they know how to maximize their investments. Considering this an essential characteristic in a reputable gold IRA company would be best because you wouldn’t want to be left out in the dark.

The minimum investment cost for American Hartford Gold starts at $10,000. This is relatively low compared to most gold IRA providers in the country. They also allow gold IRA rollovers from other existing accounts, which is a much easier way to fund your new IRA account.

American Hartford Gold has consistently received excellent ratings from different review platforms. The Business Consumer Alliance has given them an AA rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. They have also been named the #1 gold company in 2021’s Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies.

If that’s not enough to impress you, American Hartford Gold will present you with a complete cost disclosure before the final sale. Now, that’s transparency! You wouldn’t want to put your money into a company without knowing where it’s going.

So far, they have delivered over $1 billion worth of precious metals since their launch and continue to be a leading industry leader. They are firm in assisting their clients with everything they need and ensuring that more people will have a secure and comfortable retirement.

Pros

• The company prioritizes customer service and compliance
• Provides complete cost disclosure before the final sale
• They offer special deals like $1500 worth of free silver on certain amount purchases
• Price match guarantee

Cons

• Limited product offering
• The pricing structure is not visible on the website

Goldco: Best and Most Trusted Gold IRA Company Overall (4.6/5)

Star Rating

Goldco is among the leading gold IRA companies in the precious metals industry, and their over a decade of experience providing high-quality service is proof of that.

This company has a large customer base because of its ability to cultivate lasting relationships with its clients. They focus on delivering transparent, honest service to their customers’ self-directed IRAs.

Goldco’s founder, Trevor Gerszt, believed that a well-diversified retirement portfolio requires a mix of physical assets like precious metals to ensure its stability. Political and economic issues are inevitable. You wouldn’t know what might happen when your money is in an IRA, so it’s best to have a safety plan.

Goldco offers its clients several services, including selling precious metals and brokerage assistance. If you invest with this company, you can qualify for at least 10% free silver and shipping on specific orders.

As gold IRA investors, you can also benefit from their buybacks, which are known to be among the highest prices available in the market.

The company does not offer platinum and palladium, but you can still choose from various gold and silver bullion coins and bars. Their products are high-quality, and you can directly purchase gold from them. They allow you to select your depository, and they will handle all the processes to ship your precious metals.

Aside from IRA purchases, you can also get physical precious metals from them and have them shipped to your home. You can even qualify for free storage if you meet their set qualifications.

Goldco has been consistently praised for its honest service by many customers. If there are complaints, they always try to resolve them immediately to maintain customer satisfaction.

The Business Consumer Alliance gave them an AAA rating, the highest rating on the platform. The Better Business Bureau has also given them an A+, and the company resolved 12 complaints in the last three years.

Goldco’s minimum investment cost starts at $25,000. This is much lower than Augusta Precious Metals, but some people may still find this steep. Still, they remain one of the country’s most trusted and sought-after gold IRA companies.

Pros

• Provides a lot of helpful resources that you can learn from
• Consumer Affairs Accredited
• Solid endorsement from prominent media figures
• All of their gold coins and gold bars and certified

Cons

• High minimum investment cost: $25,000
• The pricing structure is not available publicly

Birch Gold Corporation: Great Staff Overall (4.5/5)

Star Rating

Birch Gold Group is among the pioneering companies in the precious metals IRA industry. With more than 20 years of experience, it is not surprising why they are often on top of lists for the best IRA providers in the country.

They have an established reputation for their excellent service and quality products. Investing in precious metals is essential in portfolio diversification, and Birch Gold understands that.

This company is committed to providing transparency and expertise to its clients, making them reliable partners in your investments. You’d want your money stored with a company that understands its value for you and your future.

Another good thing about Birch Gold is its wide variety of physical gold bullion. Yes, they offer all four metals, which is not always available in most IRA companies. If you want to expand your investment with platinum and palladium, this company can help you.

The good thing about self-directed gold IRAs is that you can personalize them based on risk tolerance and asset preferences. There’s no pressure to choose from pre-determined asset sets that puts a limitation on your investment goals.

Also, everyone knows how complex investing in precious metals can get. That is why Birch Gold always provides as much education and assistance as the investors need starting from the account setup. They want their clients to make an informed decision with every transaction so that they will put their money into good places.

Birch Gold requires a minimum of $10,000 on their IRAs before you can open an account. This is one of the lowest offers available in the market. This amount can be divided into different products you want to invest in. The decision is all yours.

If you don’t want to rely solely on your ideas, you can always ask your chosen custodian’s company specialists for the best products for you. Every product has risks and market fluctuations, so you must know what you want. These investments are long-term, so you should consider all factors that affect them.

Pros

• They have more than 20 years of experience in the business
• There are a wide variety of products to choose from
• Fees on the first year are waived on transfers of more than $50,000
• They provide many educational resources for their clients

Cons

• Customer service hours are limited
• Some fees are higher than some competitors

What Is A Gold IRA?

A gold IRA is one type of individual retirement account that permits gold IRA investors to hold physical gold in an IRA. It could be in the form of gold and silver coins, gold bars, and other precious metal coins that meet the standard provided by the IRS.

You should know you cannot add alternative investment assets to a traditional IRA. However, the same contribution limits and distribution rules apply to these accounts. You can open a gold IRA with the help of a precious metals IRA provider and a custodian to manage your account.

Understanding Gold IRAs

Gold IRAs are tax-advantaged retirement accounts where you can store alternative investment assets such as physical precious metals. IRAs come in various forms, like traditional, Roth, and gold IRAs.

There are many benefits to investing your money in precious metals. You must separately manage them from your traditional assets, and you will need to find a custodian or a brokerage firm to oversee your account transactions.

In most cases, gold IRA and precious metals IRA are used interchangeably. You can open them with pretax funds, also called a Roth IRA. In this account, you will purchase precious metals with post-tax funds.

For traditional IRAs, the usual type of assets you will see are just stocks, mutual funds, and other paper assets. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows holding physical bars and coins minted from approved precious metals, namely gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

Other than physical precious metals, these are some of the gold-related paper assets that you can also put in a Gold IRA:

• Stocks in gold mining companies
• Precious metals mutual funds
• Precious metals commodity futures
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

Gold individual retirement accounts come with higher fees because it requires physical storage, while paper assets don’t.

Types Of Gold IRAs

Gold IRAs come in different forms with different benefits. These are the type of accounts that you can choose from:

Traditional Gold IRAs

Traditional Gold IRAs are typically funded with pretax dollars. In that case, your contributed funds and earnings will grow on a tax-deferred basis. You will then be taxed during the withdrawals.

Roth Gold IRAs

The contributions to a Roth gold IRA are funded with after-tax money, so there will be no immediate tax advantage. You must pay your taxes upon taking distributions at your retirement.

SEP Gold IRAs

Like traditional Simplified Employee Pension IRAs, SEP gold IRAs are available for all employees of small businesses and self-employed individuals. You will be taxed during your withdrawals rather than your account contribution.

The IRS provides a limitation for contributions to SEP IRAs of any kind. It could be 25% of your total compensation or $66,000 for 2023—whichever is less.

Gold IRAs Charge Extra Costs

Several extra costs come with a gold IRA that is not present in a traditional IRA. Keep in mind that physical assets are managed differently, and here are the expenses that you can expect to pay with gold IRA fees:

Account Setup Fees

Most gold IRA companies charge a setup fee that you must pay upfront. This usually varies per company, which ranges from $50 to at least a hundred dollars. However, it is possible to waive this fee if you invest a certain amount, like $30,000 or more. Still, it depends on your chosen custodian or gold IRA providers.

Annual Maintenance Fees

All custodians typically charge an annual maintenance fee for the administrative expenses of handling the paperwork and overseeing your account.

This could be flat, ranging from $75 to $300 annually. On the other hand, some companies charge maintenance fees depending on the account size. For example, accounts with less than $100,000 may be set at $175 annually, while those over $100,000 can go beyond $225 annually.

Seller Fees

Your dealer could charge a markup price when you purchase precious metals for your IRA. You won’t always get the spot market price for specific products. This fee may vary depending on the type of physical gold bullion, other precious metals you plan to buy, and the current market conditions.

Some sellers may also charge commission fees for handling the transaction, and the standard for this is $40.

Storage Fees

The IRS requires physical gold stored in depositories to ensure its safety. The more gold you have, the higher your gold IRA storage fee will be. You can ask your custodian regarding its amount.

Insurance Fees

Insurance fees are often charged alongside storage fees. It could be a flat rate or a breakdown separately. It still depends on the number of precious metals that you own. It can cost between $100 to $300 per year.

Wire Transfer Fees

If you receive or send money for your transactions through wire transfer, your custodian can charge a fee to cover the cost, which is usually $25 per wire.

Cash-out Fees

If you close your account, your gold IRA custodian may charge you a cash-out fee of around $250.
Remember that these fees may vary depending on your dealer and custodian. It’s best to contact them directly to know more about their charge for extra costs.

Factors To Consider Before Starting A Gold IRA Account

Most gold investment companies have different rules, limits, and minimum costs for certain transactions. Do your research first if you plan on opening an individual retirement account with any of them.

Before opening up a gold IRA account, you must consider these factors to fully understand the market you plan on entering.

Type of Account

The type of account you choose to open will significantly impact many things. You can choose between a Roth and a traditional IRA; their main differences are how the account will be taxed.

In Roth IRAs, you must pay taxes before your account contribution. On the other hand, traditional IRAs allow you to contribute to the account without taxes. Still, it will be collected when you start taking distributions from your gold IRA accounts during retirement.

Contribution Limits

Gold IRA contributions come with annual limits, like any other individual retirement account, and vary depending on age. If you are currently under 50 years old, the limit is usually up to $6,000 per year for your gold IRA account. Once you reach 50 years old and above, this limit goes up to $7,000 annually.

Storing your Gold

Precious metals bought through IRAs must be stored in a depository or any IRS-approved bank. Although some companies market “self-storage” IRAs, remember that this can be subject to legality issues.

The IRS doesn’t permit the storing of precious metals at home that are purchased through an IRA. If you were caught doing so, they could consider it an early distribution, and you will be required to pay a penalty of 10% of the total amount of precious metals you have at home.

Many IRA companies sell precious metals directly if you want to buy physical gold and other IRA-eligible precious metals to store at your house. You can also ask your custodian or financial advisor regarding this concern.

Fees

Precious metals IRAs come with additional fees not always present with a traditional IRA. This usually includes a setup fee, maintenance fee, insurance fee, storage fee, and more. It may also vary per company and with the custodian or brokerage firm you choose.

The fees may range from $250 to $350 on the first year of the account and $150 to $250 annually after that. Of course, fees on a traditional IRA because you won’t need to store your paper assets in a physical facility.

How To Invest In A Gold IRA

If you are considering investing in a gold IRA, you should first choose a reputable custodian. They will help you open a self-directed gold IRA account and find a precious metals dealer with your preferred products.

Custodians can be IRS-approved financial institutions such as banks, brokerages, or trustees. Many mutual fund companies and financial services providers do not offer the handling of self-directed IRS because of the different processing. You will need to find one that is reliable, has an established reputation, and has excellent ratings from their previous and current customers.

The next thing to do is to find a reputable precious metals IRA company for your purchases. If you don’t have any strong feelings about a particular company, you can ask your custodian for recommendations. It is okay if they don’t have all four metals, but it’s best if they always have gold and silver products to offer. Then, you can choose whether to set up a traditional or Roth IRA.

After setting up your account, it’s now time for funding. You can make contributions, a transfer, or a gold IRA rollover from an existing qualified plan like 401(k)s, 4013(b)s, and 457 plans. Your custodian will help you with all the transactions you need.

Once your account is funded, you can select the precious metals you prefer to invest in. The good thing about self-directed IRAs is that you can customize your assets based on your risk tolerance and preferences.

How Long Does It Usually Take To Open A Gold IRA?

Gold IRA application processes are usually quick. It should not take you more than 15 to 30 minutes to finish. You could open an account in just a single business day if you provide all the necessary information.

Also, it could depend on the speed of your funding process. If your chosen custodian quickly responds to the transfers, it could be set up immediately. Gold IRA rollovers usually take seven to ten business days to finish. On the other hand, funding the account with a physical check would take longer.

Note that the processing time may vary depending on your chosen IRA company.

Advantages Of Gold IRAs

Gold IRA investing has many benefits for an investor like you. There are many gold investment companies that you can work with to start this journey, and it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Here are some of the advantages of gold IRA investing:

Tax Benefits

Gold IRAs provide the same special tax treatment that you will get with a standard IRA. The contributions to a self-directed IRA can be tax-deductible, and the qualified withdrawals from Roth IRA accounts can be tax-free.

Long-term Hold

The investment risk mainly relies on long-term effects because you don’t know what might happen soon. If a global disaster or political conflict affects the economy, your invested money on paper assets can be vulnerable.

The good thing about precious metals IRA accounts is that they will be able to hold their value even after decades in storage. Gold and other metals retain value despite economic downturns, protecting your money against inflation and other issues.

They are still subject to volatility depending on industry demand and other factors, but they will never have a zero value in any economy.

Greater Control

Gold IRAs are self-directed accounts. That gives you better control over the assets you want to include in your account. In most cases, investments come with a pre-determined set; you just have to choose which suits you. For alternative investment assets, you can customize your account, be it all gold, all silver, all platinum, all palladium, or a mix of these precious metals.

Final Thoughts – Gold IRA Investing

Gold IRA investing has been around for a few decades and has proven its benefits for retirement portfolio diversification. Among the top gold IRA companies listed above, there’s no doubt why Augusta Precious Metals is the best. Their commitment to providing high-quality service to their clients is top-notch.

Precious metals IRAs greatly hedge against inflation and other issues that may harm our economy. Augusta could keep up with their customers’ needs and maintain a good relationship with them for a long time.

If you are unsure if they have the best gold IRA services you need, you can always check out the other companies offering the same gold IRA investments within the market. You can also check out the gold IRA investing guide above to better understand how this investment works.