Setting up a retirement account during your active years is one of the best ways to secure your future. However, holding your retirement savings in ash may not be the best approach since currencies are susceptible to inflation and deflation.
The best way to secure your retirement is by investing in multiple ventures to diversify your portfolio. Aside from conventional opportunities such as stocks and treasury bonds, the IRS allows you to set up a self-directed IRA. These IRAs give you control over your savings, thus enabling you to explore alternative investment opportunities such as precious metals and real estate.
The recent economic shakeup sponsored by COVID-19 exposed the vulnerability of most investment opportunities. In turn, this has caused people to review their investment portfolios to include alternative investments that provide a hedge against market and currency flatters.
Precious metals have been around for a few decades and is fast gaining recognition among modern investors. One of the best ways to own physical precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium is through a precious metals IRA.
Gold or precious metals IRAS are self-directed IRAs that allow you to own IRS-approved physical precious metals. The secret to investing in a gold IRA is finding a reliable brokerage firm, specifically one that deals with gold IRAs.
Having reviewed some of the popular gold IRA companies on the market, I have developed a list of top five gold IRA companies you should consider investing with.
Best Gold IRA Companies
#1
5.0/5
Goldco is ranked the overall best gold IRA company based on its reputation. The firm also performs exceptionally with an A+ rating at BBB, triple A rating from BCA, and hundreds of five-star reviews from Consumer Affairs, Trustlink, Trustpilot, and Google reviews. Offers one of the highest price buyback policy. Customers can enjoy up to 10% of free silver for their purchases.
#2
4.7/5
Augusta is recognized for its education-based approach to investing in gold IRAs. It’s endorsed by Joe Montana and his finance team. It boasts thousands of five-star ratings and reviews on BBB, BCA, Trustpilot, and Trustlink. Customers are treated to one-on-one educational web conferences to help them understand gold IRAs much better.
#3
4.5/5
American Hartford is recognized for its vast product catalog. All customers qualify for up to $10,000in free silver. The firm is exclusively recommended by Mayor Giuliani, Bill O’Reilly, and Rick Harrison. It also prides itself on more than a thousand satisfied customers with over $1 billion worth of precious metals sold.
#4
4.3/5
Birch prides banks on its reputation and customer-friendly staff to retain customers. It boasts over 7,000 satisfied customers. Customers are eligible for free shipping for orders worth over $10,000.
#5
4.0/5
Noble Gold makes it to the list by being the simplest to use. Customers can enjoy affordable rates with a flat service and storage fee. It also provides extensive educational materials to help you make infirmed decisions.
Unlike its predecessors, Noble old boasts a low minimum investment
Goldco Precious Metals is one of the top recommended gold IRA companies in the country based in California. It was established in 2006 by Trevor Gerszt, who sought to make owning precious physical metals easier.
Over the years, the company has grown to become one of the top choices in the gold investment market with a focus on gold IRAs and buying physical gold and silver in the form of bars, coins, and bullion. Its main demerit is the high minimum deposit of $25,000 for a cash purchase. Customers are also required to have a minimum of $100,000 in their existing IRAs for a rollover.
As part of their service delivery, the company will help you roll over funds from existing retirement accounts, including a 401(k), IRA, 403(b), and a TSP account. With the help of an account administrator, you can as well roll over your savings account to fund your self-direct IRA.
Goldco Products and Services
Precious Metals
Goldco buys precious metals directly for their clients, eliminating the hassle of finding a reliable precious metals dealer. With this offer, you don’t have to authenticate the precious metals and the buying process since an assigned custodian will handle all the paperwork and tax compliance in your stead.
The firm also ensures all the precious metals in their product listing are up to IRS standards, i.e. 99.95$ purity for the gold and 99.9% purity for the silver bars. At Goldco, you are spoilt of choices with a wide range of gold and silver coins and bars, including:
The list I have provided is not comprehensive. Visit their website for a comprehensive list of their offerings with updated prices.
Buyback Program
Goldco is also recognized for its Buyback program, which allows you to sell your gold and silver when you decide to cash out. According to me, this helps instill confidence in prospective buyers who are looking to hold precious physical metals for a given period before liquidating.
With their buyback program, you don’t have to scout for a reliable dealer to sell your precious metals to get a profitable return on investment. However, its best to note that even after selling your precious metals, you can’t withdraw. You have to be above 59.5 years of age to avoid penalties for early withdrawal.
Precious Metals Storage
Government guidelines state that precious metals bought through an IRA can’t be stored at home or in private storage. You need an IRS-approved depository to store your gold; this could in the form of a bank, the national depository, or an IRS-approved third-party depository.
Goldco has partnered with reliable and IRS-approved depositories to ensure your precious metals remain safe until maturity. These include:
Fees Charged
Going through their website, I couldn’t find a full list of all their fees. However, their customer support team provided some of the fees you can expect, including:
Pros
Cons
Augusta Precious Metals tops the list as one of the best family-owned gold IRA companies in the country. The firm is still considered a newcomer in the gold investment industry, founded in 2012 by Isaac Nuriani as a family-owned business.
With a decade of experience to its name, Augusta has risen to become a formidable gold IRA company with customers all over the country. The Casper. Wyoming-based firm prides itself on a wide range of products and services, including IRA-approved precious metals, gold storage, direct purchase of precious metals, and lifetime support from professionals.
Augusta claims to be guided by three main principles simplicity, transparency, and quality service. At every set of setting up a gold IRA, the firm offers valuable information and educational material to give you a better understanding of the process.
One of their few demerits is the high minimum deposit. Customers are required to deposit a minimum of $50,000 which is higher than what most of its competitors require. This company is an ideal choice for an inexperienced investor looking to invest in precious metals with limited information.
Augusta Products and Services
IRA Gold and Silver Coins
Augusta specializes in gold and silver IRA which allows you to buy and own physical precious metals using your retirement funds. As mentioned, customers need at least $50,000 in their IRA to start investing in various gold/silver coins, bars, and bullion.
The firm has partnered with renowned Equity Trust as their preferred custodian. Equity Trust is responsible for all the paperwork and compliance issues to avoid IRS penalties. This firm will act as your liaison when buying or selling your precious metals to ensure you get value for your investment.
The IRS has strict guidelines on which precious metals you can buy using your IRA. Gold bought using an IRA should be 99.5% pure, while silver should be 99.9% pure. Augusta has several IRS- approved gold and silver coins in their product catalog, including:
You can as well buy precious metals directly from Augusta to store at home. Here, you can find coins and bars of different shapes, sizes, and weight. These include a one-ounce South African Gold Krugerrand, 100-ounce silver bars, and 10-ounce gold bars.
Buyback Program
Precious metals IRAs, like any other IRA, is meant for long-term investment, preferably till retirement. However, during the period of ownership, you can choose to sell your gold and silver. Augusta offers a buyback program that makes it easy for you to get the value for your money when you need fast cash.
You can choose to sell your goals and silver on your own, but it may not be to your best interest, especially if you are not conversant with the market.
Lifetime Support
All Augusta customers, once they set up an account, are provided with lifetime support featuring a team of gold investment experts. You will be assigned a dedicated agent who will act as your liaison, connecting you to other experts as well as providing you with all the educational materials needed to understand gold IRAs.
Your agent is also responsible for procuring gold and silver in your stead, managing distribution during retirement, and facilitating buyback if you are interested. Augusta, unlike its completion, doesn’t leave you on your own after your purchase. They seek to cultivate a long-term business relationship with you.
Pros
Cons
American Hartford Gold joins our list of top gold investment companies because of its broad product catalog. Aside from help, you set up a self-directed precious metals IRA. The firm offers the best IRA-approved precious metals to add to your portfolio.
American Hartford has a longstanding reputation for helping investors diversify their portfolios by investing in precious physical metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. The Los Angeles-based firm has experience working with various clients, especially those looking to hedge their investment portfolios against market volatility.
The company has also been recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. It is lauded for excellent customer service, swift processing, and exceptional customer support. Here, you are guaranteed safety, privacy, and convenience regardless of market dynamics.
American Hartford Gold Products and Services
Gold and Silver IRAs
AHG’s main purpose is to provide precious metals IRAs to customers. However, the company has partnered with reputable third-party firms as custodians and depository facilities. According to AHG, they are focused on making the process of opening a gold IRA and purchasing precious physical metals as simple and transparent as possible.
You can buy precious metals coins, bars, and bullion at competitive prices from American Hartford. The only challenge is that you won’t find pricing for their metals on their website. On their website, they guarantee a price match on all their offers, which is disputed by some customer’s in their review section.
The company offers a wide range of gold and silver products in their product listing, including:
You can as well get rare 19th-century gold coins and several junk silver coins. AHG also offers gold and silver bars of different sizes and weights, including a one-ounce bar from sunshine mint and 10-ounce silver bars from several mints.
Custodian and Storage Services
American Hartford Gold has partnered with renowned depository companies, Delaware, Brinks, and International Depository Services, to provide secure storage for your precious physical metals. With facilities in New York, Los Angeles, and Texas in offering storage, you can choose non-segregated or segregated storage.
The company has also enlisted Equity Trust as their sole custodian to handle all the paperwork and compliance issues.
Buyback Program
American Hartford Gold offers a buyback program for all your precious metals when you decide to sell. The best part is that they offer a price match guarantee to ensure you get maximum value for your investment.
Pros
Cons
#4. Birch Gold Group
Birch Gold Group is one of the top firms in the gold investment industry, with two decades of experience. The Burbank, California-based company was founded in 2003 to provide a wide range of brokerage services, but primarily gold IRAs.
At Birch, you can set up a self-directed IRA or rollover an existing retirement account to invest in precious metals. The company doubles as a precious metals dealer offering coins and bullion in platinum, gold, silver, and palladium.
Birch Gold Group Products and Services
Precious Metals IRA
Birch Gold majors in providing precious metals IRA allowing you to own multiple precious metals through your retirement account. Despite offering a degree of flexibility when it comes to choosing alternative investments, gold IRAs have limits to what you can invest in.
Aside from IRA-approved coins and bullion, Birch also offers you a chance to buy non-IRA precious metals to store at home or in your chosen storage facility. Some of the products offered in the company’s catalog include:
You can as well access a wide range of precious metals bars, including palladium bars and rounds and platinum bars and rounds.
Storage and Shipping
Due to IRS regulations restricting the storage of precious metals bought through an IRA, you are limited to a few storage options. Birch Group has partnered with two of the most reputable depository firms in the country, Delaware and Brinks Global, to ensure your precious metals remain safe.
These depository firms have Seal Beach, Wilmington, Salt Lake, New York, Los Angeles, and Delaware facilities. You can choose to get a segregated or non-segregated storage option depending on how much you are will to pay for storage.
Birch also provides secure and discreet shipping for direct precious metals purchases. This way, your package can safely reach your designated address without being tampered with.
Buyback Program
Birch Gold Group doesn’t provide a guarantees for their buyback program. However, their program dictates that customers should give the right of first refusal before they can sell to other precious metals dealers.
On close research, I discovered that they often buyback precious metals from customers when you choose to sell. Having a buyback program instills confidence in prospective customers since they are likely to work with the company if they are guaranteed of a ready buyer when they decide to sell.
Pros
Cons
#5. Noble Gold
Noble Gold has taken the industry with a storm having been founded in 2017 by Collin Plume and Charles Thorngren. Despite its humble beginning, the company has risen to top of our list for being the most user-friendly option.
The company has partnered with highly ranked companies such as Equity Trust as their sole IRA custodian and International Depository Service to provide storage facilities for our precious metals. Customers who make direct purchases can enjoy secure and discreet shipments complete with insurance.
Noble Gold Products and Services
Gold and Silver IRA
Noble Gold allows customers to own IRA-approved gold and silver bullion as well as make direct purchases. If you choose to work with Nobel Gold, you will be provided with all the educational materials needed to understand more about precious metals IRAs.
The company prides on offering high-quality coins and bars meeting IRS guidelines for IRA-approved precious metals. These include:
Precious Metals Storage
By now, we all know that precious metals bought using an IRA can’t be kept at home and need an IRS-approved facility. Those who choose to by directly also need to find a secure storage option for their precious metals to prevent theft.
For IRA-approved purchases, Nobel Gold has partnered with IDS to offer safe storage till retirement. Keeping your metals with IDS means you can liaise with your custodian and visit the storage facility check on your metals when you want.
Shipping and Insurance
This service is mostly offered to customers who buy non-IRA precious metals. Purchasing precious metals is a very delicate process that needs careful consideration, especially on how to get them to your location safely.
To ensure safety and discreetness, Nobel Group offers a home delivery service. Here, your metals are packaged in tamper-proof plain packages to avoid any suspicion. The company also offers full insurance on your package until it is safely delivered to your preferred address.
Buyback Program
Nobel God offers a guaranteed buyback program where they will buy all your metals if you choose to sell, no questions asked. This service comes in handy when it’s time to take your distributions when your account matures.
Pros
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