If you want to increase your general wealth level near retirement age, it's only natural to consider the traditional stock and securities markets. But the reality is that it's never wise to place all your eggs in one basket.
In other words, diversification is essential for people who don't want to worry about the ups and downs of a stock portfolio. That's the logic behind the growing popularity of the precious metals industry.
Investors who maintain at least a portion of their retirement capital in a precious metals IRA have an added protection layer against a total economic meltdown or a significant downturn in the securities markets. If your entire portfolio is composed of blue-chip stocks, for example, and the market begins to decline significantly in value, the result could be financially devastating.
There's peace of mind that comes with keeping a percentage of your nest egg in silver and gold, especially if the retirement capital will be your primary source of living expenses after retirement.
The whole reason behind precious metals IRAs and the special legislation that brought them into existence is diversification. Fortunately, there are multiple choices for protecting and diversifying your holdings, including silver, cryptocurrency, gold, rare coins, palladium, platinum, and others. The main goal, of course, is to build a well-balanced portfolio and serve as a diversifying component for your whole retirement fund.
For people who want to purchase bullion, gold coins, silver coins, gold IRA companies are an excellent selection. Further, folks who are nearing retirement age often wish to convert a traditional IRA into a precious metals IRA. The good news is that the top gold investment companies can help you achieve these essential goals.
However, because the market is crowded and highly competitive, it's often difficult for investors to know where to start. Our research team dug into the details of the top five companies that work directly with investors.
Read the objective summaries and lists of pros and cons below to get some solid guidance about which company best suits your particular investment needs.
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Gold Investment Company Reviews
Goldco is the precious metals firm we give our highest rating to. The reasons are many, but especially because they have achieved top scores from two of the most prestigious consumer-rating agencies in existence, namely the Better Business Bureau and the Business Consumer Alliance. Additionally, Goldco is very highly rated by consumers who invest in precious metals.
In contrast to some of its competitors, Goldco's management has chosen to specialize in gold IRAs, which go by many names, including PM IRAs, precious metals IRAs, silver retirement accounts, and more. The whole point of the company's business model is to give the very best customer service and allow people to diversify their retirement holdings and portfolios.
It's a fact that assets like corporate stock shares can be pretty volatile and lose value when the economy goes sour. In many scenarios, gold and silver are much better at holding their price levels when the general economy does poorly.
Goldco's reps are exceptionally good at what they do, namely at helping new customers get accounts set up quickly and with zero hassles. The Goldco website even features a short form that anyone can fill out in a matter of minutes.
It's basically an application to open a precious metals IRA. Once you complete the form and indicate how much money you wish to place in your new IRA, you're essentially done.
Goldco offers both silver and gold IRAs, which are identical in structure except for the metal that goes into them. Many investors prefer silver because its per-ounce price is far lower than gold's per-ounce price. That means it's more convenient for people on a budget to add several ounces of silver to their IRA whenever they can afford to do so.
Another area Goldco specializes in is the IRA rollover, which transfers funds from a current IRA or 401k directly into a Goldco precious metals IRA. The company's reps walk people through the process and get it all done rapidly and accurately.
People can go directly to Goldco's website and get a no-cost copy of their informative publication about self-directed IRAs and how Goldco operates for the benefit of its clients.
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Augusta Precious Metals (APM) is one of the top competitors in this field. Not only do they have an excellent BBB score, but organizations like Business Consumer Alliance, Google, and TrustLink rate them at or near the top of every major category of service in the gold IRA niche.
APM has carved out a remarkable reputation as the only major player in this industry to offer fully personalized customer service. That means that each new customer gets their very own representative to work with from day one. If you open an account and have any questions ever, all you need to do is call and ask for "your" APM agent.
New clients get treated very well and are walked through the setup process. The reps will even do all your paperwork for you if you wish.
The reps make sure that the initial phases of getting everything in perfect order run smoothly and without snags. You can roll over an existing IRA or 401k or simply open a brand new one when you first speak with an APM expert.
Augusta offers its clients several options for storage because they work with a number of the nation's top security vaults. You can select from precious metals storage facilities in multiple places around the U.S.
Additionally, APM sells precious metals directly to the public and treats their non-IRA customers equally well. Setup takes just a few minutes, whether your account or IRA is a rollover or your very first retirement account.
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Birch Gold Group (BGG) has a full menu of IRA-ready precious metals and is known for its knowledgeable staff and helpful attitude.
The experts at Birch pride themselves on answering every customer question fully and honestly. The goal is to give people as much information as possible to make informed decisions about their retirement accounts.
Their specialty is gold IRAs, or precious metals IRAs, to put it more precisely. They're happy to perform rollovers or first-time IRA setups for any customer.
Opening a BGG account takes about 10 minutes. After that, it's your decision about how to fund the IRA, whether by transferring funds from another IRA or 401k, or simply starting fresh with a brand-new account and placing metals into it.
You're never alone when working with Birch because their reps see that you are guided each step of the way, from filling out forms to deciding which metals to put into your account and getting everything organized.
Birch Gold Group offers its clients several storage choices, one of which is the Delaware Depository, known for its policy of insuring precious metals holdings to the tune of $1 billion per account.
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Regal Assets (RA) ranks right up there with the best of the best in the precious metals IRA industry. Plus, the company has decided to offer a unique service that is hard to find among its competitors, namely the sale of cryptocurrency for self-directed IRAs. Of course, they also sell precious metals for IRA investors. RA also has a stellar reputation for attentive customer service.
The company's agents walk each new customer through the brief paperwork phase and then explain all the options for the kinds of metals to place into an IRA. The entire process with RA reps helping you only takes a few minutes from start to finish.
Suppose you're rolling over an existing 401k or traditional IRA. In that case, the RA agents will do all the detailed work for you, including filling out the forms and letting you know if your 401k is qualified to be rolled over (rarely, some 401k's cannot be directly rolled into another retirement account).
For investors who like as much diversification as possible, Regal sells cryptocurrency as well. RA doesn't just sell one kind of alternative currency; they sell several of the most popular ones.
Many of today's retirement investors consider both precious metals and crypto to be "safe haven" asset types and are glad to have the chance to include both in a self-directed IRA.
Finally, unlike the vast majority of its competitors, RA offers tailor-made "investment packs," which make it amazingly simple for people to buy ready-made sets of precious metals bars, coins, and other such assets of varying prices.
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Anyone who is seriously considering a precious metals IRA should carefully consider every one of the top five companies. Each one has its specialties and areas in which it excels. For Noble Gold (NG), that area is customer service.
Of course, they're also known for having the highest possible BBB rating and thousands of rave reviews from current and former customers. Noble can help them get accounts set up quickly and easily for retirees and people nearing retirement.
Every new client at NG is treated with the same high level of respect. The company's representatives explain how to fill out the short page of paperwork and then explain how to transfer funds from another IRA or 401k into a Noble Gold precious metals IRA.
After visiting the company's website and filling out a concise application form, one of NG's reps will get in touch with you directly. The Noble Gold expert can answer any question you have about finalizing account setup, purchasing metals to deposit into the account, selecting a security vault for storage, and more.
After the preliminaries are out of the way and your account is funded, the only thing left to do is choose from the NG menu of metals and decide which ones to place into your new IRA. Choices include all four precious metals, namely palladium, gold, platinum, and silver.
And, even if you have no interest in setting up an IRA, the NG rep will be happy to assist you with a precious metals purchase that can be sent directly to your home. For example, non-IRA customers can purchase rare numismatic coins for portfolio diversification. These kinds of investments are not legally allowed in IRAs, but Noble Gold is happy to offer them to non-IRA buyers.
Noble Gold can ship all purchased items right to your home unless you put them into an IRA. If you decide to buy some rare coins or non-retirement gold and silver, NG has a streamlined, totally secure shipping process, so you never have to worry about the metals arriving safely and on time.
Noble Gold reps are friendly and helpful, never pushy or rude. They treat everyone as a respected investor and do their very best to help new and existing customers at all times.
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What To Consider Before Choosing
Before deciding on which of the five companies is most in line with your investing needs, mull over the pertinent factors that make some more suitable for you than others.
For instance, spend time thinking about things like reputation, what investors think, each company's background, the kinds of services they offer to new and established investors, fees they charge, up-front costs for getting a new account started, response time when you need to contact customer service, and more.
Here's a brief summary of the critical factors that often play an essential role in a person's choice of which precious metals company is the best fit for their long-term investing goals.
1. Background, Consumer Sentiment, and Overall Reputation
Trust is a foundational characteristic of any service provider, but particularly ones who will be handling your capital. Step one is making sure that whichever organization you select has a solid reputation, both among consumers and within the industry as a whole.
One way to cut through a lot of detailed research is to narrow your focus to companies that generally get excellent reviews and have been doing business for several years, at least.
Always check BBB (Better Business Bureau) ratings and seek out companies rated A or A+. BBB carries a lot of weight when assessing an organization's general reputation and community standing.
2. Choices and Investment Services Available
Try to find out which kinds of investments a company offers. Are they the ones you're looking for, or more aligned with someone else's style of retirement planning? For instance, some precious metals IRA companies only sell gold and silver for IRAs, and that's it.
Others feature an extensive menu that includes all four of the primary metals and other forms of bullion, gold and silver coins, and more.
Some businesses only deal with clients who want to create or roll over an IRA, while others sell gold and silver bullion directly to any investor who wants to buy it. That's why it's so crucial to decide precisely why it is you're seeking to purchase precious metals.
If it's just for an IRA, then you'll be happy with a particular kind of service provider. If you're simply interested in purchasing some gold and other precious metals to store at home or in a bank safe deposit box, that's another matter, and you'll need to find a company that sells non-IRA precious metals.
Finally, check the entire menu to see what a given company sells. Do they only offer gold and silver, or are platinum and palladium on the list as well?
Additionally, find out whether each provider sells bullion, coins, rounds, bars, or other forms of metals. Many retirement-minded folks like to acquire a few rare coins as a way of diversifying their metals holdings.
3. Charges, Up-Front Costs, and Ongoing Fees
Fees are an essential aspect for every person who wants to build a sound retirement account. That's why it is essential to read the fine print of the agreement to find out about opening fees (if any).
These include ongoing charges for account maintenance, amounts of administration charges/fees, shipping costs, storage fees, discounts available to new clients, discounts for people who maintain a certain amount of capital in their accounts, and any other costs associated with opening, maintaining, and servicing the account.
4. General Support and Response To Customer Requests
For a large percentage of investors, customer service is a make-or-break component of the process of choosing. The truth is, acquiring precious metals and placing them into a retirement account is not something most investors are familiar with.
So, keep in mind that you'll likely want to work with an organization that offers start-to-finish assistance, helps with initial paperwork, and has people who are available to answer questions that may arise during the life cycle of your account.
Our Top Overall Choice
Before we reveal our top gold investment company, it's important to note that all five candidates are firmly placed at the top of their industry and offer excellent all-around services for investors.
However, our research team chose Goldco as the number-one provider of precious metals IRAs based on our rigorous criteria and in-depth comparisons.
In fact, the people who own and operate Goldco have all the bases covered. For starters, their reputation is second to none. Their reps work directly with every customer to get business taken care of quickly and without any hassles, and their long-term service for existing customers is unparalleled.
It appears that Goldco will do almost anything to assist people who are concerned about protecting retirement capital within a precious metals IRA.
Finally, because Goldco offers such an extensive menu of products to its clients and the general public, they truly excel at what they do.
For anyone who wants to make sure their retirement money is safe and sound, stored securely, and is part of a diversified portfolio that includes precious metals, Goldco is an apt choice and represents the industry's highest standards.
Watch this video to learn more or request their free investment kit right here.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are numerous advantages to investing in precious metals within an IRA and even outside a retirement account. For one thing, metals are a long-time favorite for people who wish to diversify their asset holdings.
Precious metals, for example, often experience entirely different price cycles than the traditional stock market. The result is that investors can usually offset stock losses with gains in their metals holdings and vice versa.
Plus, when the overall economy hits a rough spot, and the entire market suffers, metals like gold have a strong ability to hold their value. They often go up in price as people seek them out in trying times.
Suppose you don't wish to rely completely on the securities markets with your retirement holdings. In that case, it's almost always a good idea to hold a percentage of your IRA as physical gold, silver, platinum, or palladium.
Historically, the stock market has endured dozens of major downturns, each of which entirely or nearly wiped out millions of people's retirement accounts who owned no precious metals.
There's zero reason to take on unnecessary risk, which is the crucial reason for choosing a silver or gold IRA. Large groups of investors turn to the precious metals as a kind of backup plan against the prospect of an economic meltdown or significant drop in value.
An often-overlooked benefit of precious metals is this: it's simple to sell them for quick cash if the need ever arises. All four of the main metals can quickly be sold to a dealer, broker, or individual at any time.
For those close to retirement and current retirees, the precious metals represent a very liquid asset category, namely one that can be converted to hard cash at any time.
Precious metals IRAs, commonly called "gold IRAs," are a kind of self-directed IRA in which the owners can decide what varieties of physical assets to hold. The IRS allows a long list of metal-related items like bullion coins and bars and various legal-tender gold and silver items.
For instance, a standard IRA typically only holds non-physical assets like shares of stock, mutual fund shares, and similar "paper" assets. For millions of investors, paper is not good enough. They want a portion of their holdings to be in physical assets like silver, palladium, gold, and platinum.
Both traditional and gold IRAs offer significant tax benefits for account holders, primarily the chance to defer taxation on the principal investment amount and the growth, over time, of the portfolio.
For the most part, folks who gravitate to precious metals IRAs look for diversification to their other holdings, like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. When you add physical gold and silver to your IRA, you not only have a chance to diversify but also to avoid the significant stock market and economic downturns that can and do happen.
Because every investor has a unique financial situation, there's no "one-size-fits-all" answer to the question about the percentage of your portfolio and how much metals should be in it. There are too many moving pieces to the machinery, including the investor's tolerance for acceptable levels of risk, profit goals, years away from retirement, and more.
But, it is safe to make a vast generalization and say that young adults can usually deal with riskier investing scenarios than people who are nearing or at retirement age.
It's never a smart or saavy move to put all your retirement money into one asset class, even if that class is precious metals. Gold, however, serves two extremely important purposes. First, it's an ideal option for people who seek a diversified portfolio.
Second, it's a very powerful hedge against the realistic probability that the economy goes bad.
It's worth noting that all the precious metals have their unique price patterns and do enter downward trends on occasion—the bottom line: never place all your retirement assets into just one kind of investment. Doing so means you become susceptible to a large amount of unnecessary risk.