Best Gold IRA Investment Companies

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One of the 2007-2008 global recession outcomes is that gold became an ideal investment option for most people. The precious metal is typically less volatile than the stock market and provides a viable way to cushion oneself from inflation.

As a long-term investor, if you’d like to make the most of this kind of investment, it’s advisable to get a gold IRA account.

Unfortunately, setting up this account may be tricky, mainly because you have to find the right company to handle the bureaucracy for you. If you get this wrong, you can end up making massive losses.

Let’s check out some of the top gold IRA companies that you can find out there.

Top 7 Gold IRA Companies In The United States

After thorough research on the leading gold IRA companies in the US, we narrowed it down to the following seven entities. Check out our detailed review of each one of them.

Factors To Consider When Choosing a Gold IRA Company

How did we end up with the list of top Gold IRA companies? Well, there are certain factors that we looked at, and we shall discuss them below.

1. The Ratings

When you look at the company’s reviews from its customer base and notice that majority of them are positive, that is an indicator of its reliability and trustworthiness. 

In addition to that, you can look out for ratings from bureaus such as BBB (Better Business Bureau) and Trustpilot, as they also tell you how much you can trust that particular company. Then, there are various websites whereby clients tend to give their feedback, such as Yelp and Complaint Board, and you can gauge the quality of service and professionalism that the company delivers to its clients.

You could also look at the firm’s presence on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and note how it engages its clients. Note that a reputable company tends to have a massive following and never leave their customers hanging.

Lastly, if you notice anything fishy such as bots and paid reviews, that is a red flag, and you should think hard before trusting the company with your cash.

2. The Fee Structure

Next up is the fee structure, whereby we recommend that you go for a company with flat annual fees rather than one whereby its fees grow with the account size. This especially applies to medium and large investors who intend to grow their account size with time.

In our research, we came across companies that charge massive fees per year for large accounts. So, we insist that you only choose Gold IRA companies with flat rates or are free and won’t increase your fees as your account grows in size over time.

3. Efficiency

The other important factor to consider is its efficiency and the length of time it takes to deliver the precious metals. Some customers reported waiting up to two months for their accounts to be set up and for the delivery of their metals. 

No one has this patience in the current unpredictable economic landscape, and if you want to be sure of your wealth’s protection, you shouldn’t allow months to elapse before you acquire your assets.

In this instance, we advise that you choose companies that allow you to set up your account within the same day, and if it takes too long, you should be done by the following day. 

Then, you will know a top Gold IRA company if it allows you to fund your account within 3-5 business days. The significance of this is that you will now be ready to purchase and sell your gold.

4. The Customer Support and Company Reps/Salesmen

Another thing you should look at is the attitude of the company salesmen, whereby some tend to push you towards investing in collectibles and numismatic coins for the sake of their profits. Keep off such companies since collectibles are not ideal for investors, nor are they approved by the IRS for IRAs.

Then, any time you contact the company, always gauge how knowledgeable and helpful they are and should not push you into going for collectibles.

5. Alternative Investment Options

Since your gold IRA is a self-directed one, it should be capable of accommodating alternative investments in the future. So, you should look out for a company that offers alternative investment options that you could include in your portfolio, such as cryptocurrencies or annuities.

If you intend to expand your investments in the future, it will make sense if you settled for a company that offers the particular assets you are interested in.

6. Time In Business

Note that just because a company is relatively new in the business doesn’t mean that it cannot be relied on to deliver what is expected of it. However, more time in the business points to experience and implies that the company has dealt with more clients and therefore learns from its mistakes.

7. Company License

It is common for fraudulent individuals to set up a website and claim that their business is legit. So, it is up to you to do the extra work to ensure that you are dealing with something that has met all the legal requirements.

An intelligent way of doing this is by checking out the company’s license beforehand, as this is proof that it is on the right side of the law.

8. Depository Storage

You should also look at the depositories that the company uses or recommends. This is because they have a significant impact on your operation costs and your investment’s security.

9. Company Buyback Programs

It is also vital that you choose a company whose buyback programs have fair values. This will ensure that you do not encounter any trouble when it comes to cashing in your account.

Reasons for Opening a Gold IRA Account

Why do people invest in precious metals such as gold, silver or platinum? The reasons are quite many, and we shall look at some of them.

1. Portfolio Diversification

We believe you understand the risk that comes with putting all your money into a single investment or asset. So, if your portfolio lacks precious metals, a gold IRA could a smart way of diversifying your portfolio.

2. Security

Next, there is always a chance that the economy, or the stock market, to be specific, takes a turn for the worst. In such a situation, you could reduce your losses if you had your money in gold.

This economic security should mainly be considered by those close to their retirement as it will do a great job of minimizing the risk of loss in their portfolio.

3. Provides a Cushion Against Inflation

Any time the US dollar’s value drops, the same thing happens to your purchasing power. Historically, gold has outpaced the dollar’s value, and this implies that gold investments could help protect you from this loss.

4. An Investment that is Likely to Grow

Over the past few years, the price of gold has been rising steadily. So, it would be a sure bet if you are looking for an investment that will continue growing. 

All in all, gold is a safe investment and can withstand most of the market fluctuations and downturns.

Gold IRA Rules and Regulations

IRS has a set of rules that determine how gold IRAs are set up and maintained. Note that all IRAs have their set of rules governing how they run.

Let’s have a look at some of the rules and regulations for gold IRAs in detail.

Tax Regulations

The first thing you need to know about the tax regulations concerning gold IRAs is that all distributions are subject to income tax at the point of withdrawal. Early distributions attract a 10% levy unless they feature in a predetermined exclusion.

As for the profits, they can be assessed further via a capital gains tax.

Administrator Guidelines

The next thing you need to know is that if you intend to open a gold IRA account, you should use the services of an administrator who deals with precious metals and is approved by the IRS. And in case you don’t know, we are referring to brokers and custodians who will be handling all the logistics of opening the account.

These administrators will act on your behalf, and you will give them all the directions of what they should be doing.

Storage

All the gold and any other precious metals making up your IRA need to be held in vault facilities that IRS has approved. Keep in mind that if you hold gold with you, IRS will consider this to be a distribution and will hit you with taxes or even penalties.

Types of Precious Metals

By now, you must know that there is a limit to the gold, silver or other metals that you can include in your IRA.

Since gold IRAs are self-directed, you will have more direct control over the account and decide to include a broader range of investments than you would with a traditional IRA. However, with gold, you will need a broker to buy the gold and a custodian who will be the account administrator.

Keep in mind that these custodians, who include brokerage firms, banks, or trust companies, only facilitate the safekeeping of the securities and management of the account on your behalf. They do not sell the gold to the clients directly, and the choice of the ideal custodian lies squarely with you.

Contribution Limits

The contribution limits to a gold IRA are set at $6,000 annually and rises to $7,000 once you attain 50 years of age. If you are wondering how the funding will be done, you could do so through a rollover or a purchase via your administrator.

Limitations to Early Withdrawals

If you are thinking about making an early withdrawal, you should be prepared to face a 10% penalty. However, several exceptions are allowed for this rule, and they include:

• If the IRA owner dies and the beneficiary needs access to the funds
• If the IRA owner becomes disabled or is hospitalized and doesn’t have any means to clear the hospital bill
• If the owner loses employment and needs to gain access to the funds
• If the IRA owner needs to acquire a house for the first time or needs to pay for a family member’s education

Age

There is an age restriction of 59 ½ years if you need access to your gold IRA. However, you do not have to start taking distributions at that age. This (taking distributions) will start once you attain the age of 70.

How a Gold IRA Works

If you want to use a retirement account to invest in physical gold, you will require a self-directed IRA as these are the only accounts through which you can acquire hard assets, including precious metals, real estate and others. 

The law requires LRA accounts to have custodians such as banks or any other institution maintain the account’s records, handle disbursements and make the necessary reports to IRS.

When it comes to funding a gold IRA, you could either roll over or transfer funds from an existing IRA, 401K, 403b, and 457b accounts. Alternatively, you could also make a direct contribution to your account, whereby you can contribute up to $7,000 a year, depending on your age.

Once the funding aspect is settled, it is now time to choose the precious metals you would like to purchase and then direct your custodian to purchase via your account. 

Further, they can recommend a storage facility where your purchases can be stored.

We have already discussed in detail the penalties that you will face if you ever feel like withdrawing money from your IRA before you attain 59.5 years.

Storage Options for Gold Bullion

We all know that gold and other precious metals are at significant risk of being compromised. Therefore, the storage for gold and gold IRAs is a topic that we cannot ignore. 

Note that besides keeping the commodities safe, storage is also vital for an accurate inventory. 

Let’s now look at the different methods you could employ to store the gold making up the gold-based IRAs. IRS has set several strict regulations to ensure the precious metals receive utmost protection not to compromise their quality.

1. US-Based Vaults

There are six depository vaults approved by the IRS holding the metals, making up all precious metal IRA accounts in the US. These metals include gold, platinum, silver, and palladium.

These vaults include:

• Brinks security
• Scotia Mocatta
• HSBC Bank USA
• CNT Depository
• JPMorgan Chase North America
• Delaware Depository

It is up to you to decide whether local or international storage is more viable. However, in the US, there is always a likelihood of your gold being confiscated.

2. Offshore Storage Vaults

Previously, all gold related to IRA had to be stored within the US borders. However, with time, this rule was relaxed, and investors had the freedom to store their gold overseas.

Even though these offshore vaults aren’t in the US, they are IRS-approved, and if you look at their names, they are not entirely new. They include:

• JPMorgan Chase Bank- Singapore and London
• Brinks Security- London
• Scotia Mocatta- Toronto
• HSBC Bank USA- Zurich, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong
• Regal Assets- Dubai and Singapore

3. Segregated Storage and Co-Mingled Storage

We are now going to look at two primary ways through which you can store your gold in a depository vault. The first method is co-mingling, whereby your gold and that of other investors are heaped together in a single vault room.

The main advantage of this group storage is that it translates to lower costs for the depository company. After that, the gold is tracked in a single inventory with designations for the clients that own them.

As for segregated storage, you will sign a contract with the vault facility and your gold will be stored and inventoried separately. This storage could either be in a separate room or a safe deposit box. Whichever option it is, it will be away from the group metal cache.

Note that with the different storage options, the vault facility will charge you a higher premium.

4. Home Storage

Lastly, you could try out home storage, although IRS strongly recommends against it. Even with that, you will not be breaking any law by going this route.

How does it work? Well, you will create an LLC and then house the metal in a safe at your place of residence. In the end, you will be your own trustee, and there will be no third parties to the deal as the IRS preferred for gold IRAs.

The main area of concern that the IRS has with this method is that withdrawals will be made without its oversight. 

Gold IRA Fees to Expect

It is also essential that you know the different fees that gold IRAs will attract that you wouldn’t find in a traditional IRA. With this in mind, you can strike a balance between what you’ll be paying and what you will receive in return.

Here are the costs that you should keep in mind.

Account Setup Fees

Even though it is normal for an IRA account to attract some fee when starting it, a gold IRA will likely cost you more since this is not an ordinary situation.

Storage Fee

By now, we know what gold IRA storage entails, and it is therefore vital that you understand the costs that you will incur as you secure your precious metal.

The cost valuation is done either monthly or annually and is affected by various factors. These issues include whether the gold is stored in the US or an offshore vault or is stored separately or co-mingled.

In general, it all depends on the storage agreement that you settle on.

Custodian Fees

Once again, this is a fee that you should expect with any IRA, although the cost is likely to be higher with gold IRAs. After all, you are transacting and dealing in precious metals.

Seller’s Costs

It does not matter where you purchase your gold, but you should be prepared for some markup on top of the prevailing market rate. This is especially so with the US-based dealer, whereby this markup aims to cover costs such as overheads that they incurred.

Note that these extra charges are one-time and may vary depending on the type of transaction you are dealing with.

Close Out Costs

A major problem presents itself if you ever decide to close out your account and sell your gold. Some dealers will look for transactions that rate under market value, while some will buy back the gold at market rates.

Whichever scenario that you will face, you can see that the risk of losing money is quite significant when cashing out.

Why is a Gold IRA Rollover a Smart Way to Invest in Gold?

Even though most of us understand the benefits of investing in precious metals such as gold, silver, and palladium, very few of us have the cash needed to purchase these metals directly. And should you have large sums of money for the gold, it will be subject to loads of taxes, and this is one of the main reasons why gold IRAs have grown in popularity so much.

With this phenomenon, you can now add or rollover gold, silver and other precious metals into a precious metals IRA. Such an account is ideal for novice gold investors after the security of physical gold and silver.

Further, these accounts also work for investors with existing retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401(k), 403(b) plans.

In the past, such retirement accounts only featured stocks, bonds, US Treasury Bills and mortgage-backed securities. However, at the moment, retirement investors get to enjoy the security of an IRA account, in addition to physical silver and gold.

Most people heading towards retirement have opted for precious metal IRAs in gold, silver, and platinum to diversify their assets and minimize the effects of inflation on their retirement savings.

Lastly, we have already mentioned that all the coins and bars that IRS has approved have to be held in insured and licensed depositories for safekeeping. After that, you can take them home depending on the federal rules for withdrawal.

FAQs on Gold IRAs

Let’s now look at and attempt to answer some common queries regarding gold IRAs.