We have collected the best gold IRA companies in the industry and made a summary of them in a top-5 list. As you already know, in times of crisis gold is something you want to own. That is why this info hopefully can be helpful for you, especially in 2023 when crisis is the theme of the year…
Top 5 – Gold IRA Providers:
1. Augusta – The only company that has one-on-one webinars with their potential clients. Price match guarantee.. Also the only company with zero complaints from BBB (Minimum IRA investment starts at $50k, cash deals start at $50k as well)
2. Goldco – Top ratings from more independent 3rd party consumer protection agencies than any other company in the industry. Best choice for Gold IRA (or cash purchase outside and IRA). +Highest price, buy-back guarantee for customers. Their representatives are NOT being “pushy” and will NOT try to sell you, something that you might appreciate just as much as we do! (minimum IRA investment starts at $20k-$25k, cash deals start at $3,5k)
3. American Hartford Gold – The only company in the industry with no minimum on IRAs AND direct purchases. Wide variety of metals as they offer Platinum and Palladium as well.
4. Birch Gold Group – Have been around for many years and great in Customer Education
5. Advantage Gold – Great Rollover process and might be the company that most of all suits IRA beginners
| # | Top Companies | Our rating: | Stats | More Details: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Augusta Precious Metals |
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Learn more |
| 2 |
GOLDCO |
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| 3 |
American Hartford Gold |
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| 4 |
Birch Gold Group |
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Fees
Transparency
Reviews
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| 5 |
Advantage Gold |
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Fees
Transparency
Reviews
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Alt Investing
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During the years me, and the others working on this website have reviewed over 100+ of the top gold IRA providers and you might be surprised on how many of them that are not to be trusted. We have seen so many stories of people getting ripped off big time with so-called hidden fees and the classic numismatic gold coins ripp-off. You can read more about that further down as well.
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The Best Gold IRA Companies – Top 5 (+ reviews)
(In order)
1: Goldco
Our undisputed winner 
(4.9 / 5)![]()
(4.9 / 5)
Goldco’s popularity mainly has to do with its recommendation and endorsement by most independent Third Party consumer trust and protection agencies than any othergold IRA provider in the whole industry. It also has to do with an endorsement from the former USA candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. Most customers are particularly keen on praising the manner in which it personalizes all services to suit individual needs.
Goldco applies a consultative approach in the provision of services to its clients. Its staff members pay attention to all clients’ needs in order to help them meet specific retirement goals. All this is done in a very professional manner.
This company also has a very secure storage facility in which investors’ metals are stored separately. As an investor, you have access to your precious metal vault, which is something that cultivates trust. Their fee is not the lowest, neither the highest, compared to what other companies will charge you, but it also justified by the level of professionalism and accountability that Goldco offers.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Fastest-growing firm in the USA
- Recommended by the most independent 3rd party consumer protection agencies in the industry, including Trustpilot
- Representatives do NOT push and try to sell you
- highest price, buy-back guarantee
- Transparent, genuine, trustworthy and very professional.
Cons
- Minimum IRA investment is $25000, which could be too high for some investors (cash deals outside IRA starts at $3,500 though)
==> You can read our full length and detailed review on Goldco on this page
2: Augusta
Augusta´s popularity mainly has to do with its no-nonsense approach. They are also recommended and endorsement by more independent Third Party consumer trust and protection agencies than any other company in the industry. It also has to do with an endorsement from the Hall of Fame Quarterback, Joe Montana. Most customers are particularly keen on praising the manner in which it educates the individual.
Augusta applies a consultative approach in the provision of services to its clients. Its staff members pay attention to the clients’ needs in order to help you meet specific retirement goals. All this is done in a very professional manner.
This company also has a very secure storage facility in which investors’ metals are stored separately. As an investor, you have access to your precious metal vault, which is something that cultivates trust. Their fee is not the lowest, neither the highest, compared to what other companies will charge you, but it also justified by the level of professionalism and accountability offered.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It is a very popular firm (thousands of clients in the USA)
- IRA Price Match Guarantee
- GREAT support.
- It has an A+ rating on BBB and ZERO complaints
- No-Nonsense approach.
Cons
- Minimum IRA investment is $50,000, which could be too high for some investors (cash deals outside IRA starts at $50,000 aswell)
- Only deals with gold and silver
==> You can read our full length and detailed review on Augusta on this page
3: Regal Assets
Regal Assets has maintained its position amongst the top Gold IRAs in the entire world (yes they have clients worldwide) due to near to zero customer complaints standards. You will barely find a single client who is not happy about the services offered by the Regal Assets staff members. Regal Assets offers you the opportunity to open a gold IRA, and a storage facility in which you can store your precious metals.
This Texas-headquartered company is run under the able leadership of one Tyler Gallagher, who is the founder and CEO. It has been in business for more than 10 years now and has received impressive reviews and ratings from customers in sites such as Business Consumer Alliance, where it has an AAA rating.
Regal Assets offers two gold IRA packages, namely: Merchant Package (minimum initial investment is $5,000) and Knighthood Package (Minimum investment initial investment is $10,000). This company also prioritizes customer education and will only let you invest in what you have clearly understood.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It has professional staff who can handle most of the questions that you might have about the services offered.
- Excellent customer support.
- Has a live chat function
- Safe storage vault for all your precious metals.
- It offers sufficient customer education and a free investment kit.
- Positive customer reviews in online consumer trust sites.
Cons
- The minimum initial investment is $5,000.
==> You can read our full length and detailed review on Regal Assets on this page
4: Birch Gold Group
The Birch Gold Group has been a paragon of excellence in the provision of the gold IRA services since 2003. Customers have also been accessing high-quality precious metals from this company for different uses. Birch Gold Group has due to this come to be recognized as one of the top Precious metal IRA firms.
This company offers sufficient education on how to turn one’s precious metals into a viable long-term investment. It then presents you with a wide variety of the IRA-approved metals that are then placed in your Gold IRA. Before even releasing your funds to purchase precious metals, you will be educated on everything that you need to know about the essence of gold IRAs in the diversification of one’s portfolio.
Birch Gold Group is an award-winning company that has received positive reviews and ratings for its customer service in consumer trust sites such as BBB (https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/burbank/profile/precious-metal-dealers/birch-gold-group-1216-100109465)
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Prioritizes customer education
- Many precious metals
- Has been in business for many years
- It is BBB-accredited with an A+ rating
- Charges initial set up fees of $90
- Offers up to $10000 worth of gold and silver for free, for all qualified purchases.
Cons
- Not open about all the investment fees and charges (you have to contact them)
==> You can read our full length and detailed review on Birch Gold Group on this page
5: Advantage Gold
This firm’s main specialty is in the provision of precious metal IRA rollover services. It has several staff members whose main objective is to assist clients with the rollover of the funds in their 401(k) accounts into gold IRAs.
Advantage Gold also focuses on the provision of information about how rollovers work, so that its clients can make very informed decisions. Customer Education is therefore at the topmost level of its operations, and they will only contact your custodian after you have fully understood the nature of investment you are picking.
This company charges its clients an annual storage fee of $100, and an extra $75 custodial fee. There are no minimum investments involved, but most account holders have around $50,000 worth of precious metals in their accounts.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Impressive consumer ratings
- Had a (5/5) star rating on TrustLink
- Offers insured precious metals storage
- Great customer support
- Has a buyback program
Cons
- It has been around for a shorter period than the companies it is competing against on this top 5 list
==> You can read our full length and detailed review on Advantage Gold on this page
What is a Gold IRA?
A gold IRA is slightly different from the regular Individual Retirement Accounts in that, instead of putting money into an account to back up your retirement, you are required to put physical gold. Research has established that the other main difference between a gold-backed IRA and a traditional IRA is that the gold IRAs are way safer, more so over a long investment period. The proponents of gold IRAs believe that the value of gold is more stable, in comparison to all the other “paper assets” and currencies, which is something that can be proved when there is an economic crisis.
With a Gold IRA, you are not required to hold the gold yourself, it is actually stored in a safe depository. If you, however, want to purchase the gold and store it in your preferred storage location, then you can contact a dealer and get the gold delivered to your doorstep. It is also very possible to store other types of precious metals in your gold IRA, including platinum, palladium, and silver. You only have to see to it that these metals are all IRS approved.
How do Gold IRAs work?
As already introduced, a gold IRA is an individual retirement account that includes physical gold, as well as other approved metals. Gold IRAs present investors with a great opportunity to diversify their retirement portfolio. They usually function just like traditional IRAs, with the difference being that all your savings are usually channeled into the purchase of coins, bars, and bullion, as opposed to the acquisition of paper assets. How exactly does this process happen? Read on to find out:
1. Get a brokerage firm and custodian to help you with the management of your gold IRA Account
You are required to get a broker you can trust to help you purchase the gold that will be held in your gold IRA. The custodian, on the other hand, will help you with the setup and the management of the gold IRA. Most custodians include banks, federal and state-approved organizations, credit unions, as well as loan associations. If you are going to rely on the services of any gold IRA firm that I have listed out below, you do not have to worry about how or where you will get a broker or a custodian. You will receive all the information you need to go about that. In most cases actually, the gold IRA firms usually fill the two roles or even work with other companies that offer them. If you are not concerned about having a gold IRA, but you simply want the gold itself, then you can work with a brokerage firm and acquire your gold.
2. Pay the fees that are required to set up your gold IRA
There is a lot more that is involved in the setting up of a gold IRA account than simply depositing money to purchase precious metals. There are certain commission fees that you have to pay, and it therefore crucial for you to compare the various service provision firms to ensure that you get the best deal in the market. Some of the most common fees that you will be required to pay, however, include:
- Account setup fees – Most custodians will charge a one-time processing fee to create your gold IRA. Most of them will charge anything between $50 and $100.
- Storage fees – You will also be required to pay for the storage of your gold in a depository. This fee ranges from $100 to $150.
- Annual maintenance fees – Because your custodian will continue to take care of various aspects of your gold IRA to ensure that it is up and running at all times, then you should expect to pay an annual maintenance fee. This can range between $75 and $225.
3. Deposit the money into your gold IRA
You are then required to deposit funds into your gold IRA. Most gold IRA firms have set an initial minimum investment for those who open an account with them. The investment can be as high as $15,000, or as low as $100. With most companies, however, you will be expected to start off with anything between $2000 and $5000. Thing is, minimum investment limits exist, and you should be ready to fulfill this requirement.
If you already have an existing IRA account, you can rollover the funds in it to your gold IRA. The IRS has set out very strict rules regarding the rollover of funds in this manner, but it is something that gold IRA experts can handle quite smoothly. No gold IRA rollover fees are charged, and the process is in itself not subject to taxes.
You should also be aware of the annual contribution limits set by the IRS. In 2020, for instance, the minimum contribution you can make is $6000. For those who are 50 years and above, then you have to contribute $7000. The gold IRA firms I have listed in this guide will always provide you with all the necessary updates about the IRS-imposed annual minimum contributions.
4. Withdraw your money at any appropriate time
Those who withdraw the funds in their gold IRA before they are 59.5 years old have to contact a custodian and fill out the forms that are needed to make the early withdrawal. All early withdrawals are usually subject to a 10% penalty. At any time that you choose to withdraw the funds in your gold IRA, then you are required to pay taxes (this is only different for those who have a gold Roth IRA since they pay the taxes beforehand).
Upon reaching 70.5 years, you are subjected to the minimum distributions requirement. This means that you will have to withdraw a given a certain amount from the IRA account on an annual basis. This can come up as a very unsuitable option, more so when it is not a good time to cash out the gold investment. You can, however, choose to withdraw the money in your other IRA accounts.
It is a prudent move to treat your Gold IRA as your long term investment for your retirement years, thus you should hold on to it till maturity.
Note: Many IRAs will offer you the chance to store the gold in separate storage if you so please, but you should beware of any company that tells you to store the gold at home. This is something that the IRS does not approve of for IRA investments and can result in very massive tax penalties.
Which type of gold can you use in your Gold IRA?
It is a requirement by the IRS that you only use IRA-eligible gold in your IRA account. Generally, your precious metals must:
- Meet all minimum purity requirements.
- Not be perceived as being highly collectible
- Be from a U.S. mint or any other approved foreign mint.
This applies to all the gold, silver, platinum and palladium that you hold in your IRA account.
On the overall, the IRS allows you to invest in gold and gold-related investments in the following manner and form:
1. Physical gold – As you will discover, gold happens to be the most popular precious metal when it comes to precious metals that are used in IRA investments. Most of the gold that you can invest through your gold IRA should be in the form of bullions or even coins such as the American Gold Eagle bullion coins.
2. Bullion – There are also dealers who mainly focus on the supply of bullion metals that are used in gold IRAs. Bullion is are usually crafted into pure coins ( and bars) that have a specific weight.
3. Collectible weight – Collectible coins happen to be a very popular form of bullion, owing to their beauty, rarity and increase in value over a long period of time. Their value has in fact been discovered to increase faster than that of raw bars of the most popular precious metals such as gold and silver.
**Collectible coins are however a high-risk investment (read this page), and one has to conduct sufficient research before purchasing them.
4. Gold futures and options – You may also come across firms selling call and put options, which essentially means that you sell the right to purchase or sell your gold at a set price at a given time. As much as they are risky, options can give you high returns.
**If you are interested in this and want to cut the risk then you might want to read this page.
5. Gold mining company investment options – You can also decide to invest in a gold mining company’s exploration and mining operations. You can reap massive returns if the company becomes successful in such operations, but you can also lose a lot of money if that firm halts its activities or is shut down.
**If you are interested in this and more importantly want to minimize the risk then you might want to read this page.
Which is the best Gold IRA to work with?
This gold IRA guide highlights the most important things that you need to know about Gold IRAs, including the best firms that are available for you. In that regard, it is good for you to know that thorough research was done to establish the best gold IRA companies that anyone can rely on to achieve your retirement investment objectives. The research process involved:
1. The creation of a comprehensive list of companies that offer Gold IRA services.
2. The evaluation of the companies on this list. We did a thorough check on the services they offer, their credibility, as well as all the pros and cons that you need to be aware of.
3. We finally picked only the best of the best, then we took advantage of their free kits and called in and asked questions to narrow it down even further until we had a top 5 list. This list is, therefore, a compilation of the top-performing Gold IRA firms, and you can use it to decide which way you will go in as far as seeking the right retirement investment partner is concerned.
You will realize that there are very many gold IRA providers in the current day world, and most of them are still focusing on the needs of retirees. This, however, does not have to be the case. Which is why this list comprises of companies that offer services to a wide variety of customers. These companies have served many customers, received many verifiable reviews on various consumer trust sites, and have high-security standards to protect all clients’ assets and information.
1. Augusta – The best rated and recommended company by most third party consumer protection agencies in the whole industry
2. Goldco – The best rated and recommended company by most third party consumer protection agencies in the whole industry
3. Regal Assets – The (almost) Zero customer complaint firm
4. Birch Gold Group – The Best in Customer Education
5. Advantage Gold – Great Gold IRA Rollover process
| # | Top Companies | Our rating: | Stats | More Details: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Augusta Precious Metals |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 2 |
GOLDCO |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 3 |
American Hartford Gold |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 4 |
Birch Gold Group |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 5 |
Advantage Gold |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
Gold IRAs FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. Why should I use a Gold IRA to invest?
As much as investing in gold is a personal preference, most investors prefer using gold IRAs over traditional IRAs since gold is an asset that remains stable even when there are major market fluctuations as well as inflation. There is not a single moment when the value of gold will be equivalent to $0.
2. Is a Gold IRA safe?
All investment firms and platforms present a certain degree of risk. It is therefore always necessary for you to conduct sufficient research about the company you are investing through. On top of that, you should not allocate more than 10% of your overall portfolio to a single asset.
3. What is the role of a gold IRA company?
Gold IRA companies operate in the same manner that traditional IRAs operate, only that they help you realize your retirement investment objectives by letting you back your investment with precious metals. A gold IRA company can, therefore, help you with:
- The purchase of precious metals
- The storage of precious metals
- The sale of the precious metals held in your gold IRA
- Conducting a 401 (k) to gold IRA rollover
4. Do gold IRAs handle gold only?
No. As much as they are called “gold IRAs”, this does not mean that you cannot have other precious metals in them. You can, in fact, purchase silver, platinum, and palladium and invest in them in the same manner that you would with gold. All you have to do is to ensure that the precious metals meet the IRS requirements.
5. Can I do a 401(k) to gold IRA rollover?
Yes. You can actually have the funds in your traditional IRA rolled over to a new gold IRA account. With the expertise of the staff members of a gold IRA company, the process will be over in a very short period. This is a very sound approach to diversifying your investment portfolio.
6. How much money do I need to open a gold IRA?
Most companies have different minimum initial investment requirements. You can check some of the requirements that the best of the best firms have set for their customers. On the overall, do not put all your eggs in one basket in the name of meeting the minimum initial investment funds. If you are on a lower budget then Birch Gold Group might be a good alternative for you.
7. Can I access my precious metals in person, at any time?
This depends on the company you are dealing with. In most cases, however, most Gold IRAs offer what is known as “segregated storage”, where all investors’ gold and silver bullions are placed in separate storage space. With such a storage approach, it is possible to reach out to your Gold IRA firm and to make all necessary arrangements for you to view your precious metals.
8. How can I access my gold (when I want to cash it out)?
It is a requirement by the IRS for one to access their disbursements upon reaching 59.5 years. If you do not start taking these distributions at this age, then you will have to comply with the IRS requirements by taking them when you reach 70.5 years. All early withdrawals usually attract a penalty, which in most cases is usually 10% of the investment value.
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Conclusion
If you would like to invest in precious metals, then you should be encouraged to know that it is one of the safest assets that you can rely on. That said, however, you should invest wisely by ensuring that you invest not more than 10% of all your funds in precious metals. You can rely on the following firms to help you achieve your retirement investment objectives:
1. Goldco – The best rated and recommended company by most third party consumer protection agencies in the whole industry
2. Regal Assets – The (almost) Zero customer complaint firm
3. Birch Gold Group – The Best in Customer Education
4. Advantage Gold – Great Gold IRA Rollover process
5. Bullionstar – The Best For Silver IRAs
| # | Top Companies | Our rating: | Stats | More Details: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Augusta Precious Metals |
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Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 2 |
GOLDCO |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 3 |
American Hartford Gold |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 4 |
Birch Gold Group |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
| 5 |
Advantage Gold |
|
Fees
Transparency
Reviews
Support
Alt Investing
|
Learn more |
Some recommended related articles:
What is a 401k to gold IRA rollover?
I hope you found this article on the best gold IRA companies in the industry to be helpful and that you know have a better understanding on where to start your own research to find the best alternative from you. All the ones on our top 5 list are great alternatives, in the end it comes down to what provider that resonates best with you and your particular needs.
I wish you success!
Michael, founder of Goldretired.com
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