Today we take a look at the company named CheckBook IRA. What is CheckBook IRA? A scam or a legit company for you to go with? Will it be something for you, or do you have better options? These are some of the questions this short review will focus on. Ok, here we go!
Company: Checkbook IRA
Website: www.checkbookira.com
Owner: Steve and Jordan Sheppherd
Price: Depends on your investment
Who is it for: Investors, retirees
Overall rating: (3 / 5) (Not Recommended)
Essential to mention (before we go into more details of this review)
We strongly recommend doing your research online before choosing a company to invest in. There are so many reviews online of clients being ripped off and scammed. So please investigate thoroughly and compare different alternatives before you make your decision.
One example: 99.9% of companies got “pushy” salespeople trying to stress you into acting fast.
Here is the thing, the #1 Recommended Gold & Silver IRA Dealer on our top-5 list got No-salesy representatives… So they won´t bother or terrorize you with phone calls.
You are an intelligent person, so I am sure that you understand the benefits of dealing with such a company instead, right?
+They got a couple more benefits you might appreciate as much as I do. You will understand yourself once you have visited the page (link) above.
==> See our Top-5 List of Precious Metals IRA Companies on this page <==
With that being said, let´s continue with the review on Scottsdale Bullion & Coin!
What is Checkbook IRA about?
CheckBook IRA has been available for their clients since 2004 and is based in the USA but offers its service to people in other countries as well. Even if it is a well-known company, it is still not as “heavy” as some competitors.
However, it continues to grow each year so that it might get up there among the “big players” eventually.
How does it work?
The company offers numerous services for investors, mainly experienced investors, to be more correct. The primary field of their expertise is to educate potential clients/investors about different investment options, especially IRA´s.
We found that they are taking $1500/year in storage fees while other similar companies only take $100/year, so it costs 15 times more than some of its competitors.
The Products
As mentioned above, CheckBook IRA offers much education in their “university” and options if you want to invest with them.
Here are their services:
IRAs?
As mentioned above, they do offer IRA, yes. However, I strongly recommend you to check out other alternatives for that as they are costly in the annual storage fees.
==> See our #1 recommended gold & silver IRA solution instead<==
Can you get the gold (and other metals) delivered to your home?
There is no information to find about this on their site, so we will have to assume that it is not possible to invest in gold & silver, so in other words, it might be hard to get home delivery of precious metals. Also, it is not allowed to store IRA gold at home, so that wouldn´t be possible anyway.
If you are a representative for CheckBook IRA and this (or something else in this review) is wrong, please send an e-mail to contact@goldretired.com or leave a comment below this review in the comment section, and I will make sure to correct it.
Can you store your investment with the company?
Yes, you can. They offer storage for you. However, you need to know that the annual storage cost is prohibitive ($1500) per year while other similar companies only take $100 per year.
Can anybody in any country use the service?
The company offers its services to different countries. It is not mentioned on their site exactly which ones. When I asked about this with a representative from the company, he told me that certain things had to be done for a person in another country could use their services.
Is Checkbook IRA a scam?
So, is CheckBook IRA a scam? No, it is a legit company, it has been offering its services for more than ten years, so if they had been a complete scam, they would not have been able to survive for that long. It also got real owners and a real physical address so there are no question marks there.
However, if it is the best alternative out there for you is a whole different story, and theads us to the reviews and ratings found on them.
Checkbook IRA Reviews and ratings:
BBB (Better Business Bureau)
Rating: A+ (out of 1 review) click here for details (opens in new window)
Trustpilot
Rating: N/A
Trustlink
Rating: (5 / 5) (out of 1 review) click here for details (opens in new window)
BCA (Business Consumer Alliance)
Rating: N/A
Yelp
Rating: N/A
Ok, it got an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and from Trustlink but only from 1 review on each of them. There are no complaints on the RipoffReport website. It is a bit “thin” to be honest, it would have felt better if there was a bit more to look at.
There are some red flags also, and as always, we make sure to highlight those. Here they are:
The red flags:
1: The annual storage fee: As it costs $1500 per year to store your investment with the company, it is easy to see why some people might call CheckBook IRA a rip-off as many of its competitors only take $100 per year.
2: The lack of ratings from BCA and TrustLink: As both BCA and TrustLink are authority sources for online ratings and trust, we feel that this needs to be brought up on the table for anyone thinking about investing.
How´s the support?
As always, we put a lot of weight on how the support of a company is when we rate it. So, how does CheckBook IRA stack up against its competitors in this area? Pretty good as they do offer a live chat (at certain times) on their website. This is something that many of its competitors don´t provide.
However, there are some reports online that the “sales staff” or representatives from the company are “pushy” and give you a feeling of “getting stressed to buy” when they speak to you.
PROs & CONs
The Good
- Much education material
- Have a live chat
- Been in business for more than ten years
The Bad
- EXPENSIVE annual storage fee
- Lack of info on site
- Reports of “salesly” and “pushy” representatives that will e-mail and call you
- Barely no ratings from BBB, BCA and TrustLink
Why Should You (Or Should NOT) Join Checkbook IRA?
As I see it, you could benefit from their educational “university” if you are interested in learning more. It has a wide selection of education, and you could indeed find something that you might be interested in by digging there.
However, education is offered by most of its competitors also… I don´t see why you should pick them to invest with when there are better alternatives.
I don´t see why you should pick them (CheckBook IRA) to invest with when there are better alternatives out there.
Final Words and Verdict on Checkbook IRA
Verdict: Legit (But NOT recommended)
Overall rating: (3 / 5)
Okay, I have made my point pretty clear on this one. It is absolutely a legit company, no doubt about that. However, as mentioned above, some pretty concerning red flags also take down the overall rating pretty much. So 3 out of 5 stars it is.
As always, the choice is up to you. However, you might want to look at other alternatives for your investment endeavors.
==> See Top-5 List of Gold & Silver IRA Companies
I hope you found this short review of CheckBook IRA to be helpful, and now you should have a better understanding of what it is and if it is something for you or not. If you have used their service, please share your experience with us in the comment section below, as it can help others make the right decision for them. Also, if you have any questions about this review, I will be more than happy to answer them below!
I wish you success!
Michael
Founder of: Gold Retired
This is helpful, I know nothing about IRA other than Roth IRA’s.
Hi John,
Thank you for taking the time to write a review about Checkbook IRA. It is because of you guys that has saved many people online out there from burning their hard earned savings on businesses or investments that doesn’t make money but claimed that they can.
I had been searching for many online platforms that can helped me to make a good amount of returns, I read about this Checkbook IRA and was rather skeptical about it. Thank God that I came across your review. Just got saved by the bell! =)
Thank you! Glad you liked the review and found it helpful
Sincerely
Thank you! Glad you liked the review and found it helpful
Sincerely