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Best Precious Metals IRA Companies

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There is an ongoing crisis in our global economy. The uncertain times and economic downturns have made the equity markets unpredictable. Most IRA (Individual Retirement Account) investors are careful and do not put all of their retirement savings into the stock market, and instead diversify their retirement pot across several different asset classes to help protect their savings.

The endless printing of money due to reckless government spending has caused inflation rates to skyrocket, making the dollar almost worthless. Hence, many IRA investors are turning to precious metal assets to save their retirement funds.

At this point in the global economy, investing a percentage of your retirement savings into precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium is an ideal investment strategy.

This article will explore how to invest some of your retirement savings in precious metal coins and bars. We will also discuss these investments and their impacts on income tax.

Getting the right information to help you make an informed decision as to whether investing in precious metals through a precious metals IRA is the right decision for you is essential.

Choosing the best company to guide you through the entire process will make your decision-making much more straightforward. The type of companies you need to seek advice from are called precious metals IRA companies, more commonly known as Gold IRA Companies.

Hence, this article will show you the top gold IRA companies in the United States and how they compare.

No matter your investment size and budget, you will find one or more of these companies beneficial to your investment decision-making.

Five Best Precious Metals IRA Companies In The United States

As an expert precious metals IRA company review firm, we selected the companies below based on our rigorous and extensive research. In addition, we judged them using feedback from people who have used them or are currently working with one of these companies.

avoid scam gold ira companies

Augusta Precious Metals (APM)

Augusta Precious Metals is the leading precious metals IRA company in the United States. Over the years, the company has become the precious metals industry's leading gold IRA company. One major feature that has put this company above others is its white-glove customer service. Augusta Precious Metals aims to empower investors to take charge of their retirement savings through diversification with precious metals in IRA accounts with tax benefits.

Augusta Precious Metals is the only gold IRA company that the financial advisors of Joe Montana, the famous 49ers quarterback, recommended to him for his retirement planning and investments.

After investing in precious metals through the company, Joe Montana loved the company's mission so much that he became Augusta's paid ambassador.

Aside from having a lovely mission that the company has not failed to keep through the years, Augusta has bagged hundreds of positive reviews and ratings on various third-party consumer rating websites like BBB (Better Business Bureau), BCA (Business Consumer Alliance), Trustpilot, Consumer Affairs, etc. Many of Augusta's satisfied customers are grateful for the company's one-on-one web conferences. The conference is one of the ways the company educates its clients. In addition, the conferences are handled by trained economists from Harvard who work for the company.

Augusta Precious Metals is a precious metals company that cares about its investors' retirement and savings. Hence, the company knows that most of its clients are disturbed by the rising inflation rates, stock market volatility, and economic uncertainties today.

As part of how the company shows that it cares about customers' worries and will help them get peace of mind, Augusta Precious Metals assists them in creating a gold IRA. After the entire process is complete, the company keeps offering customer services to them for a lifetime; hence, once an Augusta Precious Metals customer is always an Augusta Precious Metals customer.

Pros of Augusta Precious Metals

  • The company does not employ high-pressure tactics to persuade customers to invest in precious metals through them.
  • They work with precious metals experts to help you make informed investment decisions.
  • They offer a wide range of gold and silver products.
  • Every customer qualifies to enjoy up to 10 years of zero fees.
  • Money Magazine rated Augusta Precious Metals as 2022's "Best Overall" precious metals IRA company.
  • They have an A+ rating with BBB with no negative reviews and an AAA rating with BCA.
  • They offer competitive pricing.
  • They have excellent customer service.

Cons of Augusta Precious Metals

Augusta's minimum IRA investment requirement is $50,000, which may be too expensive for many investors seeking to start small on their IRA investment journey.

Contact them here to learn more about Augusta Precious Metals and how the company can help you save your retirement funds from inflation.

Goldco

Goldco is one of the trusted brands in the precious metals IRA industry. The company is the second best on our list because, just like Augusta Precious Metals, the readers we recommended Goldco to have not lodged a single complaint about the company.

Since its inception, Golco has ceaselessly shown its customers that it cares about them, and this attitude has driven the company to the top.

The company is known for effectively helping retirement investors with 403b, 401k, TSP, and other similar tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts to protect their funds via gold IRAs.

Goldco is an expert when it comes to precious metals IRA. In addition, the company sells gold and silver directly to customers looking for a haven for their funds, especially to hedge against inflation.

Goldco will effectively reduce your retirement portfolio volatility by exposing it to precious metals IRA's stability. In addition, the company's experts will walk you through rolling over funds from your traditional retirement accounts to your gold IRA. With Goldco, be sure you will not break any IRS guidelines associated with gold IRA rollovers or incur a tax penalty.

Pros of Goldco

  • The company guarantees its customers high buy-back prices.
  • They do not employ high-pressure tactics for making sales.
  • They offer free precious metals IRA rollovers.
  • They offer the best and biggest promotion in the industry. (GET YOUR FREE SILVER WORTH $10,000 FROM GOLDCO NOW).
  • They offer rich educational resources to help clients to make informed decisions.
  • They have exceptional customer service.
  • They offer various profitable gold and silver investment choices.

Con of Goldco

  • The company's minimum investment is $25,000. That fee may be expensive for most investors who want to start small.

Speak directly to a Goldco specialist here to learn more about the company.

American Hartford Gold

American Hartford Gold was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Although the company has not been around for so long, it has had remarkable success in the gold IRA industry.

The company is a popular choice for individuals and families  who want to open and set up their gold IRAs, especially those who want to protect their funds from inflation and build generational wealth. In addition, they sell precious metals (physical gold, silver, palladium and platinum products) directly to interested investors. It also delivers customers' products discretely to their destinations if they opt for home delivery.

Education is the core of the company's beliefs, which is the key to each client's success. The company's belief in education is seen on its website. It has a rich educational website containing a Data Center, uninterrupted direct/live access to a precious metals specialist, and a live precious metals chart.

The company's customer service members are always eager to answer clients' questions. In addition, they simplify the process of purchasing gold and silver assets for interested customers.

Furthermore, the company offers reasonable gold IRA fees. The company collects IRA fees, which are given to your self-directed IRA custodian, costing around $180 annually.

Hartford Gold can cover these fees for you if your orders are sizable. Ask the account representative about the order size that will qualify you to enjoy that fee coverage. When you buy precious metals from the company, it can deliver them to your doorstep in discreet packaging.

If you buy precious metals within an IRA, American Hartford Gold can deliver your products to secure depositories in the United States. In addition, the company has made its account opening process easy. You can open an account with Hartford Gold in a few minutes via its website. The company has dedicated experts who will walk you through opening your gold IRA and completing the necessary paperwork.

You can open your precious metals IRA account and complete your gold IRA rollover within 72 hours; its minimum investment is $10,000. The company's minimum investment makes it a top pick for investors who want to transfer a small percentage of their retirement accounts into gold, silver, and other precious metals.

Pros of American Hartford Gold

  • Rudy Giuliani and Bill O'Reilly endorse the firm as the best in the industry.
  • American Hartford Gold has hundreds of excellent customer ratings on various consumer rating sites.
  • American Hartford Gold is among the fastest growing companies in America, according to Inc. 5000's list.
  • The company's minimum IRA investment requirement is $10,000.
  • They offer a wide range of precious metals products.
  • They offer amazing buy-back programs.

Cons of American Hartford Gold

  • The company does not list the prices of its products on its website.
  • They do not ship products to locations outside the United States.

To start investing in precious metals IRA through American Hartford Gold, please click this link to download the free and complete American Hartford Gold IRA investment kit.

Birch Gold Group

Birch Gold Group is a precious metals organization known in the industry for its quality bullion and precious metals products. In this period of economic uncertainty, Birch Gold Group is one of the companies that take pride in revealing exclusive information about shielding retirement funds using precious metals investments.

Birch Gold Group aims to equip its clients with the right knowledge about precious metals investing. They pay detailed attention to their customers' worries, motivations, and investment goals to show that they care about their clients and protect their investments.

You can always ask any of the company's representatives your questions about precious metals IRA investments, and be sure you will get a direct answer.

Since its inception, the company has been in the business of helping interested investor diversify their retirement portfolios using precious metals in the following categories: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. One of the ways they help clients diversify their retirement portfolio is through gold IRAs. Birch Gold tries to make the setup process as simple as possible so its clients will go through it without hurdles.

In addition, they sell precious metals directly to clients who want to purchase them outside an IRA. Diversifying your retirement portfolio by opening a gold IRA through Birch Gold Group will give you peace of mind amid the falling stock market and the dollar's value.

Pros of Birch Gold Group

  • The company will waive your IRA fees for the first year if you make an initial IRA investment worth $50,000.
  • You will enjoy free shipping on cash purchases above $10,000.
  • They have a minimum investment requirement of $10,000.
  • You can qualify for free precious metals worth $10,000 when you make a purchase.
  • They have a rich section of educational materials on their website.
  • The company's website is easy to navigate and use.
  • They offer competitive prices for their precious metal products.

Cons of Birch Gold Group

  • You can only do business with them as a United States investor.

Start your investment journey today through Birch Gold Group by clicking this link to download the company's free gold IRA investment guide.

Noble Gold Investments

For many years, Noble Gold Investments has been securing the retirement funds of its customers using precious metals IRAs. They ensure they keep their client's wealth safe by providing them with simple ways to buy precious metals. This company pays attention to how they can help customers increase their investment values.

Noble Gold says a precious metal investment is "Security You Can Hold." The company knows that many investors do not own precious metals because they are not fully aware of the benefits in their portfolio, especially in times of economic uncertainties. Hence, Noble Gold Investments educates investors and anyone who wants to listen about how precious metals can keep their portfolios stable and secure their retirements.

Precious metals are tangible, real, and physical assets whose prices go the opposite direction from those of the stock market, dollar, and paper investment assets throughout history. Gold and silver cushions investors' funds from economic and political risks.

Suppose you want to buy precious metals via a gold IRA in the most simplified way and through a company that will help you handle your paperwork. In that case, contact a Noble Gold Investment representative here.

Pros of Noble Gold Investments

  • They offer IRA account opening in three simple steps.
  • They pay attention to helping their customers preserve wealth in the long term.
  • The company's minimum IRA investment is $2,000, making it an excellent choice for low-budget investors.
  • They offer a wide range of investment options.

Cons of Noble Gold Investments

  • Noble Gold investment does not store precious metals outside the United States for customers.

To learn more about the company and see how it can help you secure your wealth for the long term, please click this link to download the Noble Gold IRA investment kit.

How We Selected The Best Five Gold IRA Companies in The United States

As a specialist precious metals company review organization, we scanned the entire gold industry and collated a list of companies in the market. Our list has guided us in reviewing hundreds of companies in the gold industry for the last few years.

Our website's "Best of Review" section contains our published reviews for gold IRA companies that meet our strict review standards. In other words, this section contains only companies that are the best in the industry. However, we publish reviews of other gold IRA companies that do not meet our standards, stating why they have failed to make our top five list of the best gold IRA firms in the industry.

We pass all the companies we review through our rigorous review process. We judge them using the yardsticks from our standard gold dealer review methodology. Hence, we do not just pay attention to what people say online about them as many online review sites do. We take practical, unique steps to ensure we give you, our reader, the most accurate, updated, and unbiased information about the companies we review.

We have outlined our standard review methodology's ten crucial and unique steps below.

  1. We search the market to identify the players we want to review.
  2. We contact the gold IRA companies for their educational material or any other material they can give us about them and their marketing.
  3. We read the educational materials these companies provide us carefully to review them.
  4. We evaluate the reviews and testimonials on these companies' websites.
  5. We then evaluate customers' reviews and see what they say on third-party review sites like BBB, BCA, Google, Trustpilot, National Ethics Association, Most Trusted, My 3 Cents, Facebook, and The Rip Off Report.
  6. We then conduct a preliminary ranking to eliminate the companies we have concerns about.
  7. After eliminating the companies that fall short in our preliminary ranking, we call the customer representatives of the standing companies posing as prospective clients. We want to evaluate their responses, how much they are willing to help, and how accurately they answer our questions. We make sure that our choices of questions are challenging. In addition, we ask them questions in areas beyond their jurisdictions to see whether they will provide answers since they are not experts in that area. Finally, we asked them to give us their educational materials and extra information. We ask for these materials to judge companies' timeliness in providing quality information to their clients. After this point, we will eliminate the companies that fall below our expectations from our list.
  8. After that, we will inform the remaining companies that we were not prospective customers. Rather, we are a review company evaluating them. From here, we will ask them about the negative reviews we found about them to hear their side of the story and sincere reasons for customers' negative reviews. We want to know if they genuinely address their customers' complaints and the systematic approach they use. In addition, we want to know the steps they have taken to improve their services and ensure such complaints do not come up again.
  9. We then present the testimonials we have gotten about the companies from their websites, telling them to contact the customers who gave those positive reviews. We do this check to ensure that the testimonials come from real customers. We aim to get at least five confirmations from these companies. If we cannot get at least five verified testimonials from real customers from any company, that company will not make our list of recommended gold IRA firms.
  10. This step is the final one in our evaluation process. We rank these companies remaining on the list in their order to provide the top recommendations for our readers.

What Is a Precious Metal IRA?

A precious metals IRA, also known as a gold IRA or silver IRA, refers to an individual retirement account that allows investors to add physical precious metal assets in the form of bullion, bars, and coins rather than traditional investments like stocks, bonds, ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) and mutual funds.

This type of IRA is a special financial instrument that diversifies investors' investment portfolios by allowing them to add alternative assets to their traditional assets. The retirement account will enable you to add precious metals in the following categories to your portfolio.

  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Platinum
  • Palladium

Adding physical precious metals to your traditional investment portfolio through a precious metals IRA will stabilize your retirement portfolio and hedge from inflation. In addition, you will protect your funds from market volatility and economic instability.

To open a gold IRA account allowing you to add these precious metals to your retirement portfolio, you must choose a reputable gold IRA company. Your preferred gold IRA company will manage your account on your behalf. The primary roles of gold IRA companies include:

  • Buying your chosen precious metal assets for inclusion in your gold IRA.
  • Storing these metals in a secure depository as instructed by the IRS guidelines on gold IRA investments.
  • Account administration and transaction management.

Essentially, a good gold IRA company will handle all the IRA paperwork to allow you to focus on profitable investment strategies. The company will also oversee the logistics of your physical metals to a secure depository, including managing the precious metals assets in your gold IRA.

The Advantages Of Precious Metals In An IRA

A precious metals IRA is a simple way of balancing your retirement investment portfolio effectively. There are four major benefits of investing in a gold IRA.

  • Diversification of Assets.
  • Opportunity for growth
  • Safety of Retirement Portfolio
  • Control of Retirement Portfolio

Diversification of Assets

When you properly diversify the assets in your investment portfolio, you will smoothen out volatility in your retirement portfolio. Your portfolio will be more stable and produce reliable returns in the long run. Holding stocks and other paper assets in your portfolio for a long time is insufficient to protect your money. Many United States investors found that stocks do not keep your money safe after the stock market crash of 2008. That global economic meltdown evaporated the wealth of many investors stored in stocks.

On the other hand, the price of gold soared because of its resilience. In addition, because it is an investment with intrinsic value, the stock market crash did not affect its price. The same factor applied to other precious metal assets.

Hence, while you prepare to bounce back, if the economic uncertainty is taking a toll on your retirement funds, it is only wise to convert some of your paper assets into gold and other precious metals through a gold IRA. Whether you like it or not, paper assets will always be subject to negative effects from factors like inflation, huge government debts locally and internationally, a decrease in the value of the U.S. dollar, quantitative easing, and tensions in the political ecosystem.

To prevent these from fully crashing your investment portfolio, diversify your assets. Convert some of your paper assets into precious metals. Primarily, holding precious metal assets has long-term benefits, although there are some coins you can buy on a short and medium-term basis.

Opportunity for Growth

Judging by other investment vehicles' performances in today's economic crisis, precious metal IRAs have done so well. Financial experts even say the investment will keep getting stronger in the coming years. Hence, no matter what happens in the other investment markets, investing in precious metals IRA will shield your portfolio from being affected while enjoying gold's price increase.

Safety of Retirement Portfolio

Individuals, financial institutions, and governments consider gold as a safe-haven asset. The characteristics of gold that make it a haven investment apply to your precious metals IRA because it holds gold and other physical precious metal assets.

Future crises can drive the price of paper assets to zero, but the prices of gold and other precious metals IRA investments can never go down to zero. Knowing that your retirement assets are secure in a secure storage depository and will never fall to zero in value brings a special type of peace of mind.

Control of Retirement Portfolio

A self-directed IRA is the only type of retirement account that permits investors to take charge of every decision about their retirement assets. Aside from making general decisions about your account, an IRA will allow you to take control of your asset allocation and redistribution while enjoying its tax advantages. In addition, when taking distributions at the right age (59.5 years), you can either get your metals delivered to your home or sell them for cash from the storage depositories.

How To Open a Precious Metals IRA

Opening a traditional IRA and Roth IRA is simpler than opening a gold IRA account. Hence, you need to be more careful with the process. This section will provide basic information on opening a gold IRA.

Choose a Self-Directed IRA Custodian

An IRA custodian will be responsible for holding your self-directed gold IRA. These custodians can be banks, trust organizations, and other financial institutions approved by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) to offer such special services. These IRA custodians open gold IRA accounts for individual and corporate investors who want to invest in precious metals and real estate as alternative assets.

Select a Preferred Precious Metals Dealer

The next thing to do is to choose a preferred precious metals company through which you will buy your precious metals investments. Usually, your custodian will buy the precious metals on your behalf since your funds are in your IRA account that they manage. You can buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bars and coins from your preferred gold dealer through your custodian.

Ensure you research your preferred dealer before buying precious metals from them with the funds in your IRA. Ensure the dealer you want to buy from is a member of well-known precious metals trade groups like PNG (Professional Numismatic Guild), ANA (American Numismatic Association), ICTA (Industry Council for Tangible Assets), etc.

If you choose a good IRA custodian, they may already have good relationships with reputable precious metals dealers through which you can buy your precious metals assets for your gold IRA. However, if you are not satisfied with the quality of their recommendations, you should go the extra mile by researching other companies.

Decide What Products to Buy

After you have chosen the precious metals dealer to buy your metals from, you will have to specifically select the products you want to buy for inclusion in your gold IRA. These products must be IRA-eligible products. They are primarily products that the IRS approves for inclusion in an IRA. We have provided a comprehensive list of IRA-eligible products in a later section of this article. To see the list of gold IRA-eligible products, keep reading.

Select a Storage Depository

According to the IRS guideline on investments in a precious metals IRA, investors cannot store these metals in their homes. They must keep them in a third-party IRS-secure approved depository. Usually, a good IRA custodian partners with secure depositories to provide storage service. However, you can choose any depository outside your custodian's recommendations if the storage depository meets the requirements set by the IRS.

The IRS considers storing your gold IRA assets in your home a taxable withdrawal. You will incur a tax penalty if you keep your IRA precious metals outside a third-party secure IRS-approved depository.

Finalize Your Transactions

You can finalize the purchase after selecting a preferred depository for storing your precious metal assets. Your custodian will make all the necessary payments and ensure the dealer ships your products to your chosen depository.

How To Select The Best Gold IRA Companies for Your Retirement Planning

As we have mentioned, the need for properly diversifying and balancing retirement asset portfolios has given gold IRAs a degree of popularity in the investment industry. Precious metals IRA is one efficient and effective way to shield your retirement portfolio from inflation and other market fluctuations. The process of opening a gold IRA is straightforward when you do it through the right gold IRA company.

Hence, in the previous section, we have shown you how a very important part of your IRA account opening and investment process is choosing the perfect gold IRA company to invest through. In this section, knowing how crucial it is to get it right with your choice of gold IRA company, we will show you what you need to consider to effectively compare gold IRA companies and make the best investment decisions.

It does not matter whether you are just beginning your journey in the gold IRA investment market or an experienced investor; you must understand these key factors and use them to evaluate your choices to make the best retirement planning decisions.

Set Your "REALISTIC" Investment Goals

The first thing you must do on your journey to successful gold IRA investing is to set realistic investment and financial goals and know your risk tolerance. As we have mentioned in this article, setting realistic goals entails using information about the gold market generally and budget to determine your investment strategy and returns in the long run. Here are things you must examine in light of your understanding of the gold market to set realistic goals.

  • How close you are to your retirement age.
  • Your desired returns on investments.
  • The percentage of your retirement portfolio you want to convert to precious metals.

When you have clear objectives, you can streamline your choices of gold IRA companies and work with the one that best suits your investment goals.

Find out the Company's Track Record and Reputation

Whether you have streamlined your choices or chosen one based on your investment needs and goals, ensure you start with these companies by looking through their reputation and track records in the industry. For your safety, only do business with companies that have solid customer satisfaction histories through their transparent practices and are reliable. You will always get valuable insights about these companies by reading customer reviews on trusted consumer rating platforms like BBB, BCA, Trustpilot, Trustlink, etc. These websites will tell you how they have satisfied other clients who have done business with them.

Check The Company's Accreditation and IRA Regulation Compliance

The next thing to do is check if these companies comply with IRS regulations. Then check whether they work with the best custodians and secure storage facilities in the United States. The latter checks are important to keep your precious metals investments safe. In addition, check if various reputable bodies in the industry accredit them. Often, these accreditations show that the gold IRA companies are committed to high business ethical practices and standards.

Compare Products Prices and Other Associated Costs/Fees

Ensure you compare the prices of products and services of your preferred gold IRA company with those of others in the industry. Review their fee structures critically and be aware of all the costs associated with setting up a gold IRA and maintaining the account with the company. In addition, ensure they are transparent with their pricing. Do not do business with companies that charge so high or have hidden charges, as these fees will significantly reduce your investment returns.

The table below shows a range of additional fees that custodians in the industry charge for gold IRA services.

Services

Fees

One-Time Account Opening and Setup Fees

Between $50 to $100

Storage and Insurance Fees

Between $50 to $300 or depending on the value of the investors' holdings

Account Management Fees

Between $150 to $250

Applicable Transaction Fees for Selling Precious Metals

2 to 5% of the sold precious metals value.

Review The Company's Storage Solutions

As mentioned in the previous section, you must store your gold IRA investments in a secure depository because keeping them in your home violates the IRS regulations on gold IRAs. Hence, ensure you properly review the storage solutions your chosen gold IRA company offers and those they partner with to provide such storage options. Make sure that these storage depositories meet your expectations regarding security.

Check The Company's Customer Support and Educational Resources

The best gold IRA companies in the industry give the best educational resources to help their investors make informed retirement decisions. Check their websites for investment guides, especially on investing in precious metals. In the same vein, check out their customer service to ascertain whether you will get an on-time response when you contact them after doing business with them.

As stated, comparing and selecting the best gold IRA companies to start your precious metals IRA journey through is crucial for building a solid retirement portfolio. It is like the foundation on which you build other things. If you get it wrong with investing through the right gold IRA company, you may get the remaining parts of the investment process wrong.

Considering the factors highlighted in this section will help you spot the companies that fit your investment preferences, goals, and needs. Remember to always do your due diligence in choosing the best investment practices if you want your retirement journey to succeed via gold IRA investments. In addition, choosing to make the right gold IRA investment steps will protect your assets and give you peace of mind.

The Necessity Of Doing Your Due Diligence

As you progress in your gold IRA investment journey, you must become more diligent. You may need to go beyond researching just IRS guidelines, especially if you want to explore more investment options in a gold IRA.

You must be given to much research. Research prospective dealers in the industry, check for how long the company has been in business, their management team members, etc. Comb the internet to get all the important information you need about prospective dealers through which you may want to invest in a gold IRA.

Usually, when you comb the internet for intricate information about these companies, you will find details like their ties, complaints, lawsuits, business practices, and how they might be facing prosecutions for doing business illegally.

Finally, due diligence will protect you from gold IRA scams and scam companies. The only way to succeed in the gold IRA investment industry is to deal with reputable companies that meet your investment goals and to achieve that, you must be diligent in finding them.

Buying and Holding Precious Metal Assets in Your Gold IRA Account

The Internal Revenue Service apparently discourages investing in some precious metals or holding them in your gold IRA because these metals have certain risks. The IRS believes that acquiring these coins for inclusion in your gold IRA account equals buying collectible assets. Hence, the IRS sees buying them with your IRA funds as a taxable distribution. You will incur a tax penalty when you purchase these coins with funds from your IRA account.

The IRS, however, encourages using your gold IRA funds to buy certain gold, silver, platinum, and palladium products that meet the required purity standards.

Below are the required purity standards for precious metals, bullion coins, and bars the IRS allows in a gold IRA.

  • Gold (99.5% purity)
  • Silver (99.9% purity)
  • Platinum and palladium (99.95% purity)

These regulations apply to all types of gold IRAs, traditional gold IRAs, Roth gold IRAs, etc.

Below is a long list of eligible precious metals you can hold in your gold IRA account according to IRS regulations.

IRA Eligible Gold Bullion

Coins

  • Australian Lunar Series Gold Coins
  • American Eagle Gold Coins
  • British Britannia Gold Coins
  • Mexican Libertad Gold Bullion Coins
  • Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Coins
  • Australian Kangaroo/Nugget Coins
  • Chinese Panda Gold Coins
  • American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins
  • Austrian Philharmonic Gold Coins
  • American Eagle Gold Proof Coins

Bars and Rounds

  • Perth Mint Gold Bars
  • PAMP Suisse Gold Bars
  • Valcambi Gold Bars
  • Asahi Gold Bars
  • Johnson Matthey Gold Bars
  • Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) Gold Bars
  • Credit Suisse Gold Bars

IRA Eligible Silver Bullion

Coins

  • Austrian Vienna Philharmonic Silver Coins
  • British Britannia Silver Coins
  • Chinese Panda Silver Coins
  • American Eagle Silver Coins
  • Canadian Maple Leaf Silver Coins
  • Australian Koala Silver coin
  • Mexican Libertad Silver Bullion Coins
  • America The Beautiful Silver Coins
  • British Lunar Series Silver Bullion Coins
  • Australian Kookaburra Silver Coins
  • South African Krugerrand Silver Coins
  • American Eagle Silver Proof Coins

Bars and Rounds

  • Nadir Silver Bars
  • Perth Mint Silver Bars
  • Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) Silver Bars
  • Asahi Silver Bars
  • Credit Suisse Bars
  • PAMP Suisse Silver Bars
  • Engelhard Silver Bars
  • Valcambi Silver Bars
  • Johnson Matthey Silver Bars
  • Sunshine Mint Silver Bars

IRA Eligible Platinum Bullion

Coins

  • Canadian Maple Leaf Platinum Coins
  • Australian Koala Platinum Coins
  • Isle of Man Noble Platinum Coins
  • American Eagle Platinum Coins
  • American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins

Bars and Rounds

  • PAMP Suisse Platinum Bars
  • Valcambi Platinum Bars
  • Johnson Matthey Platinum Bars
  • Engelhard Platinum Bars
  • Argor Heraeus Platinum Bars
  • Credit Suisse Platinum Bars

IRA Eligible Palladium Bullion

Coins

  • Canadian Maple Leaf Palladium Coins

Bars and Rounds

  • Valcambi Palladium Bars
  • Credit Suisse Palladium Bars
  • Johnson Matthey Palladium Bars
  • PAMP Suisse Palladium Bars

You can buy all the precious metals in this list for inclusion in your precious metals IRA because they meet the IRS purity standards for IRA-eligible precious metals. Any metal that does not meet the purity standards set by the IRS is a non-IRA-eligible product, except for the American Gold Eagle coin. The coin has a purity level of 91.67%, and the United States Mint manufactures it.

Despite its purity falling below 99.5% for gold IRA products, the IRS considers it an IRA-eligible precious metal. The American Gold Eagle coin is the only exception regarded as an IRA-eligible product. If you buy any other product that does not meet the purity standards set by the IRS, you will pay a tax penalty because the IRS will treat that purchase as a taxable withdrawal from your gold IRA account.

Things To Look Out for While Buying Precious Metals

As mentioned, if you buy non-IRA-eligible precious metals using funds from your gold IRA account, the IRS will consider them collectibles. It will mean that the IRS will treat that purchase as taking distributions from your IRA.

Similarly, suppose you violate the IRS storage guidelines for your IRA-eligible precious metals by storing your purchased precious metals in your home. In that case, the IRS will treat the purchase as a taxable distribution.

Any of these case scenarios above will attract tax penalties from the IRS based on the value of the non-IRA-eligible precious metals you bought or the IRA-eligible metals you took to your home for storage. Hence, watch out for the IRS gold IRA investing rules and ensure you do not violate anyone to avoid tax penalties.

Storing Precious Metals Assets in Your IRA

After buying your precious metal assets using the funds from your gold IRA account, the IRS requires you store them in an approved gold depository. Usually, a depository is a company that is charged with the responsibility of storing and managing precious metals. A safe depository will prevent losing your precious metal assets to theft or fraud.

All IRS-approved depositories have physical onsite armed security personnel providing 24-hour security in addition to the facilities' cutting-edge and technologically advanced security systems. In addition, these depositories are fully insured.

You can store your precious metals in these depositories even if you did not buy your precious metals assets within an IRA. The depositories usually have vaults built to fit various amounts of precious metals for storage. Most of these depositories are in major cities, allowing customers to walk in whenever they want to see their stored investments. Some depositories offer both segregated and non-segregated storage solutions. The segregated storage option is usually more expensive but safer than the non-segregated one.

These depositories enjoy generous insurance to protect customers' investments and ensure each customer gets 100% of their stored assets if anything happens to the facility. It means that you will get 100% of your precious metals value even if the depository loses them to theft.

Before you choose a storage depository, you must consider certain factors. One of the most crucial factors to consider is storage fees. The storage fee is a periodic fee that the depository requires you to pay for storing your metals with them. While some depositories use the fixed fee structure, others use the scaled fee model. We recommend using the fixed fee structure because it will save you more money as your precious metal investments portfolio grows over the years.

Why Don't Financial Advisors Recommend Precious Metals IRAs?

Only a small portion of American investors own an ounce of gold or silver bullion. Hence, only this small percentage knows the various options a gold IRA offers. The ignorance is often made worse by financial experts whose job is to educate investors and the public in general.

A gold IRA offers cautious investors a much better option, especially those who hold limited paper assets in their retirement portfolio. They will have the power to control their investment portfolios fully.

A self-directed gold IRA allows investors to invest in assets other than paper assets or registered security like stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds.

You can buy your desired profitable precious metals, coins, and bars and enjoy immediate protection from inflation and the decrease in the dollar's value. In addition, a gold IRA will save you from stock market crashes and volatility while giving you the profits from gold price increases and the regular tax advantages of owning an IRA.

The most common and easiest way to fund your gold IRA after opening one is to perform a rollover. A rollover allows you to transfer funds from your traditional retirement accounts like 401k, 403b, or other retirement accounts into your gold IRA so you can buy precious metal assets with them.

In summary, most financial advisors do not recommend gold IRAs because of the enormous power an IRA gives investors. It practically gives you total control over your investment assets and portfolio.

Conclusion

Gold IRAs are one of the surest ways to protect your retirement funds from the economic uncertainties rocking our investment world today. The retirement plan allows you to invest in physical or tangible precious metal assets like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. However, before you start your investment journey as a gold IRA investor, please ensure you find out the risks associated with gold investments.

Suppose you want to begin your journey or enjoy a more profitable journey as a gold investor. In that case, you must invest in precious metals through a reputable gold IRA company. While there might be hundreds of gold investment companies in the industry, you must research to find the ones that suit your investment budgets, needs, and goals.

We know how tiring doing this research can be, especially if you are new to the gold investment world. Hence, we have provided the gold IRA companies we, in our opinion, deem the best in the United States. These companies are Augusta Precious Metals, Goldco, American Hartford Gold, Birch Gold Group, and Noble Gold Investments.

No matter the class of investor you fall into, your goals, budgets, and needs, you will find a gold IRA company among our best gold IRA company list through which you can comfortably invest in gold and other precious metals for your retirement.

Please click the links above to request their detailed review guides and learn more about them, including the perfect one for your retirement planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Companies are The Best for My Gold IRA Investments?

At Bearlakegold, we specialize in reviewing gold IRA companies in the United States to provide our readers with the most suitable and ethical for doing business. After reviewing hundreds of companies, we spotted the five gold IRA companies that are the best for doing business based on our standard gold IRA review methodology. These companies, in their standing order, are:

  • Augusta Precious Metals
  • Goldco
  • American Hartford Gold
  • Birch Gold Group
  • Noble Gold Investments

These companies have thousands of positive customer reviews and ratings on trusted consumer ratings sites like BBB and BCA. These ratings and reviews show they have built solid reputations in the industry by fully satisfying their customers.

What are the Various Ways of Investing in Precious Metals for My Retirement?

Yes! You can hold your gold and other IRA precious metals as allocated and non-allocated physical precious metals. You can also hold precious metals in the form of paper assets like gold mining stocks, bonds, gold ETFs, and mutual funds.

What is The Difference Between Segregated (Allocated) and Non-Segregated (Unallocated) Storage?

The allocated storage refers to storing your gold separately from other investors' precious metals in a depository. In that case, you will get the exact products you bought if you come to withdraw your gold.

On the other hand, unallocated storage refers to storing your metals with those of other investors in the same vault. When you come to withdraw your metals, you may be given another customer's own. It means you may not get the exact products you deposited for storage.

Can I Keep My Precious Metal Investments at Home?

You can do that if you are buying precious metals outside an IRA. Suppose you purchase metals within an IRA or use funds from your IRA account to buy precious metals investments. In that case, you will violate the IRS gold IRA investment guidelines by storing the precious metals in your home.

The IRS mandates that all precious metal investments within an IRA must be stored in a secure third-party depository. Failure to adhere to this guideline attracts a tax penalty because the IRS will see the purchasing of those precious metals as a distribution taken from your IRA instead of an investment.

What Age Should I Reach to Qualify for Owning an IRA?

There is no required age for owning an IRA. While some prefer to own a gold IRA in the late 20s, 30s, or 40s, others prefer to have it close to their retirement ages because they fear the risk associated with the slight fluctuations in the price of gold and other precious metals.

However, no matter the age at which you choose to begin your gold IRA investment journey, you will only be qualified to take distributions from your IRA account when you reach at least 59.5 years. Any distribution you take, before you reach 59.5 years will attract a tax penalty from the IRS.

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