Augusta Precious Metals — Best Orion Metal Exchange — Best for Low Fees Birch Gold Group — Best for Fear Transparency Augusta Precious Metals offers plenty of customer information on its website. Ironically, one of the features that make this company the best of our favorites is their video blog series with reasons why you shouldn’t own gold. Many gold IRA companies use scare tactics or exploit investors’ fears of a (highly unlikely) collapse of the entire financial system and a comprehensive collapse of the USA. Five companies have made it onto the list with the most reliable and overall best investor satisfaction.
They are Lear Capital, Goldco, Orion Metal Exchange, and Patriot Gold Group. The Oxford Gold Group is also a well-known company that should be on your radar. Here’s what we’ve done to arrive at our best Gold IRA decisions. We’ve considered the reputation, transparency, and quality of the online education and resources they offer of each Gold IRA company.
Gold IRA companies are not investment companies that are required in trust to act in your best interest. Gold IRA companies are essentially brokers who sell IRS-approved coins and bars of gold and other precious metals so you can invest a gold IRA. Some gold IRA companies describe their offerings as diverse as you can hold more than one type of precious metal in them. Many Gold IRA companies work with a custodian, and either the custodian or the Gold IRA company may select a custodian.
Most gold IRA companies buy back gold or other precious metals they’ve sold to you, but buybacks are generally made at a wholesale price, which is around a third cheaper than the retail price. Gold IRA companies differ in that some allow you to choose between multiple custodians and custodians, while others require that you hire a custodian and depositary of their choice. We’ve rated more than a dozen Gold IRA companies and identified the best options for investors with diverse needs and financial refinements. A gold IRA is characterized by the fact that the account holder owns the actual precious metals, as opposed to stocks or fund shares in mining companies.
We’ve rated Gold IRA companies’ websites together with consumer advocacy organizations Better Business Bureau and Business Consumer Alliance, as well as websites with customer reviews such as TrustPilot. Most gold IRA companies buy back gold they originally sold to you, but buybacks are typically at a wholesale price, which is often around 30% less than the applicable retail price. We’ve researched 18 reputable companies that offer Gold IRA services and searched them for the highest consumer ratings from the Business Consumer Alliance (BCA). Gold IRA companies typically have a number of distinctive characteristics, but the ones discussed here are characterized by trust, professionalism, transparency, and experience.
Some investors think this is safer, an opinion that Gold IRA companies sometimes misleadingly hold.