Precious Metals and Gold IRA Company Reviews

Costs, Fees, Storage Options, BBB Ratings, Pros and Cons

Disclaimer: Precious Metals Investment Portfolio may receive compensation from many or all of the companies listed,  including Birch Gold. This is how we maintain our free service for consumers.

gold ira company reviews

Find the Best Precious Metal Company for Gold IRA Investing

Our list of gold IRA reviews is not listed with just the standard metrics such as fees, minimum investments, prices, and ratings. Because you are making an important, wealth protection investment decision and building a long-term relationship, you need information beyond these metrics.  We will cover all of these details, in-depth, in this article:

When choosing to secure your retirement savings or seriously invest in precious metals, insights like company culture, trust, shared values, transparency, and, more importantly, long-term customer experience are crucial tools. See our list of gold IRA company reviews and find the right company for all the right reasons.

Gold has remained a stable asset and store of value since time immemorial as any seasoned investor will attest. Whether through mounting inflation, unsound monetary policy, government debt, an erratic stock market, unforeseen global pandemics, or geo-political instability, there is a number of reasons to be concerned about your investments. For these reasons, a growing number of retirement investors are looking to gold and other precious metals for their IRAs and 401k's to add an extra layer of protection and insurance against inflation and economic instability. These various world events are not within your control. Fortunately, safeguarding your retirement savings from these events is within your control with a simple IRA rollover into a precious metals IRA.

Gold IRA Company Review List

Birch Gold

Best Precious Metals IRA Company for Trust and Conservative Retirees

Birch Gold Group remains the best gold IRA company for conservative retirees by providing a combination of

  • Trusted customer service and support,
  • Shared conservative values,
  • An understanding of the needs and concerns of their customers,
  • Robust storage and security.

Founded in 2003 by CEO Laith Alsarraf, Birch Gold Group holds an impressive and wide variety of IRA eligible and approved precious metals including platinum and palladium products. This sets Birch Gold Group apart from other precious metal investment companies.

Birch Gold maintains an A+ Plus rating from BBB, a Triple A rating from Business Consumer Alliance, as well as high marks from Trust Link, Trustpilot, and Google Business.

Minimum Investment: $10,000

Annual Fees: Fees vary. See the site link for storage and custodian costs

Pros

  • Ranked #1 for customer service
  • Platinum and palladium precious metals are available.
  • Wide range of gold IRAs with metals from around the world.
  • Established trust backed by nearly 20 years in the marketplace
  • Numerous partner and celebrity endorsements.

Cons

  • No overseas depository options
  • Some initial setup fees aren’t clearly displayed
Augusta Precious Metals

Best Precious Metals IRA Company for High Income Earners, Best Pricing, and Education

Our Pick for Best Gold IRA Company. Read Full Review to See Why

Augusta Precious Metals remains the best gold IRA company for high-income earners and provides a combination of

  • An ethics-centered approach to empower the customer,
  • Best prices
  • Superb customer service,
  • Expert educational resources.

Augusta Precious Metals centers its focus on a mission of integrity, trust, and investor empowerment. Augusta Precious Metals holds a near ZERO negative customer review rate.

If you have an existing IRA and 401(k) plan, you can roll it into a Gold IRA. Augusta Precious Metals aims to make the rollover process as simple as possible and guides you seamlessly through this straightforward process. Augusta does 95% of the paperwork with you. Just specify how much money you want to invest and which precious metals you want to invest in. Augusta will do the rest of the heavy lifting.

Augusta has a proven commitment to exceptional one-on-one customer experiences with its unique educational conference calls. With an initial minimum investment of $50,000, Augusta's main investors are, typically, higher-income retirees with larger portfolios. However, many of Augusta's clients agree, the level of excellent lifetime account service is worth the price of entry.

Augusta Precious Metals holds exceptional ratings from Trustpilot, BBB, TrustLink, Facebook Business, and Google and was just recently chosen Money magazine's "Best Overall" Gold IRA Company in 2022 and Investopedia's "Most Transparent" Gold IRA Company in 2022.

Minimum Investment: $50,000

Annual Fees: $180/year

Pros

  • Best prices and price transparency
  • 1000s of 5-star ratings. Positive Reviews with the BBB, BCA, and TrustLink.
  • Unmatched and unique educational resources for client empowerment.
  • Simplified IRA rollover process
  • Free one-on-one web conference with Harvard-trained economist Devlyn Steele.

Cons

  • Platinum or palladium is not offered.

Gold IRA Company Review List

AMERICAN HARTFORD GOLD IRA

Best Gold IRA Company for Price Match Guarantee and Buyback Commitment

American Hartford Gold is one of the fastest-growing, family-owned gold IRA companies in the marketplace. Since it’s founding in 2015 by CEO Sanford Mann, this Los Angeles, California-based company has been helping retirees and investors create a safe haven for their retirement assets through 401k and IRA rollovers.

American Hartford Gold leads the way as one of the best gold IRA companies by providing:

  • Price match guarantee
  • The best buyback guarantee in the industry 
  • Educational resources
  • Unparalleled customer support

American Hartford Gold holds an A+ rating from the BBB, top ratings from Consumer Affairs, a 5-star rating from Trustpilot, and has ranked #1 Gold Company by the Inc 5000. With strong celebrity endorsements from such names as Bill OReilly, Rudy Giuliani, and Rick Harrison, American Hartford Gold has solidified its name as a trusted company for your gold and silver investments.

Minimum Investment: $10,000

Annual Fees: $180 custodian fee

Pros

  • Competitive price-matching promise
  • Buyback program is the best in the industry
  • Excellent customer support and client retention
  • Wide range of precious metals to choose from around the world
  • Complete cost disclosure before the final sale.

Cons

  • No overseas depository options
  • Price list not available online

Best Precious Metals IRA Company for Storage and Product Diversity for Independent-Minded Investors

Noble Gold remains the best gold IRA company for beginning investors and independent-minded retirees by providing a combination of:

  • Diverse IRA options
  • Easy website navigation and account setup
  • Unconventional gold and silver investment products
  • Best domestic storage and security

Noble Gold Investments offers a safe and easy process for IRA rollovers and gold IRA investing to help you secure your retirement and build peace of mind. Noble Gold prides its reputation on providing some best security for its client's precious metals investments with their flagship Texas state-segregated storage. 

Noble Gold Investments is an accredited business with an A+ rating from the BBB, Consumer Affairs Alliance, TrustLink Business-Consumer Alliance and the BBB.

Minimum Investment: $10,000 for direct transfers, $20,000 for IRA/401k rollovers

Annual Fees:$225 - 250

Pros

  • Diverse IRA options
  • Proven expertise from over 20 years of dealing with precious metal transactions.
  • Quick and easy process to get started with an IRA.
  • Secure and trusted Texas depository.
  • No hassle buyback policy
  • Top-notch security and photographic proof of purchase.

Cons

  • Fees are not very transparent on the company website

Precious Metal Companies for Serious Private Investment - Review Summaries

Bullion Vault

Best Gold Bullion Company for Gold Trading and Serious, Private Investors

BullionVault is for serious private investors who want full control over the buying and selling of their gold assets.

BullionVault remains the best gold bullion investment company for gold trading and serious, private investment by providing:

  • Access to the professional bullion market.
  • Wholesale bullion at lower prices
  • A platform for direct exchanges between investors.
  • Only online platform to buy or sell  24/7/365

Established in 2005 and located in west London, the company holds over $3.7 billion of bullion and assets for more than 100,000 users making it the world's largest online investment gold service. Gold makes up $2.8 billion of this impressive figure - more than the gold reserves of most countries. The largest stock of privately-held bullion in the world. Trust is built into the name.

Minimum Investment: No minimum trade size (except that the increment is in whole grams)
Annual Fees: Storage varies based on a specific asset. See Full Review or site link for details.

Account opening, Depositing Funds, Insurance: Free

Pros
  • The largest professional market for gold bullion available.
  • Winner of the Queen's Award for International Trade in 2013
  • Greater freedom and control over your investment through peer-to-peer buy and selling
  • Full owner control over the trade and selling of their bullion.
  • Greater security and variety of worldwide vaulting location options.

Cons

  • The company does not specialize in IRA’s or IRA rollovers.
Goldbroker

Best Gold Bullion Company for Storage and De-Centralized, Direct Ownership

Gold Broker appeals to the steadfast, independent-minded investor who wants greater control over the holding, access, and storage of their gold investments. The company does this in a number of ways.

GoldBroker.com remains one the best gold bullion companies for independent private investment  because it provides:

  • Direct and complete ownership of gold.
  • High-quality segregated storage and insured security.
  • Private access to stored gold assets without supervision.
  • De-centralized storage and access outside the vulnerable banking system

Founded in 2011, Gold Broker offers freedom and flexibility for independent-minded, private investors who want greater control over their physical investments outside the centralized banking system and the ability to access their gold or other precious metals at any time without supervision. Private, direct, and complete asset control.

Gold Broker ensures the liquidity of your precious metals investment with a guaranteed buyback policy. The company's support agents provide personalized assistance to clients during the entire investment and resale process.

Today, the Gold Broker manages a stock of precious metals worth several hundred million euros.

Minimum Investment: $5,000 (excluding service fees)

Annual Fees: Fees will vary based on asset investment value. See the site link provided for more information.

Pros

  • De-centralized model for precious metal investment outside the banking system.
  • High-quality gold and silver from prestigious mints and refiners certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
  • Offers investors direct and complete ownership of their precious metals with private access to the vaults.
  • Guaranteed buy-back policy
  • Secure storage outside the banking system by an independent third party
  • Internationally insured at the LBMA price.

Cons

  • The company does not specialize or provide IRA or IRA rollover services.

FAQs

Gold IRA and Precious Metals Diversification

Who holds the gold in a gold IRA?

Gold, and other such precious metals are to be stored and insured in an IRS-approved facility. Typically, a third-party company partnered with the Gold IRA company manages the IRS-approved depository

Before selecting a Gold IRA company, review the information about the storage facility options provided.

What is the minimum investment for a gold IRA?

Minimum investments will vary dependent on the gold IRA company you choose. It is incumbent that you take the requisite time to research the various providers for your specific precious metal investment strategy.

We have provided a list of reviews here of the top precious metal ira companies with a range of minimum investment amounts.

 

What are the fees for a gold IRA?

Minimum fees will also vary dependent on the gold IRA company you choose. Setup fees, annual fees, storage fees, and custodian fees are all subject to the discretion of the gold IRA company you choose.

Please see the list here of the best precious metals investment companies for buying gold in order to review the fees that apply.

What Precious Metals Are IRA approved?

Noble Gold store all client precious metals using International Depository Services for  storing your precious metals. IRS-approved vaults are offered for storage in locations in Texas and Delaware.

Gold coins must be at least 99.5% pure, and silver coins must be at least 99.9% pure per IRS regulations. However, the IRS code makes an exception in fineness for gold American Eagles which are well under the 99.5% pure standard.

Gold bullion bars should be fabricated by COMEX, NYMEX, or other ISO 9000-approved refiners.

Proof gold coins should come in their original packaging accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

PRECIOUS METALS AUTHOR

Adam ONeill

Author, lifelong investor, and creator of PreciousMetalsInvestmentPortfolio.com.