Gold IRA Company Reviews & Comparison

There are two different ways of starting a gold IRA. The first method is to set up a gold IRA is to create a new account and fund it with money from your income sources. Investors under the age of 50 can contribute to a maximum of $5,500 a year while those older than 50 can contribute to $6,500 a year.

Your second option is to take an existing retirement account and roll it over into a gold individual retirement account. Only certain retirement accounts are eligible for gold IRA rollover, here is a list of eligible rollover accounts: 401K, 403B, 457B, traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, simple IRAs, Thrift Savings Plans (3), and Roth IRAs. A few other less common differed tax retirement accounts may be eligible and a good gold IRA company will help you to verify the eligibility of your current retirement account, should you want to perform a rollover.

Four major reasons exist for choosing a gold IRA. One of the biggest reasons to invest in precious metal IRAs like gold IRAs is that they have a long history of long-term appreciation. Even when the rest of the economic world isn’t doing well. Since the beginning of time gold and other precious metals have always been recognized as valuable and accepted as currency. Other fiat style currencies have become worthless over time. Precious metals are a great way to safeguard against a downturn in the economy or loss in other investments. When other investments lower in value gold has a trend of rising even higher in value.

The last benefit you will see is differed taxes for
investing into your gold IRA. You won’t have to worry about some of your income
going toward the government while you build up a large amount of capital.
Again, even when the economy isn’t performing well.

You should never have all of your investments in one place, even if it is a relatively “safe” investment platform. A gold IRA is a great way to diversify because it is so different from other forms of retirement accounts. Despite gold IRAs being an amazing investment option, most experts say that you should only invest between 5 and 15%, depending on your existing portfolio. Splitting investment platforms to help hedge against future changes.

Finding a gold IRA company that can take care of everything for you in a quick manner is essential. To figure out about the speed and efficiency of a gold IRA, look to see if they have a network of services in place. Another common way that gold IRA companies speed up the process is to use digital or only forms. It is much easier to use a computer to fill out gold IRA applications and helps to make sure they are error free and readable.

A gold IRA account is an investment in physical gold, you just don’t get to store the gold yourself. If you go to a brokerage firm, they don’t offer gold IRAs. Instead, they will try to convince you to purchase Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). A broker will try to convince you that ETFs have similar or better returns and are better because you do not need a custodian, broker, or storage facility. In reality, an ETF is just paper gold, you are not investing in real gold. And you are only investing in a portion of an asset with an ETF, similar to investing in a stock.

Numerous factors affect the market, and these have a much
larger negative affect on Exchange Trade Funds. The biggest reason people
invest in precious metal individual retirement accounts is to protect
themselves from negative trends in the economic world while still having an
investment that will make money in any situation.

Choosing a gold IRA company that offers a complete range of approved precious metal products is key. Precious metal IRAs only allow you to use specific gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bars and rounds. All legitimate companies will be able to help you choosing the best gold coins, bars and bullion with the right Karat for your investment needs.

Creating a checklist for your gold IRA provider search is the best way to track your findings. Make a list and print copies so you can use it for comparison of all companies. As a summary, you are looking for an experienced gold IRA company that provides quality service, fast. They should have great customer reviews, be registered and in good standing with watchdog organizations, and be recognized at a minimum by the U.S. Mint.

Don’t forget to check third party reviews websites for
reviews. Trusted review sites like the Better Business Bureau can provide you
with a lot of information, including how a company handles complaints.

Part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 introduced gold
individual retirement accounts. The relief act recognized the fact that gold
and other precious metals are a long-standing universal currency and thus
created a retirement plan based around precious metals. After all, the words for
silver and money are the same in 14 different languages.

Another thing that helped influence the decision was the
fact that gold has shown during historical periods of economic uncertainty that
precious metals move in the opposite direction. It can offset losses for
American citizens to help prepare them for a downturn. Even if the market is in
a positive trend, gold gradually gains value over time.

One of the first things that armies go for after defeating a
country in battle is their gold and silver supply. These are valuables that
will continue to be worth something after the fall of a country. After they
defeat their country, the fiat currency is worthless just like many other types
of investments the country once had.

Besides fineness requirements, gold, silver, and other
precious metals that are eligible for precious metal IRAs must be produced by a
NYMEX or COMEX-approved refinery in the form of a bar or round.

A precious metal IRA has the same reporting and distribution
requirements as a traditional IRA. The main difference, besides the investment
asset, is the fact that the gold must be stored by a trustee or custodian that
is approved. Examples of approved precious metal IRA custodians include banks,
federally insured credit unions, savings and loan associations, or an entity
specifically approved by the Internal Revenue Service for such job.

You can start any IRA from scratch. Alternatively, you can
rollover an existing retirement account into your gold IRA. Here are a few
examples of retirement accounts that are eligible for rollover:

• 401(k)
• 403(b)
• 457(b)
• Deferred Compensation Plan
• Non-Prototype IRA
• Pension Plan
• Roth IRA
• Thrift Savings Plan
• TIAA CREF
• Traditional IRA
• SEP IRA
• Simple IRA
• Beneficiary IRA

We already mentioned that gold must be in the form of bars and rounds and produced by a NYMEX or COMEX-approved refinery. There are other rules and requirements too. A fineness requirement applies, as does a requirement for the gold to be in the form of specific bars or rounds.

For gold investments you must have a .995% fineness. Here
are the options you have for gold products:

• American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins
• American Gold Eagle proof coins
• American Gold Buffalo
• Uncirculated coins (proofs not allowed)
• Australian Kangaroo/Nugget coins
• Austrian Gold Philharmonic coins
• Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins
• Chinese Gold Panda coins

For the rest of the precious metals, there are also fineness
requirements and limits on the rounds, bars, coins, etc.

Silver must have a fineness of .9999% or greater. Here are
the options you have for silver products:

• American Silver Eagle bullion coins
• American Silver Eagle proof coins
• Australian Silver Kookaburra coins
• Austrian Silver Philharmonic coins
• Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins
• Chinese Silver Panda coins
• Mexican Silver Libertad coins

Platinum must have a fineness of .9995% or greater and your
options for platinum products are:

• American Platinum Eagle bullion coins
• American Platinum Eagle proof coins
• Australian Platinum Koala coins
• Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf coins
• Isle of Man Platinum Noble coins

Palladium is accepted for precious metal IRAs when it has a
minimum fineness of .9995% or greater. For palladium IRA you can have the
following product in your account:

• Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf Coins

Many people here gold IRA and wonder if it is a good
retirement option. Is it safe? Is it a long-term option? Is it viable? Etc.

Gold is a great precious metal because it has a history of
gaining value when the rest of the economic world is in turmoil. Rarely does
gold reduce in value, and when it does, it is only a temporary reduction. It
doesn’t take long for gold to come back up in value. This makes it a relatively
safe investment. You don’t have to worry as much about making a positive return
compared to stocks or other products that vary based on the market.

As with traditional IRAs, gold IRAs provide long-term retirement accounts with similar features, with the primary difference being their investment asset: precious metal. Thus regulated by the federal government for added safety and tax deferral.

Many people around the country store gold as a bet against negative times in the economy. There are several problems with storing gold at home. One of the first being that you have to buy it with taxed income. With a gold IRA, you are making the investment without tax being paid upfront. Another benefit is that the storage is secure and guaranteed when you use a gold IRA custodian.

Between 1970 and 2015 the gold world has outperformed the
stock market.

Economic inflation happens and the value of anything associated
with the dollar gets skewed. That is, with the exception of precious metals.
The values of precious metals hold strong as they are a currency of their own.

Part of saving for retirement is securing your investments
against the future. Gold is a great investment to secure your future against
changes in the financial world, so as a secondary retirement account it is great
option for many people. A gold IRA specifically is better because of the secure
storage, actually ownership of physical gold, and the deferred taxes.

Like with some other retirement accounts, you can rollover
your existing IRA into a gold IRA. This can be done from a number of deferred
interest retirement plans such as a 401k or traditional IRA.

The purchase process of a gold IRA transfer is conducted
between the old custodian and the new one. At no time do you have physical possession
of your gold or have to transfer the money yourself.

A gold IRA rollover is slightly different. You have to
withdraw the funds from your current retirement account and then deposit them
into the account of the gold IRA company that you are using to buy and store
your gold. A gold IRA rollover must be completed within 60 days of being
started to ensure that you actually plan to use the funds for a rollover.

A gold IRA works similar to that of a traditional IRA. It is a self-directed IRA that is open through a gold IRA company. Taking the time to checking gold IRA companies thoroughly will help to make sure you get the best deal, many companies have a host of fees and costs that you might have to pay.

After setting up the gold IRA account the owner must finance
it from contributions, transfers, and/or an IRA rollover. Then they must
purchase the gold that they wish to store in their gold IRA.

A Gold IRA custodian is a certified party that is in charge of storing your gold for your gold IRA. For a variety of reasons, the federal government requires that you store your IRA metals with a professional custodian. In most cases gold IRA home storage is not a real option.

Taking the time to compare the various options will help you to find the best gold IRA company. Reputation, experience, metal options, prices and fees, and more go into making a company reliable and successful. On our American Hartford Gold review page you find more information about why this firm outranks all other companies in our gold IRA comparison chart.