Are you considering investing in precious metals? When it comes to gold and silver IRA companies, you’ve got many choices. However, we have to note that several of them don’t have your best interest at heart. It’s essential to perform a background check on any company worth checking out before investing.
An individual retirement account works the same as a traditional IRA, but it holds physical goods such as gold bars and coins instead of paper stock. Some investors consider IRAs as the best method to safeguard against inflation besides diversifying their portfolios.
In this article, we measure up everything that Goldco, an established precious metals company featured in LA Weekly, has to offer. This review includes information about their company, every service it provides, fees, and other crucial characteristics.
We hope to clear any doubt an investor might have with this Goldco review. Let’s evaluate how this precious metal company fairs and see if it’s worth it to invest in precious metals with them.
About Goldco
Goldco, also known as Goldco Precious Metals, is an online precious metals broker that Trevor Gerszt founded back in 2006 under the former name Goldco Direct. It’s based in Woodland Hills, California, and nowadays, many people consider it one of the most reputable and legitimate precious metals IRA firms in the industry.
The Company’s Main Goal
Goldco aims to protect its customer’s retirement savings and wealth from market volatility, inflation, and economic uncertainty. It does this by making the setup of precious metals IRAs as straightforward as possible and educating the customer about their importance.
Goldco Services
The products of Goldco are precious metals IRAs which are divided into gold IRAs and silver IRAs. This company isn’t the custodian of your account; it acts as the intermediary in the precious metals buying and selling process.
Regardless, Goldco can help you complete the paperwork for the account application with your chosen custodian. It assists clients in buying IRS-approved gold and silver coins and bullions. Then, it arranges for their storage at an allowed depository.
Goldco can assist you in transferring your existing retirement funds into a precious metal IRA as well. Here is a summary of their most prominent services:
Self-directed Precious Metals IRAs
Goldco can help you start a precious metal IRA consisting of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, or a combination of these. It assists you with the metal purchase and storage at approved depositories and verifies whether you comply with IRS regulations. The company can help you determine which precious metals are adequate for you as well.
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) and Simple IRA Planning
Goldco can guide you on the correct procedure of opening either a SEP IRA or a Simple IRA.
SEP IRAs follow traditional retirement accounts, allowing you to invest funds in almost the same way. They provide benefits and enable clients to save for their future retirement.
Business owners and employers can restrict which employees qualify for it, but the IRS limits these restrictions. However, this department also sets the contribution limits. Goldco can assist and educate you in these matters.
When it comes to simple IRAs, the company can help you understand the requirements, rules, and steps to set them up. After all, purchasing products that don’t meet purity requirements can have severe detriments. Even the place where they were minted can be relevant.
Cryptocurrency IRAs
Goldco can help you create a crypto IRA and identify the best digital currencies in the process. It does this in affiliation with CoinIRA, a sister company founded by Trevor Gerszt as well in 2017.
Unfortunately, Goldco doesn’t provide the option of merging precious metals and digital currencies in the same account.
Goldco Featured Products
Goldco had a more extensive catalog in the past that included certified graded coins and collectible gold such as European and pre-1933 gold.
Nowadays, the company focuses on the purchase and delivery of IRA-approved precious metals. It delivers these products either to the client’s custodian or directly to them in the case of a gold or silver IRA and 401 k.
Goldco doesn’t offer other precious metals IRA-approved on their website. That means you can’t buy either palladium or platinum coins. If you wish to diversify your investment portfolio with these other precious metals, you have to deal with your custodian directly.
Goldco Gold IRA-approved Gold Coins
Although commemorative coins appeal to some collectors, they aren’t eligible for a gold IRA. Any gold you invest in has to meet the minimum quality guidelines.
Also, Goldco doesn’t allow paper-backed investments and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) due to various reasons. While ETFs may be convenient, you don’t own any of them in reality. What you do have is shares in the investment firm that collects gold.
In the end, you’re not just dealing with an intermediary but with a paper-backed investment that isn’t a hard asset.
Currently, Goldco has many eligible gold coins. These have a 99.9% purity, and the company recommends you to hold them in the secure storage of your custodian.
While certain companies and individuals may claim to let you hold precious metals at home, IRS regulations make it a complex subject. Putting gold inside your home qualifies as distribution, and if you’re under 60 years old, it might result in hefty penalty fees.
It’s also crucial to note that you can’t deposit any gold currently in your possession before opening up precious metal IRAs. All you can do is purchase new gold. With a Goldco IRA, you can buy these gold products:
- Royal Mint Gold Lunar Series
- Gold Freedom
- Gold Buffalo
- Gold Maple Leaf
- Gold American Bald Eagle
- Gold Australian Saltwater
- Gold Lucky Dragon
Gold bars are available as well, but they’re only worth their weight. Coins have higher resale value due to their limited amount.
Goldco Silver IRA-approved Silver Coins
Goldco offers several valuable bits of advice regarding investing in silver IRAs. First, there are a considerable number of counterfeit silver coins in circulation, so it’s essential to work with a trusted company.
It would be best to take some time to investigate the best one to work with for your IRA-approved silver. You can try to read unbiased reviews to try and filter out dishonest dealers. Regardless, many investors consider silver a safer asset.
Silver products have near-identical requirements as gold ones. It needs to have a 99.9% purity, and your custodian should hold onto it in a secure depository. With a Goldco IRA, you can buy these silver products:
- Royal Mint Silver Britannia Lunar Series
- Silver Dragon
- Silver Lucky Dragon
- Silver Maple Leaf
- American Bald Eagle
- Silver World War I
- Silver WWII Victory
- Silver Freedom
You can buy silver bars as well, but just like gold, they’re only worth their weight in silver.
Goldco Fees
Goldco doesn’t list every fee on their website as it has many variables, but we found out from a representative that they recommend a minimum purchase of $25,000. With this number, the company reimburses the storage fees of your precious metals for a year in the shape of like-value silver.
As this silver isn’t part of your gold or silver IRA account, you have to cover the storage expenses for it. Also, for each additional $25,000 invested, Goldco reimburses storage fees in the form of silver again.
At this investment level, the fees are $175 annually. The cost doesn’t increase until you reach $100,000, where it rises to $225 annually. Since the prices of precious metals slightly vary per day, Goldco’s website has a tracking resource that displays the value of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in charts.
What Makes Goldco Unique?
Goldco Precious Metals has various perks that make it an appealing option for investors, new and experienced alike, among the many IRA companies. Here are some of the most significant ones that tip the scale in its favor.
Excellent Customer Service
A priority of Goldco is offering excellent customer service. Whether you’re opening a precious metals IRA or buying products straight from the custodian, it takes the effort to ensure every customer is satisfied.
It resolves most issues promptly, never pushes sales, and ensures you get the best value with its low-cost model. Goldco customer support staff is also remarkable. If you have any questions or concerns, they are happy to help.
IRA and 401 k Rollovers
The rollover process of an existing retirement plan is straightforward with this company. First, you have to set up a Goldco Precious Metals IRA. Then, a specialist helps fund your retirement account with your old one. Once it’s done, they help you find the precious metal products that fit your goals and needs the best. This process takes about 10 business days.
Buyback Program
If you’re considering selling your precious metals, Goldco can repurchase them swiftly. You don’t have to worry about finding the right buyer, and you get paid at the current market price to top it off.
Exceptional Educational Resources
The website offers 15 different ebooks that can help educate investors on precious metals and IRAs. It includes “How to Buy Gold & Silver,” “The Gold IRA Encyclopedia,” “How to Keep Your Gold & Silver Safe,” and many others. The page also has an in-depth blog that frequently updates with relevant topics and other educational videos.
Who Does Goldco Cater to?
A Goldco self-directed IRA is suitable for many types of investors. For example, those who want to possess physical investments might find it an excellent choice, considering the well-known durability of precious metals.
People looking to protect their wealth from uncontrollable aspects such as market volatility, rising inflation, and other economic uncertainties can enjoy retirement accounts. It minimizes their risk considering they’re relatively stable and helps them avoid most of these issues.
A gold IRA can be helpful for people who are nearing retirement age as well. Overall, precious metal IRAs provide a tax-advantage investment tool for any investor looking to save for retirement, just like a traditional and Roth IRA would do, but in a relatively safer asset.
Starting a Goldco Precious Metals IRA
Setting up a Goldco IRA is a straightforward process but a little time-consuming. You can do this by soliciting their free guide and filling out their form through their website or directly calling their representative’s phone number. This guide provides valuable information and can help you take advantage of IRS loopholes to avoid tax fees legitimately.
If you have questions or concerns, you can ask them now. Once you feel assured, you can tell them that you wish to open up a Goldco gold IRA. The representative then might transfer you to a specialist or set up a later appointment.
During the call with the specialist, they gather all the required information to complete the application, create a retirement account, and transfer funds. Finally, you get in touch with an account executive who helps you pick suitable precious metals for your IRA.
Should they have them in stock, they can transfer them in a couple of business days. If they don’t, you might have to wait around three weeks.
Goldco Pros and Cons
Pros
- It’s one of the most trusted gold IRA companies in the US
- The setup process is straightforward, and its specialists complete most of the paperwork for you
- It provides excellent educational resources
- Low fees
- The company has excellent customer reviews on multiple accredited sites
- Its customer support is always ready to help
Cons
- It doesn’t provide storage or custodian services, but they help customers set them up
- You can’t add any precious metal in your possession to your retirement account
- High initial investment
- It only operates in the US
- It doesn’t allow combined gold and crypto IRAs
Goldco Reviews and Complaints
Most reviews of Goldco have a favorable opinion of the services, products, and support it provides. It has a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+ and shows an impressive average of 4.87 stars out of five from over 124 customer reviews. Customer Affairs also has an outstanding average star rating of 4.8 from 428 clients.
Other sites such as Trust Pilot and Trustlink show excellent reviews as well, with more than 800 combined clients giving it 4.8 and 5 stars, respectively.
Every customer seems satisfied with how Goldco handles the precious metals IRA setup. In particular, they are content with its management of the gold and silver purchase paperwork between the storage facility and the IRA custodian.
The few negative reviews and complaints of Goldco are due to misunderstandings regarding the precious metals financial market and how its values are calculated. You can read more about that on one of the best GoldCo reviews, https://www.irainvesting.com/goldco-review.
For instance, many of them referred to the value of collectible coins. Goldco responds to most inquiries promptly, and in these cases, it explained that the coins list their melt value which doesn’t reflect the current market rate of the physical currency. For this reason, it isn’t rare to find amended Goldco reviews once the customer understands the process better.
The Bottom Line
Goldco is one of the top-rated providers of precious metals IRAs. It has over a decade of experience with gold IRA investments, and it has many exceptional advisors and specialists who are willing to help you out at a moment’s notice.
This company significantly simplifies the IRA setup process for you. Its specialists handle most of the paperwork and logistics and create your account quite quickly. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a new investor or are transitioning from a traditional IRA. The team is willing to help.
We definitely can recommend Goldco to anyone interested in getting precious metals inside their portfolio or looking for a safer alternative.
However, its minimum investment is high, and not many people can front such a cost. Moreover, the company doesn’t provide a storage or custodian service as well. Regardless, the alluring low fees and other benefits can make up for it.