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Gold and other precious metals can hedge against inflation, protecting you against market uncertainty and economic collapse. In addition, this precious metal offers diversification outside of traditional assets like stocks and bonds.
That's where gold IRAs come in — they're a type of retirement account that lets you diversify your portfolio to include gold and other metals.
Best Gold IRAs
- Best overall: Lear Capital
- Best for gold IRA education: Goldco
- Best for larger accounts: American Hartford Gold
- Best for low cost: Rosland Capital
- Best investor resources: Birch Gold Group
- Best for beginners:Oxford Gold Group
- Best investment selection: Silver Gold Bull
- Best gold purity percentage: Augusta Precious Metals
What is a Gold IRA?
If you want to hold physical gold in an IRA, it can't be your regular account. It has to be a separate, special one, called a Gold IRA.
Also known as a precious metal IRA, a Gold IRA works pretty much like a standard individual retirement account: the same contribution limits and distribution rules. However, instead of holding paper assets like stocks and bonds, the Gold IRA is earmarked for holding physical bullion — that is, coins or bars of gold and other approved precious metals, including silver, platinum, and palladium.
Gold IRAs can also contain gold stocks (shares of gold mining/production companies), gold mutual funds that invest in bullion or stocks (or both), and gold ETFs that track gold indexes.
How to invest in a Gold IRA
If you want to hold physical gold in an IRA, the first step is to open a self-directed IRA (SDIRA) — one that you manage directly — with a custodian. The custodian is an IRS-approved financial institution (bank, trust company, brokerage), but many financial services and mutual fund companies who handle regular IRAs don't do the self-directed version.
You also need to select a precious metals dealer that will make the actual gold purchases for your IRA (your custodian may be able to recommend one).
Keep in mind that not every self-directed IRA custodian offers the same investment choices, so make sure physical gold is one of their offerings before you open an account. You can set up the SDIRA as either a traditional IRA (tax-deductible contributions) or a Roth IRA (tax-free distributions).
The next step is to fund the account with a contribution (subject to contribution limits, of course), a transfer, or a rollover from a qualified plan, such as 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan.
After that, you can select investments for the account, and your custodian and metals dealer will complete the transactions on your behalf.
You can't just buy any bar or ingot, either. Physical metals must meet IRS "fineness" standards as their purity and weight, and be stored in an insured IRS-approved depository. When it comes to coins, you are limited to bullion coins issued by certain government mints.
Gold IRA Pros
As with any investments, there are pros and cons to Gold IRAs. Some of the advantages include:
- Tax benefits. Gold IRAs offer some of the same special tax treatment as standard IRAs: Contributions made to traditional self-directed IRAs are tax-deductible. And qualified withdrawals from Roth accounts are tax-free.
- Long-term hold. Physical gold isn't very liquid, but then neither are IRA holdings. Given that it's a long-term, buy-and-hold sort of investment, gold is well-suited to an IRA, whose assets you often don't touch for decades – usually until you retire.
- Greater control. Gold IRAs are always self-directed, which means you directly manage your holdings and make all the investment decisions.
Gold IRA Cons
If you're interested in a gold IRA, be sure to consider these drawbacks.
- No tax-advantaged income. Gold bullion doesn't pay interest, dividends, or other returns. So it doesn't really take advantage of the tax-free growth aspect of IRA investing. You'd only get a break on any capital gain resulting from selling your gold at a profit.
- Higher fees. You can't keep your gold at home or in a bank's safe deposit box. Instead, you must pay a custodian to store and insure, as well as buy, ship, and transport, the precious metals you hold in the IRA. Gold IRA custodial fees tend to be higher than regular IRA management fees, too.
- Funding restrictions. You're not allowed to move any precious metals you already own into your Gold IRA. Nor are you personally allowed to buy precious metals and send them to your IRA. A custodian must take care of all the transactions on your behalf.
Opening a Gold IRA
Investing in gold has risks that you should consider before making any decisions. Still, a Gold IRA can be a good option for investors who want to diversify their retirement accounts, and also take advantage of the hedging benefits that the yellow metal offers against other financial assets, like paper currency and stocks.
Many financial experts recommend keeping 5% to 10% of a portfolio in gold.
"It's simply advantageous to weigh and think about acquiring gold — and silver and other precious metals — to serve one well within a diversified, well-rounded investment portfolio," says Collin Plume, president and CEO of Noble Gold Investments, a precious metals dealer and depository. "The operative word being diversified."
How we review gold IRAs
Personal Finance Insider's mission is to help smart people make wise decisions with their money. Since the word "best" can be subjective, we highlight both the benefits and drawbacks of each gold IRA listed in our guide. Platforms are given a rating between 0 and 5.
We compared and contrasted each platform's investment products, fees, and features so you don't have to. Here's our methodology on how we rate investment platforms.
Compare the top companies for gold IRAs
The best gold IRA companies provide easy-to-use platforms with simple gold buying options, educational tools, investor resources, and asset diversification with the ability to purchase additional assets like other precious metals and cryptocurrencies.
Here are the best gold IRAs as picked by Business Insider editors in 2024.
Best overall gold IRA
Lear Capital is the best overall gold IRA for retirement-focused investors looking to diversify their portfolios with gold, silver, and platinum assets. Although Lear Capital's minimum isn't the lowest on this list ($5,000 minimum), it's not nearly as high as Goldco's or Birch Gold Group's.
The Lear Advantage IRA is a self-directed IRA offering free gold and silver guides, a price match guarantee, free metal evaluations, and a huge selection of gold metal tools and analyzers. It supports rollovers from IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and thrift savings plans.
Certain limited mintage coins and IRAs offer free set-up and storage. Plus, all customers receive a 24-hour risk-free purchase guarantee on all orders and no-fee buybacks. You'll also receive a free investment kit and up to $15,000 in bonus coins when you join.
What to look out for: Set-up fees are on the higher side, with a one-time $280 fee (waived for eligible IRAs and mintage coins). Lear Capital charges a $200 annual fee.
Best for gold IRA education
Goldco offers a huge selection of gold and other precious metal assets through a self-directed gold IRA and a silver IRA option. There are multiple ways to fund your account. Goldco supports rollovers for 401(k)s, 403(b)s, IRAs, thrift savings plans, and savings accounts.
As for its selection of gold coins, you can invest in Gold American Eagle, Gold American Eagle Proof, Gold Liberty, Gold Phoenix, Gold Independence Hall, and more. Plus, you don't necessarily need an IRA to buy gold at Goldco. You can also request to have gold directly delivered to you. You can either get physical gold or have Goldco convert the gold into cash for you.
Goldco promotes an "education first" approach to help investors expand their knowledge of the economy and the ins and outs of gold IRAs. Beginners can get Goldco's free gold IRA kit for info about IRAs, gold assets, and wealth protection.
The gold company also has a buy-back program for users to sell precious metal assets back to Goldco.
What to look out for: You'll need at least $25,000 to set up an IRA and purchase gold. You'll also need to call a company representative to learn about fees.
Best for larger accounts
American Hartford Gold offers a competitive selection of gold and other precious metals like silver, platinum, and palladium. Cash accounts allow non-retirement investors to buy gold directly through AHG, and have assets shipped to their homes. There's a minimum to open a cash account.
Its gold selection features Saint Helena Sovereign Gold, Australia Wildlife Gold, Canadian Buffalo, American Eagle, American Eagle Proof, and more (you can find its complete selection here).
Assets in gold IRAs and silver IRAs are shipped to a secure facility. AHG supports rollovers from traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 403(b)s, 457 plans, 401(k)s, and thrift savings plans. There's a $10,000 minimum to open a gold IRA.
AHG also charges a $230 application fee and $200 annual fee for storage, insurance, and custodian services. However, investors with larger opening deposits may be able to get some of their fees waived or reduced after talking with an AHG representative. To talk with a representative, call the number listed on the AHG website.
What to look out for: American Hartford Gold doesn't provide exact fees on its website; it says depository storage fees vary based on account size and the particular precious metals you've got in your account. You can get more information by contacting the firm's account representatives.
Best for low cost
Rosland Capital is a relatively low-cost gold IRA company best for investors looking for transparent fee structures and portfolio flexibility. The company offers a wide range of gold, silver, and platinum assets for a $2,000 minimum.
It is also a great option for investing in specialty coins as Rosland Capital offers gold, silver, and platinum bars, bullion coins, premium coins, exclusive coins, and exclusive specialty coins.
Compared to similar gold companies, Rosland Capital charges lower, flat-rate fees. Moreover, the fee structure is fairly transparent. Rosland Capital charges a $50 one-time set-up fee, $100 annual maintenance fee, a storage fee of $100 or $150, and a $40 paper statement fee (if you choose to receive paper statements).
Folks new to gold IRA investing can benefit from a free information gold kit when they sign up. Orders above $20,000 also get $1,000 in free gold. IRA rollovers require a $10,000 minimum, but accounts of $20,000 or more get a free year of storage.
What to look out for: The website lacks extensive information, and the only way to open an account is by calling a representative.
Best for investor resources
Birch Gold Group allows you to roll over existing retirement accounts into a gold IRA — or a silver, palladium, or platinum IRA. It currently allows for rollovers from traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, and other accounts.
Like many of the other precious metal companies on this list, Birch Gold Group provides users with a free info kit on gold and gold IRA investing. Investors also get a free gold bar with every $10,000 purchased.
In addition, the company pairs you with a precious metals specialist to ease the set-up process and track your investments' performance. Another advantage is that it stores your gold in insured depositories (it currently uses Brink's Global Service). It also uses the Delaware Depository, which offers insurance of up to $1 billion.
What to look out for: You'll need at least $10,000 to purchase gold.
Best for beginners
Oxford Gold Group is the best precious metal company for beginners to access a library of educational investment content and resources. For a $7,500 minimum, folks can invest in a competitive selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium assets through a SEP IRA, traditional IRA, or Roth IRA.
New users get a free investment guide and access to real-time gold data, annual performance charts, precious metal spot prices, and historical data on gold performances. Oxford Gold Group also provides a repurchase program and a secure climate depository to hold your investments.
Oxford Gold Group supports rollovers from traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, pension plans, and thrift savings plans.
What to watch out for: The fees for Oxford Gold Group are higher. Also, remember that gold and other precious metal assets can't be shipped directly to your home. All precious metal investments are held at the company's depository.
Best for investment selection
Silver Gold Bulloffers gold along with various other products, including silver, platinum, palladium, collectibles, jewelry, copper rounds, and miscellaneous gifts, making it the best gold IRA for various investment options.
It offers gold coins and bars, giving investors access to products like American Gold Buffalo coins, British Gold coins, African Gold coins, pre-1933 US Gold coins, and more. Both buyers and sellers can use the platform to exchange gold and other assets, even offering cryptocurrency payment options.
In addition, Silver Gold Bull lets you set up more than one precious metals account, and you can maintain an existing 401(k) or employer-sponsored plan while setting up an IRA through the platform.
What to look out for: You'll need to contact the company for more information on gold IRA fees.
Best for purity percentage
Augusta Precious Metals offers gold and silver IRAs, and gold-focused investors can take advantage of common gold bullion and premium gold. As for the platform's gold selection, you can buy assets like American Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, American Eagle Proofs, Gold Canadian Eagles, American Buffalo, and Australian Striped Marlin.
Augusta makes sure that the gold coins and bars it provides are 99.5% pure, although one exception is the American Gold Eagle coin, which is 91.67% pure. You'll pay zero management fees but have to account for IRA set-up fees and depository storage fees.
What to look out for: Augusta Precious Metals has a minimum order requirement of $50,000 for IRA purchases.
FAQs
Lear Capital is our top pick for the best gold IRA since it offers a huge selection of gold and precious metal assets for a fairly low minimum. The gold company offers a great selection of precious metal guides, investing tools, and analyzers.
Gold is the best precious metal in an IRA to hedge against inflation and diversify your asset allocation. You can buy physical gold bullion and bars or other gold assets. Other great precious metals to invest in include silver and platinum.
Minimum purchase/funding requirements can vary per company, but set-up costs, storage fees, and annual fees typically exceed $100 (although you'll pay less in set-up costs at some platforms). For instance, Rosland Capital has a Rosland Capital - Fees Display.
Gold IRAs might be worth considering if you're searching for an alternative to mutual funds and other funds in your retirement account. However, it's important to familiarize yourself with the fees and investment risks before deciding. You might also want to consult a financial advisor or precious metals IRA specialist.
Lear Capital is our top pick for the best overall gold IRA because it offers free gold and silver guides, a price match guarantee, free metal evaluations, and a huge selection of gold metal tools and analyzers. It also supports rollovers from various other retirement plans.
