Gold and other precious metals are a great way to hedge against inflation and stock market downturns. Thanks to the Taxpayer Relief Act, investors can now hold certain precious metals like approved gold bullion in their self-directed IRA accounts. Several companies can help investors with these types of accounts. This article will compare two such companies, Goldco vs Patriot Gold Group.

 

Goldco

Located in Woodland Hills, California, Goldco has been in business since 2006 as a precious metals broker. They help customers with self-directed IRAs funded by precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 made it possible for everyone to hold precious metals in a self-directed IRA account. Goldco is a precious metals broker that works with IRA custodian companies. They help customers create new IRA accounts and provide them with rollover services.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has strict limits as to what type of precious metals you can hold in an IRA account. Precious metals that can be held in an IRA account are:

• Gold must be 99.5% pure or a minimum fineness of .995 percent
• Silver must be 99.9% pure or a minimum fineness of .999 percent
• Platinum and palladium have to be 99.5% pure

A few examples of which gold coins are acceptable would be the Canadian Maple Leaf coins and the Australian Koala. Even though the American Gold Eagle is only 91.7% pure, the IRS allows them in a precious metals IRA account.

Investors cannot hold rare, or collectible types of gold or silver coins in their IRA account, only approved gold, silver, or other precious metals bullion.

Goldco Offered Services

Goldco will help customers transfer or start gold and silver IRAs. They are not a custodian of an actual IRA, and they do not store precious metals for customers. They are only a broker for the buying and selling of precious metals. They can help customers in completing IRA account applications with the custodian company.

Goldco helps customers in the purchase of approved precious metal coins and bullion for their IRA accounts. They are there to make sure that your IRA follows the precise IRS rules. In addition, Goldco coordinates precious metal purchases with a customer’s IRA custodian.

Goldco offers the following services for its customers:

• Self-directed gold IRA – Goldco helps customers open a gold IRA making sure customers understand which metals are acceptable to the IRS.
• Self-directed silver IRA – If a customer prefers investing in silver, Goldco will help customers open a silver IRA.
• 401k rollover help – They can help customers rolling over an IRA into a precious metals IRA.
• Roth and traditional IRA planning – In addition to helping roll over an IRA, they can also help with deciding between a Roth or a traditional IRA.
• Buy and sell gold and silver – They can sell you the gold or silver coins for your new IRA account. And when it comes time to liquidate the IRA, they can also help with that.
• SEP IRA planning – For customers that own their own business, Goldco can answer questions concerning a Simplified Employee Pension Plan.
• Simple IRA – They can explain exactly how the IRS rules work for gold and silver investing in a Simple IRA.

Goldco Costs and Fees

According to a company representative, their gold and silver IRA fees are as follows:

• One time setup fee of $50
• Minimum required – Their recommended minimum is $25,000
• Annual fee – $174 annually which increases to $225 when an account reaches $100,000
• Storage fees – The storage fees will depend on which custodian a customer uses. For non-IRA accounts, Goldco will reimburse one year of storage fees for each $25,000 invested in like-value silver
• Custodian fee – This fee will depend on which custodian is used
• Precious metals available – All IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion

How to Open an Account at Goldco

To open an account with Goldco, there is an online application on their website that customers can fill out. Customers can also call the company and talk to them directly to guide them through the sign-up procedure.

Goldco will also assist in setting up a custodian account with one of their recommended custodian companies. Customers are mailed a guide that will fully explain the investment options for investing in precious metals. This guide will help customers choose which precious metal they prefer to invest in their IRA.

Goldco Customer Ratings and Reviews

Goldco is rated an A+ by the Better Business Bureau. Customers were pleased with the ease of the transactions and how Goldco representatives were able to answer all questions. They also have a 5-star rating on Consumer Affairs and a 4.7 rating on Google Reviews.

Complaints were few and mainly dealt with misunderstandings about how the precious metals market works. For example, when buying gold or silver coins and bullion, there will always be a markup.

 

Patriot Gold Group

Patriot Gold Group is located in Los Angeles and has been in business since 1990. They are a broker in precious metals and a certified Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) company and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation members, which means they can grade collectible coins with authority.

Patriot Gold Group will work with their customer’s financial institution or IRA custodian to help with the process of buying and selling precious metals for a self-directed IRA.

If a customer were to do all of this on their own, they would have to coordinate the entire process with the custodian, the broker, the storage facility, and the shipping company. Patriot Gold Group takes the hassle out of this, and coordinates the entire process for their customers, making sure everything is correct.

Patriot Gold Group Costs and Fees

Patriot Gold Group will charge a one-time setup fee of $225 for opening a new precious metals individual retirement account. They will waive this fee for accounts over $30,000. Accounts larger than $250,000 are eligible for participation in their No Fee for Life IRA.

They can work with any custodian a customer chooses. They already have a working relationship with STRATA Trust and Equity Institutional that customers can choose.

A list of their costs and fees include:

• Minimum IRA size – $15,000
• Setup fee – $225 for accounts under $30,000. Free for accounts over $30,000
• Per transaction fee – This will depend on the chosen custodian. If STRATA is chosen, the fee is $40 plus shipping charges
• Insurance and storage fees – STRATA costs $150. Equity Institutional costs $180. These fees can change depending on the size of the account
• Precious metals – Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium
• Custodian fees will depend on the custodian company that is chosen

Other possible fees include wire transfers, closing an account, taking a distribution from an IRA account, and document fees.

Patriot Gold sells bullion bars and bullion coins for precious metals customers. In addition, they also sell precious metals outside of an IRA account.

Opening an Account with Patriot Gold Group

Customers that already have a precious metals IRA can contact Patriot Gold and have them assist in the transfer of their account.

For new customers, they will help customers set up a precious metals IRA or rollover an IRA. Once an account is set up, customers can begin trading in their self-directed IRA.

Transfers and new accounts can be set up over the phone, and the account is guaranteed to be open and ready within 48 hours.

Patriot Gold Group Customer Ratings

Patriot Gold Group is owned by Halt Gold Group, which has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They have a 5-star rating at Consumer Affairs. On Google Reviews they also have a 5-star rating with only two negative reviews out of 189 total reviews.

 

Goldco vs Patriot Gold Group Summary

Both Goldco and Patriot Gold Group assist customers in opening or transferring a precious metals self-directed IRA. Annual fees are similar with Goldco charging a $175 annual fee for accounts under $100,000, and Patriot Gold charges up to $180.

Goldco will reimburse one year of storage fees for each $25,000 invested in like-value silver. Customers were most impressed with Goldco representative’s knowledge and their ability to easily answer all questions.

Having a precious metals individual retirement account is a good way to hedge investments from high inflation and bear markets in stocks. Call Goldco for more information about the benefits of a precious metal IRA and how to set one up.