The right gold IRA custodian is priceless.
Your life savings are one of the most important things you own. You deserve the peace of mind of a retirement account that lets you enjoy your time off without worrying about how you can afford to live. A gold IRA is one of the safest ways to protect that account from inflation and market turmoil. But it comes with a risk. Addressing that risk is the purpose of this article.
You can’t trust just anyone with your life savings – choosing the right gold custodian becomes vital. Keep reading for advice on how to choose the right company and make sure you’re working with someone you can trust.
What is a gold IRA?
A gold IRA is a self-directed retirement account that stores value in precious metals instead of other assets like stocks and bonds. Despite its name, gold IRA companies usually offer more than just gold, leading some people to refer to it as a precious metals IRA instead. While gold is the most popular, holders can also choose other metals such as silver, platinum, and palladium.
These IRAs are favored because of how precious metals resist inflation. Gold in particular is often touted as an inflation hedge because when inflation increases, the value of gold also tends to increase. Your assets don’t lose value due to inflation, which can make a huge difference in the long run.
How does a gold IRA work?
A standard IRA is typically managed by a bank or brokerage firm. A self-directed IRA also has to be managed by an IRS-approved gold custodian. However, these entities are business entities other than banks and have slightly different rules to follow.
What do gold IRA custodians do?
The Retirement Industry Trust Association clearly defines the roles of a self-directed IRA custodian. In many ways, the jobs performed by these entities are similar to those who manage standard IRAs. These include the following activities:
- Recording transactions and income
- Sourcing and buying assets
- Providing financial statements to the account holder
- Executing contributions and distributions
- Ensuring the privacy of the account holder
- Ensuring that the account follows all state and national laws
However, there are some jobs unique to gold IRA companies that do not apply to a bank dealing in stocks and bonds. For example, because the IRA contains physical assets, the provider must find a secure facility to hold the precious metals. Setting up a self-directed IRA is also different than setting up a standard IRA, which means gold custodians need to be up-to-date on current laws.
What do gold IRA custodians NOT do?
Gold custodians are not legally responsible for any of the following activities:
- Providing official tax or investment advice
- Recommending or endorsing specific assets
- Determining the market value or risk of an asset
- Recommending or endorsing specific tax or investment advisors
- Determining if an asset is suitable for an account owner
In other words, the self-directed IRA custodian is there to do your bidding. They can execute the orders and handle all the legal paperwork, but it is ultimately up to you to decide what types of assets you should buy.
How do I know if I can trust a gold IRA custodian?
Wherever there is money involved, there will always be someone trying to cheat you out of it. Luckily, there are some steps you can take to make sure that your provider is reliable. We recommend following all of the steps below before moving forward with any gold IRA companies.
1. Find out if the business is accredited
When it comes to your retirement, don’t take any chances. Websites like the Better Business Bureau show accredited businesses as well as their year of accreditation. If your provider doesn’t show up, you might be looking at a scam.
2. Make sure the details match
The Better Business Bureau also shows helpful details such as the location of the business headquarters, the number of employees, and contact information. If the details a gold custodian has given you don’t match the details officially provided by the website, you might want to think twice.
3. Read reviews
Social credibility has always been a great indicator of how a company performs. You are likely familiar with this concept on Amazon through its use of star ratings and product reviews by other customers.
For businesses in general, there are many online platforms that provide customer reviews. Trustpilot is a good source for honest customer reviews. You can also usually find information with Google Reviews, if you search for the company. Take the time to read through some comments from past customers.
The higher the overall rating the better. In fairness to every business, there will always be someone who is dissatisfied and nothing could please them. Therefore it is important to read all complaining reviews and ascertain what the center of their controversy was. The more negative reviews a company receives will result in lowering the overall rating. If the company’s average rating is below four stars, you should probably look somewhere else.
4. Google the business
No, seriously. Established gold IRA companies should have a digital footprint. Ideally, Google should instantly recognize the business, showing it is well established in Google’s eyes. At a minimum, Google should provide an official profile with a location, hours, and description. Glance through the first page of search results. Does the company have an official website? Does it show up in at least one or two results besides its official website? If not, the business might be a scam.
5. Check the bullion directory
Okay, so if you’ve made it this far, the company probably exists. But does it specialize in precious metals? One way to check is by consulting the Bullion Directory, a website that compiles listings of precious metal dealers all across the country. The listing should provide basic information, services the company offers, and maybe a few reviews. If you don’t find the business you’re looking for, check similar sites such as the Numismatic News. If you still can’t find it, the company might not know its precious metals after all.
Feel free to search for Safe Haven Metal independently through the above links, or directly access our profile on Bullion Directory and our profile on Numismatic News.
If you have made it through all of these steps successfully, congratulations! You can probably trust your precious metals IRA provider. But just because the gold custodian can be trusted doesn’t mean it can do its job well.
What should I look for in gold IRA companies?
Storage
Because precious metals are physical assets, they can be physically stolen or damaged. Unfortunately, you can’t keep them at your own home without losing the tax benefits of an IRA. You need to make sure your IRA assets are being stored in a secure facility approved by the IRS. Gold IRA companies should be up front about where they store your precious metals. Do your own research on the facility. Is it important for you to have your assets stored separately from other investors’ metals? If so, you might want to inquire about segregated storage options.
Asset Options
Most gold IRA companies offer more than just gold, but you should make sure that the business offers the particular assets you want before making a commitment. Consider not only the type of metal you want but also the form you want that metal to take. Do you want a specific coin? Silver bars? Does the specific item you want even qualify for a precious metal IRA asset? If you’re not sure whether the company offers the assets you want or if you can hold it in your IRA, just ask!
Fees
How can you trust a gold IRA custodian that isn’t up front about its fees? These can include costs for storage, setting up the account, and conducting transactions. Take the time to understand these fees before jumping into a precious metals IRA and remember, it never hurts to shop around and compare prices! Just be careful of any company that seems too good to be true – a business with no fees whatsoever is going to take money from you in other ways.
Where do I start looking for a gold custodian?
There are a couple precious metals IRA directories listed above. While we are not a gold IRA custodian, we hope that since you’re here, you may want to select Safe Haven Metal as your preferred gold vendor and team leader. We are a company that keeps you informed 100% of the time.
Don’t take our word for it alone. Feel free to check out our reviews or accreditation. We don’t fault you for making sure we’re legitimate! After all, that is the very thing we are promoting in this article.
At Safe Haven Metal, we strive to make our customers’ lives easier. Thus we have done the heavy vetting of possible gold IRA custodians and we can confidently say, that we only work with the best.
The Results of Our Vetting
We work with one of the largest gold IRA custodians in the country. The highly respected and well established STRATA Trust Company. Whom will serve as trustee for your precious metal IRA. Which for many reasons, is a special benefit for you, as not all gold venders qualify to even work with STRATA.
Safe Haven Metal IRA clients store their assets in the Delaware Depository, where security is by both physical and electronic measures. Any of the IRS qualifying items you purchase from us, will safely find a good home at the Delaware Depository. We offer most of the common precious metals including gold (of course), silver, platinum, and palladium in various forms.
As for the fees, we would never hide costs from our customers. And is another reason why we chose to work with STRATA. You can find the most recent fee schedule, as provided by our partner, the STRATA Trust Company. But you won’t have to worry about that quite yet, because Safe Haven Metal provides the first year of gold IRA fees for free! That’s right – you essentially get a free trial with STRATA before deciding if you wish to continue working with STRATA.
Of course we are confident you will love them. So much so, that we put out money where our mouth is and pay for the first year fees. All so that there is no risk to you to try out the best. We know you will agree after working with this top notch gold IRA custodian too.
We’ll be happy to answer any of your questions about our services, asset options, fees, and more! We have a feeling that by the end of the call, you’ll realize why Safe Haven Metal is your #1 trusted precious metals provider.
