Are you looking for the best Gold IRA for retirees and senior citizens?
I guess you want to invest in precious metals like Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc. to protect your wealth against unforeseen economic downturns and safeguard your old age.
For a while now, I have followed the precious metal industry and covered a lot of them like Gold and Silver. And in this guide, I will show you the 5 best Gold IRA companies that suit you as a senior citizen.
We will explore the following:
- Their products – different precious metals you can invest in
- How to open precious metal IRA for each of them
- The minimum amount you need to invest
- Their fees
- Pros and Cons
- Plus other things you need to know to make the best choice.
1. Goldco ( Top Rated on Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, Trustpilot)
This is one of the forefront Gold IRA companies that help retirees and senior citizens invest in precious metals. Trevor Gerszt, a real estate billionaire, founded Goldco after he realized the potential of Gold and Silver during the economic meltdown in America. For over 15 years, Goldco has continued to live up to the ethics of precious metal investing and has helped thousands of American retirees and senior citizens invest in Gold and Silver metals.
It helps you open precious metal IRA accounts, so you can purchase Gold and Silver of different types.
If you are one of the retirees with 401(k), 402(b), or any other traditional retirement accounts, Goldco helps you roll them over into a precious metal IRA without taxing you. Their onboarding process is so easy that within a few days, you have your precious metal account up and running.
Their fees are one of the best you can get from any Gold IRA company, and it also offers a Buy-back program that allows you to sell your Gold or Silver to them anytime and at a competitive price. So you have nothing to lose if you decide not to hold a precious metal IRA account again. You can learn more in this Goldco review.
Precious Metals You Can Invest In
- Gold IRA – Gold American Eagle, Gold Liberty, Gold Independence Hall, etc
- Silver IRA – Silver American Eagle, Silver Mayflower, Silver Lucky Dragon, etc
- Platinum and Palladium
- Apart from Gold & Silver IRA, Goldco allows you to invest in a SEP and Simple IRA
- SEP – sort of savings incentive match plan for employees and employers to contribute to the traditional IRA set up for an employee. It’s suitable for employees who don’t have a retirement plan for their employees
- SEP IRA – Simple Employee Pension is a plan that financial institutions set up for businesses to provide themselves and their employees with a retirement benefit plan.
How To Open An Account
Go to Goldco.com and contact a Goldco representative who is happy to educate and assist you throughout the 3 stages:
- Opening an account
- Funding your account
- Purchasing any precious metal of your choice
Minimum Amount For Investment
The least amount you can use to invest to purchase Gold or Silver metals with Goldco is $25,000.
Fees
The cost of setting up a new account, storage, and insurance for the first year is $260
Storage fee:
- Non Segregated metals (by Brinks Salt Lake City) – $100 yearly
- Non Segregated metals (by DDSC) – $100 yearly
No storage fees if you prefer to have your precious metals delivered to your home
Also, the storage is waived for the first year if you invest $50,000 and above
Pros of Goldco
- The onboarding process is easy and fast
- Offers a Buy-back program where you can sell your metals back to them
- Has a variety of metals you can invest in
- Affordable investment fee
- You enter a draw to get a free Silver coin worth $10k when you open a Gold IRA
- Fast and quick customer support
Cons of Goldco
- No option to invest in cryptocurrency metals
2. Augusta Precious Metals ( With BBB and Consumer Affairs Ratings)
It’s one of the top-rated precious metals companies that can help you set up a Gold IRA and invest in Gold, Silver, and other precious metals.
Isaac Nuriani founded August Precious Metals after helping many American senior citizens and retirees make the best financial decisions. If you are one of those with a traditional IRA and want to use it to fund your precious metal investment, Augusta Precious Metals will work with your custodian to roll it over and no taxes are applied.
Just like Goldco, it also has a Buy-back program that allows you to sell your precious metals back to them at a competitive price. However, its minimum investment fee is higher compared to Goldco and you can learn more in this Augusta Precious Metal vs Goldco comparison.
Precious Metals You Can Invest In
- Gold IRA – Gold American Eagle, Gold Phoenix, Gold Lucky Dragon, etc
- Silver IRA – Silver American Eagle, Silver Military Guinea, Silver World War I, etc
- Platinum
How To Open An Account
Visit Augusta Precious Metals official site and contact their precious metal specialist who will educate you and guide you on how to open a precious metal IRA of your choice. Before then, you can download their kit to get all the resources you need to prepare yourself for investing in Platinum, Gold, or Silver.
Minimum Amount You Can Invest
You need a minimum of $50,000 to invest in any of the precious metals with Augusta Precious Metals. By that I mean you shall open your precious metal IRA with $50k before you can purchase Gold, Silver, or Platinum. This is high compared to that of Goldco which is $25,000.
Fees
It charges $50, $80, and $100 respectively as set up, custodian, and storage fees yearly. However, it covers it for the first year of your investment with them.
If you opt to store your precious metals yourself, you won’t pay for storage fees.
Augusta Precious Metals will ship the precious metals you purchased from them to your location in the United States without charges.
Pros of Augusta Precious Metals
- High positive reviews from verified customers across all review platforms
- Fast customer support
- Has a Buy-back program
- Harvard-trained Devlyn Steele is always available to assist and answer all your questions via web conference
Cons of Augusta Precious Metals
- The minimum investment fee is higher
3. Regal Assets ( Official Member Of Forbes 2022 Financial Council)
Regal Assets is another precious metal company that is well-known in America and around the world. Apart from helping you invest in Gold and Silver, it also helps you invest in cryptocurrency metals like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, etc. This is an edge it has over Augusta Precious Metals and Goldco.
Tyler Gallagher, a young entrepreneur founded this company with the aim of educating retirees and old citizens on the need to diversify their investment portfolio into precious metals like Gold, Silver, Platinum, and cryptocurrency. After helping thousands of retired citizens in America invest in precious metals, Forbes admitted Regal Assets as an official member of its Financial Council in 2022.
Precious Metals You Can Invest In
- Gold IRA – Gold Lucky Dragon, Gold American Eagle, Gold Phoenix, Gold Freedom, etc
- Silver IRA – Silver American Eagle, Silver Maple Leaf, Silver Valor, etc
- Cryptocurrency IRA – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc
- Platinum
How To Open An Account
Go to the official site of Regal Assets and contact their customer service representative who is happy to assist you to open an account. It has a kit that you can download and learn about Gold and Silver investments with Regal Assets. Even if you have a traditional IRA account, Regal Assets will work with your custodian to move it to your newly opened precious metal IRA account. So you can have funds to purchase precious metals of your choice.
Minimum Amount You Can Invest
The minimum investment amount for Regal Assets is $5000. This is far lower compared to Augusta Precious Metals and Goldco. Learn more in this article where I compared Augusta Precious Metals to Regal Assets.
Fees
Set up fee starts from $50 and can vary depending on the amount you want to invest.
$215 annually as storage and custodian fee:
$125 – Segregated vault storage
$90 – Annual custodian fee paid to CNB custody, which is their official IRA custodian
Note: This fee takes effect from the second year of having a Regal Assets IRA, and it can be more depending on how much you invest.
No storage fee if you want to store your metal yourself. Regal Assets will ship your precious metal to your location in the US within 7 days. In the event it couldn’t ship within 7 days, it will compensate you with a free Silver American Eagle coin.
Pros Of Regal Assets
- Has a Buy-back program that allows you to sell your precious metals to them at a competitive price and no additional fee is attached
- Offers free Silver coin if it fails to meet the shipping deadline of your precious metal
- The minimum investment fee is affordable
- Fast customer support
Cons Of Regal Assets
- Not accredited with Better Business Bureau
4. Gold Republic ( Netherlands Authority For Financial Market(AFM) License, Recommended For European Residents)
This is a precious metal company based in Amsterdam and offers services mainly in European countries. Marleen Evertsz and Alex Butter founded this company in 2010 after the economic downturns that hit the world in 2008 which affected the so-called safe investments.
Their operations are totally different from that of Goldco, Regal Assets, and Augusta Precious Metals. Here you operate an online account that allows you to monitor your investments in Gold, Silver, or any other precious metals.
You can sell your precious metals anytime either to Gold Republic or any other person you discussed with. It offers B2B services to allow businesses that want to trade in Gold and Silver to get involved. It also provides asset managers the platform to trade and manage physical bullion products for their customers. Learn more about it in this Gold Republic review.
Precious Metals You Can Invest In
- Gold – Gold metals
- Silver – Silver metals
- Platinum – Platinum metals
How To Open an Account
Go to the official site of Gold Republic and open an online account. Fund it and begin to purchase any precious metal Gold Republic offers. I will recommend contacting the customer representative to educate you on any choice of investment you want to make.
Minimum Amount You Can Invest
It has no minimum fee; rather, it allows you to save a minimum of €50 monthly on your account until you have a reasonable amount to purchase any precious metal you can afford.
Funding your account with €50 is easy if you have a European (SEPA) bank account. Gold Republic partnership with them. So it deducts the amount and credits it to your Gold Republic online account.
If you don’t have a SEPA account, you can do a wire transfer.
Fees
Gold Republic charges buying, selling, handling, transaction, and storage fees. And the amount you pay depends on the metal involved and the vault location where your metal is stored.
If you want to keep your metal yourself to avoid storage fees, no issues with that but a delivery cost of 1% of the total amount of precious metal you bought is charged.
Pros Of Gold Republic
- Has a Buy-back program that allows you to sell your Gold or Silver to them at a competitive price
- You can self-manage your investment online
- Quick customer support
- Has a scheme that allows you to save money to invest
Cons Of Gold Republic
- Only available for European residents, especially those in Amsterdam.
- Buy-back program doesn’t cover metals you stored yourself
5. Birch Gold Group ( A+ Rating on Better Business Bureau, BCA, and AAA)
This is one of the well-known Gold and other precious metal companies in California.
Laith Alsarraf and Graham Allen founded this company in 2003 to educate and encourage Americans who are investment minded on the need to diversify and explore the opportunities in Gold, Silver, and other precious metals.
Its operations are similar to that of Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals.
For example, it offers a Buy-back service that allows you to sell your precious metals back to them at a competitive price. Its minimum investment is lower compared to Augusta Precious Metals and you get an investment kit that properly educates you on the type of investment you want to make.
Precious Metals You Can Invest In
- Gold IRA – Australian Gold Florin, American Gold Eagle Proof, American Gold Eagle Bullion, etc
- Silver IRA – American The Beautiful Silver Series, Silver Rose Crown Guinea, Silver Bars, and Rounds, etc.
- Platinum
How To Open An Account
Go to the official site of Birch Gold Group and sign up to download your free info kit. Read and digest it to understand the investment you are about to make. After which you contact Birch Gold Group customer representative who will assist you to open an account.
If you have a traditional IRA account and want to roll it over to Gold or Silver IRA, the customer representative will work with your custodian to get that done.
With that, you have funded your account provided it equals the minimum investment amount Gold Birch Group requires of you.
Next is to choose the metal you want to purchase and pay. After which you choose any of the third-party custodians Gold Birch Group works with to store your metals.
Minimum Amount You Can Invest
The minimum investment fee to open a Birch Gold account is $10,000. This is lower compared to Augusta Precious Metals which has $50,000 as its MVF.
Fees
Set up fee = $30 (one-time fee)
Annual maintenance fee = $80
The annual storage fee starts at $100. It varies depending on the type of storage you want, the amount of precious metals involved, and the third-party storage company.
Pros Of Gold Birch Group
- Investment fee is affordable
- Has a Buy-back program
- Has great reputation
- Offers a wide range of precious metals, especially Gold and Silver
- Fast customer support
Cons Of Gold Birch Group
You can’t purchase precious metals online rather you do that via a representative from Gold Birch.
Final thought on Gold IRA for retirees and senior citizens
Gold, Silver, and other precious metal investments are worth it. However, it’s important you identify reputable companies to invest with to avoid scam.
As a retiree or senior citizen that wants to invest part of their money in precious metals, I have reviewed and ranked my 5 best based on my experience covering precious metals industries for a while now.
Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals are my 2 top picks. Although their minimum investment fees are higher, it offers services that give you peace of mind that your investment is safe and can be liquidated anytime you want.
