Disclaimer: Many or all of the companies listed here may provide compensation to us. This is how we maintain our free service for consumers. Compensation, along with hours of in-depth editorial research, determines where & how companies appear below.

#1. Goldco - Most Trustworthy, Best Advisors & Best Prices

Goldco is a top choice to consider when you're looking for the best IRA company. The company was founded in 2006 and has since earned a solid reputation in the gold investment business. They have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, a Triple A rating from the Business Consumer Alliance, and numerous positive reviews from customers.

And of course...this is the company that I personally have my gold IRA with.

They made the process smooth, easy and painless the whole way through.

I had no idea what I was doing when I first got it - they've helped me become an expert on the topic.

So not only did they help me get the investment in place, but they educated me while doing it.

One of the top services offered by Goldco is helping their customers set up a new precious metals IRA or rolling over an existing retirement plan into an IRA. The decision to create or roll over an IRA with Goldco will surely be one that you are pleased with for years to come. Setting up a precious metals, or gold, IRA will help ensure you are protected against stock market crashes or falling economies; you won't need to worry about losing all of your wealth if some of your money is invested in gold.

Goldco offers both gold and silver IRAs. Gold and silver IRAs are very similar to a traditional IRA in that they offer tax benefits and allow individuals to build wealth and prepare for their retirement. The main difference, however, is that instead of being required to invest in stocks, you can invest in gold and silver coins and bars.

Goldco's website offers a simple application form that individuals can fill out to start the process of creating an IRA or rolling over an existing account. You'll just need to indicate how you're funding the account, and a member of Goldco's team will work with you to get the money transferred to your new account.

After the money has been transferred to your IRA account with Goldco, you can select the gold and silver coins and bars to add to it. If you are unsure which options make the most sense for you to invest in, don't hesitate to ask questions. The precious metals experts on Goldco's team will be happy to offer advice or information to help you make the right financial decision.

Due to IRS regulations, not all gold or silver pieces may be held in an IRA. Gold coins and bars are required to be at least 99.5% pure, and silver coins and bars must be at least 99.9% pure.

There are a wide variety of IRS-approved gold and silver coins and bars offered by Goldco, so you should have no trouble selecting an array of precious metals to fill your new IRA. Some of the available include:

Goldco offers a free self-directed IRA investment guide, if you'd like to learn more about setting up a gold IRA. You can request your free guide though the website.

#2. Augusta Precious Metals - Best Educational Resources

Since the company was first started in 2012, Augusta Precious Metals has developed a highly trusted reputation in the gold investment industry. The company offers an experienced and knowledgeable team to work with their customers, answer questions, and help each customer protect their retirement savings.

The company offers extensive educational resources, including a must-watch one-on-one video chat with a gold IRA professional from their education team. It was designed by their on-staff Harvard-educated economic analyst, Devlyn Steele. You can also order their free guide, full of helpful information to get you started.

Augusta Precious metals is highly rated by their customers on Facebook, Google, or other review sites. They have also earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, a Triple A rating from the Business Consumer Alliance, and TrustLink's highest rating.

One of the things that Augusta Precious Metals offers is helping their customers set up a new gold IRA or rolling over an existing gold IRA. Choosing to work with Augusta Precious Metals to create a gold IRA will offer you peace of mind and effective diversification to protect your retirement savings against economic turmoil.

Augusta Precious Metals has partnered with gold and silver IRA custodian companies, with their preferred custodian for customers being Equity Trust. Augusta serves as a liaison with the custodian and works with their clients to set up a gold IRA and determine if an existing retirement account is eligible for a rollover.

After you've worked with the IRA custodian and have set up the funding for your account, you'll be able to choose the IRA-eligible gold or silver coins and bars you'd like to add to your account. Per IRS regulations, gold coins must be at least 99.5% pure, and silver coins must be at least 99.9% pure.

Augusta Precious Metals' selection of IRA eligible coins includes:

Augusta Precious Metals offers numerous secure storage option for their customers. The IRS regulations state that precious metals for gold IRAs must be stored in IRS compliant facilities.

Augusta Precious Metals uses locations across the county to give their customers plenty of options. Each storage facility, regardless of its location, offers exception security and full insurance for the value of your account. Some of the storage locations include: New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, Wilmington, Delaware, Salt Lake City, Utah, South Fargo, North Dakota, and Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

With Augusta Precious Metals, you can also decide to purchase gold or silver for a personal investment outside of an IRA. They offer a large selection of gold bullion, premium gold, silver bullion, and premium silver that you can have shipped directly to your door.

#3. American Hartford Gold

Third on our list of the best gold IRA companies is American Hartford Gold. American Hartford Gold was founded by Sanford Mann in 2015. It was started as a family-owned company, and continues to operate as one today. The company's headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California, but American Hartford Gold serves clients all across the country.

One area that America Hartford Gold specializes in is helping their clients set up a gold IRA—we'll go into this in greater detail in a few moments. The company also offers coins and bars for personal sale for investors looking to diversify their portfolio without (or in addition to) setting up a gold IRA.

American Hartford Gold stands by the products and services they offer. Their 100% satisfaction guarantee speaks to how confident they are that you'll be happy with the support and precious metals you receive.

While American Hartford Gold hasn't been in business as long as several other companies on this list, they have made a positive impression with past customers and review organizations alike. The company received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, an AAA rating from the Business Consumer Alliance, and several glowing reviews from past customers.

Several celebrities and media personnel have partnered with American Hartford Gold and recommend the company to their followers. Some of these individuals include Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly, Rudy Giuliana, Liz Wheeler, and Rick Harrison. This much support from such prominent individuals, combined with the fact that they were ranked on the INC 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies, provides additional reasons to help you trust American Hartford Gold.

As we mentioned above, one of the areas that American Hartford specializes in is supporting their clients in diversifying their portfolios by opening a Precious Metals IRA. American Hartford Gold realizes that this is a big—and often overwhelming—step for many individuals. This is why they have worked hard to keep the process as straightforward as possible and why a representative from the company is always available to support you in setting up your new account.

The gold IRA representative that you work with will help you confirm that your current retirement account is eligible for a roll over (most IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and other account types qualify). They'll then help you work with a gold IRA custodian to take care of transferring the funds from your current account to the new account for your gold IRA.

Once the money has arrived to American Hartford Gold, the exciting part begins: you get to choose the gold and silver bars and coins you want to invest in. American Hartford Gold offers a nice selection of precious metals that meet the IRS requirement to be held in an IRA (99.5% pure for gold and 99.9% pure for silver).

If you're new to investing in precious metals and have any questions about which coins you should add to your account, just ask your gold IRA representative. They are there to help and can share useful information to make your decision easier to help you achieve your retirement goals.

Below you'll find a list of the different IRA-approved gold and silver bars that American Hartford Gold offers:

If you still need another reason to consider working with American Hartford Gold, you may be interested to hear about the promotion they are currently offering. Customers who open a qualified IRA will be eligible to receive as much as $5,000 in free silver. Customers can also earn up to three years of service with American Hartford Gold with no IRA fees. If you want to find out the details for this promotion, including the account minimum to qualify for the promotion, contact American Hartford Gold.

#4. Birch Gold Group

The Birch Gold Group team is made up of experienced professionals coming from high profile companies such as Citigroup and IBM. Each member of the team is knowledgeable and ready to help their clients make sound investment decisions. They are always available and willing to address any questions or concerns to make sure each individual is confident about the investment path they are on.

Birch Gold Group has earned high reviews from their customers. They also have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a AAA rating from the Business Consumer Alliance. Individuals should feel very confident trusting Birch Gold Group with their business.

Setting up new Precious Metals IRAs or helping individuals transfer or roll over existing retirement accounts into a Precious Metals IRA are some of the things that Birch Gold Group specializes in. If you're interested in setting up or rolling over an IRA, just visit the website to initiate the process and connect with a specialist from Birch Gold Group. The first thing you'll need to take care of is funding the account.

If you're setting up a new account using your personal funds, you'll be able to wire them to Birch Gold Group. If you're rolling over an existing account, you'll need to work with a Precious Metals IRA custodian. Birch Gold Group works with Equity Trust and STRATA Trust, two custodian companies that have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Once the funds have been transferred to Birch Gold Group, it will be time to choose the precious metals you'd like to hold in your account. They offer a wide selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars for individuals to choose from. Remember that IRS regulations state that in order to be held in an IRA, gold must be at least 99.5% pure, silver must be at least 99.9% pure, palladium must be at least 99.95% pure, and platinum must be at least 99.95% pure.

Below are some of Birch Gold Group's IRA-approved coins and bars you can choose from:

Birch Gold Group offers their clients two IRS-approved storage options for their precious metals held in an IRA. They are the Delaware Depository and Brink's Global Services. Both of these are excellent options in terms of the security and insurance you'll receive for your precious metals; you'll be able to trust that your gold, silver, platinum, and palladium will be ready and waiting when you're ready to retire and begin cashing in your investments.

If you'd like to purchase gold, silver, platinum, or palladium as a personal investment, you're also able to do that with Birch Gold Group. All the IRA-approved gold coins and bars listed above can be purchased as a direct investment, plus they offer a few additional options. These include the Liberty Head Double Eagle $20 Coin, the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle $20 Coin, the Walking Liberty Half Dollar Coin, and the Peace Silver Dollar.

If you think Birch Gold Group sounds like a good fit for you, but still aren't quite sure, request their free information kit. This kit is designed to help individuals learn more about investing in precious metals. It includes some common questions and answers about setting up gold IRAs, highlights the benefits of investing in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and shares some of the various coins and bars you can choose to invest in.

#5. Noble Gold

Before you finalize a decision about which gold IRA company to use, don't forget to also consider Noble Gold. Collin Plume, the president and CEO of Noble Gold aims to ensure that each client receives the expert advice and help they need to make sound financial investments to secure a successful future. Noble Gold doesn't use a hard-sell approach that you may find with many other gold IRA companies, rather they focus on making sure the independent needs of each client are address.

Noble Gold's clients are overwhelming happy with the service and attention they receive based on the large number of positive reviews the company has earned. Noble Gold is an accredited business with the Consumer Affairs Alliance and the Better Business Bureau. They are also a member of the TrustLink Business-Consumer Alliance.

Noble Gold offers services to help clients set up a new gold or silver IRA or to roll over an existing retirement account into a gold or silver IRA. If you're ready to diversify your portfolio to protect your financial future by setting up a gold IRA with Noble Gold, fill out the form on the website.

A member of the Noble Gold team will contact you to go over your form and discuss how you'll be funding your account. Then, once the account has been funded, you can choose from the various IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars that are available through Noble Gold. Some of these selections include:

If you think you're ready to learn more about setting up a gold IRA with Noble Gold, visit their website to request a free gold IRA guide. This helpful guide includes information about why you should consider investing precious metals and the steps to take to set up a new gold IRA or roll over an existing retirement plan. It also shares some of the different gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins or bars you can add to your account with Noble Gold.

Key Considerations

There are quite a few gold IRA companies out there, and no two are exactly the same. Before choosing a company to give your business to, take a few minutes to compare the various options and choose the one that will deliver the best fit for your needs. Read through the following selections to identify a few key considerations to keep in mind as you compare your options.

📅 Years in Business

Choosing a company that has been around for a while is important. This can help you feel confident that the company you selected isn't going to up and go out of business in the middle of working with you.

In addition to looking at the experience of each company, be sure to also consider their reputation. An A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and accreditation with the Consumer Affairs Association indicate a trust-worthy company that you should feel confident giving your business to.

🟡 Precious Metals Selection

While many companies offer gold IRA services, they do not all offer the same selection of precious metals. Some many only offer gold and silver, while others may have platinum and palladium investment options as well.

Before choosing a company, look through the various coins and bars they offer for a Precious Metals IRA and consider the pieces you'd like to hold in your portfolio. Select a company that offers the variety you're looking for.

In addition to allowing individuals to diversify their portfolio by investing in precious metals, some gold IRA companies also offer the option to invest in cryptocurrencies. This is not as common, among companies, so if it is something you're interested in, be sure to specifically look for it.

💰 Fees

All gold IRA companies will charge fees, but the fees may differ from one company to the next. Before signing up with any company, make sure you're able to find clear information about the fees they charge to managing your account, shipping metals, and storage. Compare this information between the different companies you're considering to simplify your decision.

🏦 Storage

You don't have as many storage options when it comes to a gold IRA as you would if you were to purchase gold or silver for a personal investment. According to IRS regulations, precious metals held in gold IRAs must be stored in an IRS-approved facility. However, there are different IRS-approved depositories around the country and different gold IRA companies may offer different storage options.

Before selecting a gold IRA company, look for information about the storage facility or facilities available, and make sure you feel comfortable with the choices.

📞 Support

Finally, consider the available support and guidance offered by each company. Because the process of rolling over an existing IRA or setting up a new one can be so complex, you will want to choose a company that offers top-notch customer service. Having an advisor to help you understand and navigate each step of the roll over process will ensure everything goes smoothly and that you aren't charged any fees.

Also, having a resource to help you understand the various precious metals that are available and select the best choices based on your needs and circumstances is important. Be sure to look for a company with experienced and helpful investment advisors that can help make important decisions about your new IRA.

If you're looking for the absolute best gold IRA company, we'd have to recommend Goldco. While the other four companies we reviewed above are all great choices too, Goldco just stands out a bit against the rest.

Goldco has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a Triple A rating from the Business Consumer Alliance. They are a highly trusted name in the gold investment industry and have tons of satisfied customers.

Goldco can help you set up a new gold IRA or roll an existing retirement plan into an IRA. Their team members are always available to answer your questions, help you select the best precious metals for your account, and work with you to ensure the transfer process goes smoothly and that you aren't charged any fees by the IRS.

With the gold and silver coins and bars offered by Goldco, you'll be able to diversify your portfolio with a nice mix of precious metals. Continue adding to your IRA each year to see your wealth continue to grow as you work your way towards retirement.

Goldco is our top pick, and we're confident it will be your top pick as well. Start the process of setting up your IRA today by visiting Goldco's website and filling out the application! You'll definitely be glad you did!

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is a Gold IRA?

Self-Directed IRAs were created to give individuals more freedom in selecting the types of investments they would like to hold in a retirement account. A gold IRA is an example of a Self-Directed IRA where individuals hold gold, silver, or other precious metals rather than the traditional stocks and bonds.

By holding some investments in precious metals, individuals are able to diversify their portfolio and set themselves up for future financial success. With a diversified portfolio, you're less likely to be negatively impacted by a stock market crash since some of your funds are held in other investment opportunities, such as gold.

Will the value of a gold coin increase?

As the value of gold increases, the value of a gold coin will also increase. The face value of each coin (what is printed on the coin) is not a true reflection of its value. Rather, the value is likely much higher based on the current price of gold.

When is the best time to purchase gold?

The ideal time to purchase gold is when it is at a lower value. In general, the value of gold is at a lower amount when the stock market is over performing. Gold may also come down in price in some months, including January, March, and April.

How can I invest in gold?

There are a few different ways you can invest in gold. One is to purchase gold coins or bars from a gold investment company or a local coin shop. Hold the coins until you are satisfied with the growth in their value or you need the money for retirement or another big expense.

You can also invest in gold by setting up a gold IRA. Gold IRAs are a form of Self-Directed IRA where funds are held in gold, rather than the traditional stocks and bonds. Setting up a gold IRA is a good way to invest in gold or other precious metals without worrying as much about taxes.

How much of my portfolio should be held in gold?

The answer to this question will be different for each person depending on their current financial position, their age, and personal preferences. If you're close to retirement age, you'll likely want to take fewer investment risks, so you might not want a large percentage of your money invested in gold. On the other hand, if you're still young, you have more time to be a bit more aggressive with your investments and to take greater risks, so you may choose to have a larger portion of your portfolio invested in gold.

You can always chat with a financial advisor and shift investments around in your portfolio based on what makes sense at the time based on the economy and your personal financial goals.