- 27 Aug 2021
- Greg Morrison
- Precious Metals
- Comments: 0
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.
Are you unimpressed by the stock market's performance and volatility lately? Are you looking for a better way to invest some of your money to protect against this volatility? If so, it sounds like investing in gold, silver, and other precious metals is the right answer for you.
USAGold has been selling coins and bullion since 1973. Are they the best company for you to use to begin investing in precious metals? Let's take a deeper look at the company to decide!
Important to mention before we go more in depth with this review!
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About USAGold
USAGold has been in business far longer than many other precious metals investment companies. It was founded in the 1970s as a family-owned business, and remains a family-owned business to this day.
USAGold strives to provide top-quality customer service to each customer. They don't believe in using high-pressure sales tactics, unlike many other precious metals companies you'll find. While the company has grown quite a bit since its start nearly 50 years ago, they remain small enough and have sufficient staff to give each customer the personal attention they need.
Over the years, USAGold has developed relationships and contacts within the industry. These relationships allow them to offer highly competitive pricing on precious metals.
The company's Online Order Desk offers live pricing and allows customers to easily place their own orders at the times that are most convenient for them, day or night. You can also always call and speak with one of the brokers at USAGold if you'd like any assistance with placing your order. The team is highly knowledgeable, and each broker has at least 10 years of experience in the precious metals industry.
Getting Started with USAGold
USAGold has worked to make the process of purchasing precious metals as simple as possible for their customers. Once you've decided how much money you'd like to invest in gold/how large of a percentage you would like precious metals to hold in your portfolio, the next step is to determine which coins and/or bars you like to invest in. USAGold offers both gold bullion coins and historical coins, and you may choose to invest in only one coin type or to purchase some of each type.
Once you've made these decisions, you can call and speak with an experienced representative at USAGold. They can advise you on current pricing, lock-in the live price, and complete your order.
If you'd prefer to place an order online, USAGold also offers this option through their Online Order Desk, which is available 24/7. Once you place your order, either over the phone or through the online order desk, you can either pay using a wire transfer or a personal check.
Gold
If you would like to add gold coins or bars to your portfolio, USAGold offers a wide assortment of pieces for you to choose from. These include:
Coins
Bars
Silver
USAGold's clients can also choose to add silver coins and bars to their investment portfolio. The available options include:
Coins
Bars
IRA Rollovers
Gold and Silver IRAs allow you to hold precious metals in your retirement account. By holding physical metals in your account, you're able to diversify your portfolio and make sure you're prepared for your retirement years.
If you have an existing IRA or 401(k), it may be eligible for an IRA rollover. If you are unsure whether your current account is eligible or not, a member of the USAGold team will be able to help you.
USAGold works with two trust companies that can assist with transferring the funds from your existing account. Then, you can work with your representative from USAGold to choose the IRA-approved precious metals you want to hold in your account.
IRS regulations state that gold coins or bars must be at least 99.5% pure and silver coins and bars must be at least 99.9% pure. Many of the gold and silver pieces listed above meet these criteria, and you will be able to add them to your portfolio.
Gold News and Resources
Whether you're new to investing in precious metals or have been following the markets for quite some time, you may find the "Gold News" section of USAGold's website useful. This section includes resources such as the daily market report, live prices, market updates, opinion blogs on investing, and the company's monthly newsletter.
You can also view the daily live gold and silver prices, as well as charts and graphs showing the historic prices for these two precious metals.
Are There Any Red Flags for USAGold?
OK, now you have a bit more information about USAGold and the products and services they offer. Before making a final decision about whether you'd like to work with a company, it is a good idea to look at reviews from other individuals who have worked with them.
However, when we searched for reviews on four of our most trusted online review sites (Better Business Bureau, Business Consumer Alliance, TrustLink, and Trustpilot), we only found a rating listed on the BBB's website.
For us, a lack of reviews leaves too many unknowns. You can't really get a good feel for the customer service the company provides, the quality of their products, or the way they conduct business. Since there are so many other precious metals investment companies with a ton of exceptional ratings, we feel like going with such an unknown company is a bit risky.
Obviously, the decision about which company to use is ultimately yours. We'll share a bit more about our hesitations regarding USAGold below to help you make a more informed decision.
Is USAGold a Scam?
No, we wouldn't say that USAGold is a scam. The company was founded nearly 50 years ago, and it does not seem likely that a scam company would be able to stay around for that long. They appear to offer the products and services advertised on their website.
USAGold is not a scam, but are they the best choice if you want to invest in precious metals or set up a Gold or Silver IRA? We don't think so.
First, as we shared above, the reviews for USAGold online are very limited. And, while limited reviews don't always indicate poor business practices, they also don't give you confidence that a company offers excellent service either. For us, it is too much of a gamble to work with a company with hardly any reviews when there are numerous other very highly reviewed companies out there.
Another potential drawback we see in working with USAGold is that they are not an IRA custodian. While they do offer IRA-eligible precious metals, you'll have to work with a separate custodian company to set up the IRA and transfer funds from an existing retirement plan.
Some precious metals companies out there are also IRA custodians. Working with a company that offers both services just simplifies the process and leaves fewer unknowns. It will also be easier to get a full picture of the fees you'll be charged by knowing exactly who you'll be working with.
If you're looking to further diversify your portfolio by investing in platinum or palladium, USAGold also may not be the right choice for you. They only offer gold and silver bullion.
Features
Pros
Cons
Final Verdict
If you're ready to diversify your portfolio by investing in precious metals, we're excited for you. However, if you're thinking about working with USAGold, we'd advise you to reconsider your decision. As we shared above, there are very few available reviews for USAGold online, so it is difficult to get a good idea about how the company operates and the quality of the products and services they provide.
USAGold also isn't an IRA custodian, so you'll have to work with a separate custodian company if you want to open a Precious Metals IRA. There just seem to be too many negatives and unknowns to really recommend this company, especially given how many other gold investment companies are out there. And, since many of these other gold investment companies are very highly rated, we think you'll be able to easily find a better option than USAGold.
We believe that there are better companies out there to make your investment with.
You can get a free gold investment kit from our #1 recommended precious metals investment company above, or you can checkout our top 5 recommended companies below...
===> See our top 5 recommended companies here (for IRAs AND non IRAs)
Or, continue with USAGold...
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