Goldco Review

Have you seen the stock market plummet recently? Are you worried about putting your hard-earned money in such volatile investments? I had these exact concerns, which is why I turned to precious metals.

When I started investing in gold, I was able to protect my nest egg from the madness of the stock market. I was able to hold an asset that has proven itself over thousands of years.

I finally found an investment that has the ability to avoid financial crises and hedge against inflation. And thanks to a change in U.S. law in 1997, Americans are now able to open precious metals IRAs.

One company in particular that offers gold and silver IRAs is Goldco.

In this Goldco review, we will concentrate on their business, offerings and what this organization has to offer.

Who is Goldco?

Goldco Direct LLC, formerly known as Heritage Gold Group, was founded by Trevor Gerszt in 2006, giving them 14 years of experience handling precious metals accounts.

During this time, Goldco Precious Metals has expanded its account lineup. It has also racked up quite a few reviews of its services from customers and consumer watchdogs alike.

We’ll take a look at these in more detail up ahead.

What Does Goldco Offer?

Goldco is most well-known for its Gold IRAs and Silver IRAs. It also has taxable (non-retirement) accounts if you want to invest in precious metals outside of a retirement account.

A third and final option is Cryptocurrency IRAs.

Goldco precious metals accounts come with multiple storage solutions, customer support from start to finish, and a buyback program when you get ready to sell your holdings.

What is a Precious Metals IRA?

A precious metals IRA with Goldco functions in a similar way as an IRA that invests in stocks and mutual funds. You’re eligible to make withdrawals penalty free starting at age 59½ per IRS regulations. If you setup a traditional IRA, you’ll need to start making withdrawals by the age of 72.

Like a brokerage IRA, the value of the holdings in a precious metals IRA is not guaranteed. The prices of silver and gold fluctuate like other investment vehicles based on market conditions and many economic factors.

But remember that gold has functioned as a safe haven asset for millennia. So it tends to have a natural price floor.

If you prefer to invest in silver, you can open a silver-only IRA, or an IRA with a mix of gold and silver.

IRA Approved Gold & Silver Bullion

Because of government regulations on precious metals IRAs, there are some types of gold and silver you won’t be able to buy in your Goldco retirement account.

For example, any gold product you buy for your IRA must have a fineness of at least .999. The same is true for silver.

Furthermore, any gold or silver you currently own cannot be placed in an IRA. You need to first open an IRA and then purchase coins to add to it.

There are several choices Goldco currently offers for purchase. These include:

• 2017 Australian Saltwater Crocodile Gold Coin. This 1/4 oz coin comes from the Perth mint and is four 9’s fine (0.9999).
• 2019 1/4 oz Lunar Pig Gold Coin. This gold coin is from the United Kingdom’s Royal Mint and has a face value of £25.
• 2017 Lucky Dragon Silver Coin. This coin comes from the Royal Canadian Mint and has one ounce of silver in it. It is 99.99% pure.

Because of Uncle Sam’s regulations for precious metals IRAs, Goldco does not permit home storage of coins. You’ll need to store them at a professional storage facility. Goldco partners with several of them.

Storing Your Metals

Pricing & Transaction Minimums

Precious metals IRAs at Goldco must pay storage fees every year.

For non-segregated storage, the annual charge is $100. For segregated storage, it’s $150.

There is also a yearly IRA maintenance fee of $80. Once a retirement account reaches $100,000, the annual fee increases by $50.

In addition to the annual fees, there are also one-time charges. An IRA has a setup fee of $50 and depositing funds by wire is a $30 charge.

Adding up all the fees, we see that a Goldco IRA with non-segregated storage costs $260 for the first year (setup fee, wire fee, annual fee, and first year of storage) and $180 every year after that, assuming no additional wires.

While this may seem like a lot of fees, regular taxable accounts at Goldco have no fees of any kind. There are no annual fees, start-up costs, or storage expenses.

The required starting balance for an IRA is $25,000. For taxable accounts, the minimum is $3,500.

Buyback Program

After you’ve had your IRA for a while, you’ll eventually want to begin liquidating your holdings. As we already mentioned, once you reach age 72, you’ll be required to start taking withdrawals.

One method to do this is to sell assets to a coin dealer or other buyer of gold or silver. Goldco customers are perfectly free to do this.

A service that we really like at Goldco, however, is the ability to directly sell coins back to Goldco. It may be possible to receive a higher price with this second method. So it’s nice to have this option on the table.

Rankings, Complaints & Customer Reviews

What are the Pros & Cons?

Rolling Over Your Retirement Plan

If you have an old retirement plan from a former employer, such as a 403(b) or 401(k), Goldco can help roll it over into an IRA.

The first step is to open an IRA with Goldco. Once you have your new account open, you need to speak to an Goldco IRA specialist to request that funds from your old account be moved to your new account. This can be done using either a direct rollover or an indirect rollover.

With a direct rollover, funds are sent from the custodian of the first account to the custodian of the second account. With an indirect rollover, the account is closed and the funds are sent to you. Under IRS regulations, you have 60 days to deposit those funds into your new retirement account.

If you don’t meet the 60-day window, you’ll have to pay taxes and fees. For this reason, Goldco recommends a direct rollover.

Learning Materials

If the idea of investing in gold and silver for retirement has captured your attention, but you don’t feel you quite understand everything you should, Goldco has an educational section on its website just for you.

In the top menu of its site, there is a tab entitled “Knowledge Center.” Here, you’ll find a lot of great resources that explain in detail how its taxable and retirement accounts work for precious metals investing.

There are several eBooks that can be downloaded for free. Many of them highlight the pitfalls of investing in today’s financial markets. For example, we found:

• How China Will Destroy Your IRA or 401(k)
• 10 Reasons the Dollar Will Crash
• The Stock Market Vs. Precious Metals
• 10 Signs You Will Return to Work After Retirement

There are lots of videos in Goldco’s educational section, too. They cover topics such as the benefits of tangible assets, the uncertainty of the U.S. dollar, and the risks of large banks.

Also on the Goldco site is a blog. We found many articles, some of them very recent (a good sign), covering a lot of topics. Examples include the 2020 stock market crash, a recent cut in the Fed funds rate, and potential problems in America’s corporate bond market.

Goldco publishes spot prices for precious metals on its website, so you can always see what your account is currently worth.

"White-Glove" Customer Service

Who Should Invest With Goldco?

Goldco’s products are ideal for people who are concerned about the future of the U.S. dollar, the volatility of the stock market, or the possibility of future financial crises.

If you prefer to own physical investments instead of corporate securities, Goldco is certainly a viable alternative. A stock can go down 80%, 90%, or even all the way to $0. The history of the stock market has such examples.

But gold isn’t going to go to $0. It simply doesn’t have the same risks that other investments have.

If you do own some stocks in your portfolio, but want to add some diversification to reduce risk, incorporating gold into your overall investment picture will help to smooth out any market crashes.

People who are in retirement or nearing retirement could benefit from gold’s inherent safety. Because the yellow metal isn’t going to be sold off to another buyer for pennies on the dollar, it can add a level of safety to a portfolio full of individual stocks.

Goldco Review - Final Thoughts