Goldco Gold IRA Reviews, FAQ and Guides

Goldco Gold IRA Review

$25,000 funding minimum

Industry-best buyback program will match or beat any other dealer’s offer to buy their gold when it comes time to liquidate.
Welcome offer of free shipping on your first order, plus a free half-ounce silver bullion coin. 5% bonus silver on new gold IRAs over $50,000, 10% bonus silver on new gold IRAs over $100,000.
Excellent reviews, press, endorsements, and testimonials, including an A+ rating from the BBB.
Unclear whether their product offerings extend beyond gold and silver to include platinum and palladium.

Company Background

Goldco was founded in 2006 by Trevor Gertz, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with the goal of helping Americans invest in precious metals to build long-term wealth and secure their retirement liquidity.

They offer the option of both direct-purchase of precious metals, as well as self-directed Gold IRAs.

Since 2019, Goldco has taken off like a rocket in terms of growth, adding more than 189% to their revenue rake, increasing their customer base by more than 138%, and enjoying an influx of positive social proof with 184% positive reviews from existing customers. They have also doubled their employee complement, creating a deep bench of seasoned talent in the Gold IRA space.

Goldco is especially notable for its COVID-19-era pivot, transitioning much of its team to remote work and continuing to grow even through the ensuing recession. While their competitors were struggling, contracting, and facing SEC lawsuits for deceptive marketing practices, 2020 was the biggest growth year that Goldco had seen yet, and they also achieved highest marks for employee satisfaction.

Reputation, Reviews, and Achievements

Goldco has one of the best reputations of any Gold IRA provider in the market. Their list of accolades includes an Inc. 5,000 as one of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies and a 2022 “Silver Stevie” at the 21st Annual American Business Awards. They also enjoy prestigious recognitions like the highest-possible A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Of course, it would all mean very little without verification from actual customers. Fortunately, Golico has that in spades, with over 1,100 reviews on Trustpilot and an impressive average rating of 4.8 stars. It has over 1,600 reviews on Google with a stellar average of 4.9 stars. Finally, it has over 250 reviews on TrustLink with an almost-perfect five-out-of-five stars. Hard to shake a stick at that kind of reputation.

Customer Service

Goldco’s testimonials tell a story of excellent customer service. There is a separate toll-free number and email address for current customers — 855-472-8494 and customercare@goldco.com — and also a chat support bubble in the lower righthand section of the website you can use to initiate a chat session.

Bonuses and Incentives

Goldco offers free shipping on your first order, plus a free half-ounce silver bullion coin if you use the online opt-in form and follow it up with a call to the sales representative.

Additionally, Goldco has an excellent welcome offer for larger rollovers into new precious metal IRAs, offering 5% bonus silver for first purchases ranging from $50,000-$99,999, and 10% bonus silver for first purchases ranging from $100,000 and up.

Of course, as we discuss below in the section on “Minimum Investment,” it only makes sense for people with large retirement accounts to roll over to make an initial IRA funding of $50,000 or more. But for individuals with higher net worth, this is an excellent bonus, since it scales with your purchase.

Fees and Charges

Don’t waste time looking for a breakdown of fees and charges on the Goldco website — it’s not on there. This is not unique to Goldco, but they don’t want to break down their prices and fees in public — they want to convert you to a lead before you start price shopping. Nevertheless, you can almost certainly expect to have to get on the phone with a Goldco representative before you will get a breakdown of pricing.

The most current pricing we can offer is as follows:

Initial Setup Fee: $50
Annual Admin Fee: $80
Storage Fee: $100 (commingled) or $150 (segregated)

These fees place Goldco in the middle of the pack, decidedly average. However, these prices are subject to change at any time. You will have to speak to a Goldco representative to find out the fees you will be subject to.

Minimum Investment

While Goldco will sell any amount of gold or silver to you for direct purchase. For a Gold IRA, however, they have a “preferred minimum” starting balance of $25,000. This is on the middle-to-high end of starting balance requirements for a Gold IRA.

Keep in mind that most financial advisors only advise keeping 5%-10% of your net worth in the form of precious metals. If you follow these guidelines, that means you need a retirement nest egg of at least $250,000-$500,000 before it’s time to start thinking about a Goldco Gold IRA.

Keep in mind, as well, that this is greater than the annual contribution limit for all retirement accounts set by the IRA, so you will need to have funds in another qualified retirement account available for rollover to the new Gold IRA.

Product Selection

Whereas Goldco enjoys a sterling reputation and tons of industry recognition, where they fall short is in selection of precious metals to invest in. In the “Buy Gold & Silver” section of the website, there is a “Buy Now” button at the top … but instead of taking you to an eCom or checkout page, you are taken to a contact form. “Buy Gold & Silver Today!” you are instructed … but what you can actually do today is request their free “Wealth Protection” kit, become a lead, and/or dial a toll-free number.

The “Buy Gold & Silver” page has live market spot prices for gold and silver, as well as a list of products — mostly popular coins from American, Canadian, and Australian, and Royal Dutch mints. However, the coin images are not clickable and there are no separate product pages with prices. Gold and silver bars are mentioned, but no detail is shared about the available refineries, quantities, or specifics. Bottom line — don’t expect to hear their actual selection of bullion products (and pricing).

Notably absent are any mention of platinum or palladium products available. That doesn’t mean they are not available, but Goldco is not public about their access to these products, and they only include market prices for gold and silver on the “Buy Gold & Silver” page, strongly suggesting that they don’t deal much in platinum or palladium. Remember, the different precious metals don’t move in lock-step, and the more precious metals you have in your portfolio, the more diversified you are and the more protected from a dip in any one of them. Goldco’s ostensible lack of platinum or palladium bullion offerings is a noteworthy omission.

Onboarding

The first and most obvious step to onboard as a new Gold IRA client with Goldco is to call the toll-free number at the top. The various pages of the website also contain multiple call-to-action buttons inviting you to request your “free kit.” The free “Wealth Protection” kit includes a written, audio, and video guide.

Once you enter your information, you are informed that you will soon be called by a Goldco representative to confirm your mailing address for the paper guide. Moreover, a fifteen-minute countdown starts, and you are encouraged to call the Goldco toll-free number before they call you. And if you do, you will qualify for two bonuses — free shipping for the guide (which was supposed to be free anyway), plus a free half-ounce silver bullion coin.

Be prepared — don’t fill out that contact form unless you’re ready to jump on a call then and there. If you think Goldco is a serious contender for your Gold IRA, you might as well get that free shipping and free silver coin.

Custodial Options

Coldco offers precious metal brokerage services for Gold IRAs, but they are not a Gold IRA custodian themselves. They specify that they work with any Gold IRA custodian, so if you have a Gold IRA custodian in mind you should have no trouble collaborating seamlessly with Goldco. If you don’t have a custodian in mind already, they can pair you with one — just remember to do your due diligence on the custodian as well as Goldco.

Storage Options

Goldco partners with multiple IRS-approved depositories to store IRA-owned assets safely and in compliance with regulations. One of them is the famous Delaware Depository, a well-known depository in Wilmington, DE known for its security, disaster-resistance measures, and software portal solution that makes it easy for IRA custodians like Goldco to interface with the depository and provide their end-clients with easy access to information about their assets.

Goldco offers both commingled and segregated storage options, with extra charges for segregated storage. Insurance and audit fees are also passed on to the client, which is standard.

Buyback and Liquidation Policy

Goldco makes a selling point out of its “Buyback Guarantee” — they will match or beat any price you could get from any other dealer. This may not seem like much, but it helps to know that the dealer who sold you the gold stands behind the product enough to buy it back from you at competitive rates. It also demonstrates how it pays to shop around. Don’t just accept the first price they offer you.

Education and Client Empowerment

Goldco professes a commitment to client education and empowerment. Their embodiment of that ethos takes the form of a reasonably comprehensive FAQ on both their “Gold IRA” and “Silver IRA” pillar pages.

The “News & Articles” menu item leads you to a fairly basic blog. However, the blog has over 800 entries. It has a search bar and is broken down into useful categories — first and foremost, a seven-chapter “Beginner’s Guide to a Gold IRA.” If Goldco is your only resource for learning about Gold IRAs and gold investing, you’ll get it done.

Entries into the blog are easy to read and peppered with visual aids, but there is a notable lack of video content, other than an embedded YouTube video here and there. There’s no sign of a podcast. Goldco does have a YouTube video, to which they post 10-minute videos relatively regularly, but it isn’t prominently displayed anywhere on the website.

Account Management

It is not clear that Goldco offers any sort of customer back-end website or portal to support their gold dealership services. It is worth noting that Goldco isn’t the custodian of the Gold IRA they will help you open. The official custodian will be someone else, and that custodian may offer a web-based portal for account management. Certain depositories make online account management easier. For example, the Delaware Depository has an easy-to-access custodian portal; other depositories, however, may not.

Not being the custodian, it might be expected that there be no client portal … but there’s also no “eCommerce” component of Goldco where you can view the current inventory of available gold products with live pricing and purchase them online. Account management … purchasing … That's kind of everything. All that’s left is a marketing website, and the formidable reputation of the Goldco name.

Final Thoughts

You can’t ignore a service provider with this much good press — both in terms of industry notice, watchdog rankings, and thousands of actual user reviews. This pedigree alone places Goldco in the upper echelon of Gold IRA providers you should consider.

On the debit side, a lack of transparency, limited product offerings, and a web presence mostly focused on a relatively high-pressure sales process, combined with a relatively high minimum, mean that Goldco is definitely not for everyone.

For higher-net-worth individuals who place a high premium on a company’s reputation, Goldco is one of the best in the business. Yes, you will have to jump on a call … but the call may be worth it. Make sure to ask about and understand their pricing and premiums, do your homework, and invest with confidence.

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