Although gold and silver have been longstanding diversification tools for wise investors, they’ve generally shown more interest in adding those assets when inflation goes up. Augusta Precious Metals is a leading gold IRA company that specializes in educating retirement savers on how they can further diversify their retirement savings with gold and silver. It has the best reputation of the companies we reviewed. One thing that stands out is that this company offers retirement savers education on gold IRAs and fees, the economy and high-pressure tactics to watch out for from other companies. They give Americans the chance to buy into a gold- and silver-backed individual retirement account (IRA) and to buy precious metals directly from the company.
- Company highly rated by users and ratings services
- Specializes in gold and silver IRAs
- Provides guides helping consumers avoid gimmicks and high pressure
- Up to 10 years of fees paid for you
- Account lifetime customer support
- Higher minimum of $50,000
Augusta Precious Metals Ratings at a Glance
Who is Augusta Precious Metals?
Augusta Precious Metals is a gold IRA company that lets you invest directly in precious metals like gold and silver. When the economy takes a downward swing and inflation affects consumer buying power, precious metals have been traditionally utilized by wise investors as a hedge option.
Augusta Precious Metals is rated highly in its field by neutral sources. Money magazine voted Augusta its overall winner of “Best Gold IRA Companies for 2022.” Investopedia selected the company “Most Transparent.” TrustLink has chosen Augusta as “Best Of” for six years in a row. You will find the highest ratings for Augusta at Google My Business (4.9/5 stars), A+ from the Better Business Bureau and AAA from the Business Consumer Alliance, among others.
Augusta offers investors the flexibility of investing in gold through their IRA or buying directly and having gold delivered to their homes. One of the best things about Augusta is that it offers free guides to help consumers learn about gold IRAs and avoid gimmicks and high-pressure tactics to watch out for. They also offer a one-on-one web conference designed by their on-staff Harvard-trained economist that is mentioned as a “must-watch” in many consumer reviews. Their paid corporate ambassador, hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana, and his financial team chose Augusta after seeing this web conference.
Augusta also offers their investors the choice of buying gold coins or bars. Gold coin offerings are available from Augusta Precious Metals in the following formats:
- Gold American Eagle Coins in 1 ounce, ½ ounce, ¼ ounce and 0.10 ounces
- Gold Canadian Maple Leaf (1 ounce)
- Gold American Buffalo Coin (1 ounce)
- Austrian Gold Philharmonic Coin (1 ounce)
Augusta works with gold IRA customers to complete 95% of the paperwork and provide account lifetime support. Investors who buy gold outside of an IRA can have it delivered to their homes via a secure shipping method. Augusta’s shipping method is so secure that even the delivery driver doesn’t know that they’re dropping precious metals off at your house.
About Augusta’s Gold IRA
To be eligible for inclusion in an IRA offering, gold is required to meet several specific requirements. Gold coins must be at least 99.5% pure to meet federal eligibility requirements for IRA inclusion. The only exception to this rule is the American Gold Eagle coin, which can be included in an IRA with a minimum 91.67% purity rating.
Gold bullion (bars) must be sourced through an approved gold refiner and have a 0.9999% purity rating. Although IRA-eligible gold need only be 99.5% pure, most gold bullion bars are 99.99% pure. The purpose of these requirements is to help make sure that IRA investors are getting metals suitable for their IRA. Augusta’s Gold IRA provides investors with gold that meets federal IRA requirements. So you can be sure that you’re getting metals suitable for your retirement savings if you invest in Augusta’s gold IRA.
Why Put Gold in Your IRA?
The purpose of an IRA is to diversify your savings and also potentially to grow wealth for the account holder. Throughout the years, gold prices have held steady and performed well even during times of economic uncertainty. That’s why wise investors have been inclined to add gold to their IRAs as an added layer of diversification. Because gold prices are historically steady, we don’t view gold as a “get rich quick” type of investment asset. It’s meant to be a longer term investment – a hold that investors have relied upon to buttress their otherwise diverse retirement savings through uncertain times.
Like other investments, past performance is not an indicator of future success, and risk is involved.
Everyone has heard the term “fool’s gold,” which is gold that looks like gold, but really isn’t. The fear of getting fool’s gold, or being browbeaten into buying impure gold coins by a high-pressure salesperson, is what keeps a lot of people from investing in gold. A company that offers gold as an investment must go to extreme lengths to assuage this fear among investors.
Augusta Precious Metals does a great job of providing customer service for the entire lifetime of each account – and a feeling of security knowing the gold and silver it sells are legitimate. You can see confirmation of this company’s high-quality service in 1000s of top ratings and 100s of very high customer reviews – plus the company’s ratings by independent media and consumer watchdog websites like Money magazine, Investopedia, Google My Business, TrustLink and the BBB.
You are greeted with a live chat window immediately upon hitting the platform’s splash page. It appears as if the live chat is run by an actual live person and if they’re unable to answer your question, your email inquiries are attended to quickly. You are assigned a personal customer success team member who is your liaison with all company departments.
As for the actual purchasing process, one of the best aspects of Augusta’s customer service program is its order desk, which provides you live assistance and real-time information about options from Augusta’s product team.
If you choose to add gold or silver to your IRA, Augusta’s product professionals will walk you through the process and handle almost all of the paperwork. When you add stellar service to a solid library of in-depth tutorials and informational videos on its YouTube channel, you end up with a great customer service platform that will put even the most cynical investor at ease with buying precious metals. The best part? Augusta wants you to speak with your financial advisor before you get the process started. They aren’t giving financial advice tailored for any particular person. Their goal is to make sure that when you’re ready, the gold IRA investment process runs smoothly from all technical perspectives.
The company takes all the security steps you would expect from a firm that offers what Augusta Precious Metals offers. Their site’s security certificate is up to date, and it appears as if it has taken all the necessary security precautions. Another strong plus with Augusta is that you can only place orders directly through one of its customer service team members.
Every order call is recorded, and every order is confirmed by an Augusta product professional. The Augusta representative you deal with on this call will also give you a disclaimer on the risks associated with your purchase (however, this is not a substitute for financial advice whatsoever). This verbal confirmation requirement dramatically reduces the chances of someone using your information to purchase gold.
Augusta Precious Metals offers its customers a host of benefits that any investor would be happy to receive. Aside from its impressive array of informational videos and FAQ page, the Augusta team of product professionals provides investors with unique insights on precious metals that are not readily available in other places. Apart from this, one of the biggest benefits of Augusta is the fact that it is so proactive about helping investors with paperwork related to investing in gold. It claims to do up to 95% of the paperwork for customers on the IRA side of their business.
Augusta has an easy-to-understand and straightforward customer pricing structure. The price the order desk quotes you for your desired metal in your desired quantity is what you pay. The company does not charge fees for opening an account or add management charges to your purchases. It doesn’t get much better than zero management fees to purchase your gold. You will pay a small setup fee for the custodian. Annual fees of $100 each are charged by the custodian and storage facility for IRAs.
Augusta Precious Metals is clearly dedicated to maintaining a great user experience. The information it provides and its willingness to step in and help with questions or paperwork attest to this. Additionally, the high ratings it has from a multitude of third-party rating services and customer reviews speak volumes about how much Augusta Precious Metals customers enjoy their experience with the company. Based on that, five stars feels like a well-earned rating for Augusta.
- Best For:Gold IRAVIEW PROS & CONS:securely through Augusta Precious Metals's website
Augusta Precious Metals is a phenomenal company. It has a clear mission to make buying precious metals easy and understandable for investors. More importantly, it accomplishes that mission. If you were a total novice to buying precious metals, you could land on Augusta Precious Metals’ home page and get the educational resources needed to get a solid idea of how to get started with a precious metals IRA and to learn all about the various attributes of gold and silver as diversification assets.
The high ratings from past users and the fact that the company doesn’t charge management fees on purchases round out what is an incredibly strong effort at creating a precious metals investing service that everyone can use. Any informed investor interested in purchasing precious metals to further diversify their savings would be well advised to consider Augusta Precious Metals as an option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are precious metals a good investment?
The answer to whether precious metals (or anything else) is a good investment depends on a number of factors. Your investment goals, risk tolerance and how much money you have to invest are just a few of them. However, precious metals are a finite resource that are relied upon by many industries for various applications. The value of most precious metals has been generally steady and consistent for the last several decades, though we can’t guarantee any particular trend will remain the same over time. It’s important to consult your own financial, tax, and legal professionals to help you decide what to invest in.
What are some of the precious metals people normally invest in?
Time-tested assets like gold and silver have held steady value and appreciation throughout the years. Gold and silver are used in a number of different applications, many of which are high-end uses like jewelry and the ability to conduct electricity efficiently. Add that to the fact that the world’s supply of unmined precious metals gets smaller every day, and you quickly understand why they’ve stayed valuable in the eyes of consumers throughout history.
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About Eric McConnell
Eric McConnell is an alternative investment writer interested in rare collectibles, fine wines, art and sports memorabilia. He developed his love for sports during his childhood, where in addition to being an aspiring professional baseball player, he was an avid baseball card collector and reader of the Robb Report.
As is the case for many aspiring young sluggers, Eric’s baseball career came to an end the first time he encountered a pitcher capable of throwing 90 mph and a wicked curveball. However, his delight in the finer things of life never waned, and after a career in real estate, Eric branched out into writing, where he joined Benzinga as an alternative investment writer in 2021.
Although he covers breaking news in all areas of alternative investments, Eric’s favorite subjects harken back to his childhood days of reading the Robb Report and collecting baseball cards. He has a passion for writing about fine art sales, whiskey auctions and sports memorabilia.