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Investing in precious metals or opening a gold IRA is an important part of any portfolio diversification strategy. When it’s time to invest and benefit from precious metals, you might be comparing your options between Goldco and Birch Gold Group. This article would help you choose the better option between both.
Goldco is one of the most famous gold IRA and precious metals companies. It offers a massive selection of IRS-approved gold and silver coins that you can choose from. There is also a pretty high buyback guarantee and tons of positive reviews online.
Birch Gold Group is a pretty old and highly reputable precious metals company that allows you to get started for as low as $10,000. When you work with them, you will receive one-on-one care from a dedicated specialist and slightly low fees.
Let’s take a closer look at Goldco and Birch Gold Group in this complete guide.
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About Goldco
Goldco is an IRA Brokerage company that allows people to invest in gold, silver, palladium and platinum, either through physical purchases or by opening an individual retirement account. It was founded in 2006, and the company focuses on helping its customers throughout the process. This is why they offer one-on-one customer service.
Aside from the IRA-approved products, Goldco also has rare collectibles and coins that cannot be stored in an IRA. You can purchase the coins with cash and keep them in your collection. Goldco also has mostly positive reviews and a great reputation online.
Pros
Cons
What Makes It Different?
Goldco stands out from Birch Gold Group as it offers a transparent and straightforward fee structure, especially regarding its buyback program. You can easily sell your gold back to the company for a good price.
Also, Goldco can deliver your precious metals investment within a week, but for Birch Gold Group, it depends on the investment option that you choose.
About Birch Gold Group
Birch Gold Group was founded in 2003, and so it is one of the longest-standing IRA companies out there. It is based in California and works with a highly reputable team of precious metals and investment experts. It focuses mostly on precious metals and self-directed IRAs, and there are no alternative assets available.
Birch Gold Group is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and also has top ratings online, although there are not as many reviews online as with Goldco. The company has also been endorsed by Ben Shapiro.
Pros
Cons
What Makes It Different?
Birch Gold Group stands out from Goldco with the low minimum investment amount, which is $10,000. This makes the company ideal for investors on a tight budget.
Birch Gold places a lot of emphasis on customer education, so it even comes with an online portal where customers can track and monitor their investments. This is another advantage that gives it an edge over Goldco.
Comparison Between Goldco and Birch Gold Group
There are some differences between Goldco and Birch Gold Group that you can keep in mind when trying to choose the ideal option for you. You can differentiate them based on their products and services, transaction fees, customer service, storage options, and online reputation. Here’s a comparison of the two companies.
Available Services and IRA Rollover
Birch Gold Group and Goldco specialize in IRAs and offer a wide range of precious metals that investors can benefit from.
When you sign up on Goldco, you will be given a kit with everything you need to start your investment, including the educational materials, IRS regulations on your retirement account and available products. The Goldco website includes information on your products, with a robust gold and silver collection and a couple of palladium and platinum products, but this is rare.
Goldco features coins like Canadian Maple Leaf and American Eagle Coins. You can also purchase some niche bullion coins issued by the US Mint. Some of their products cannot be held in a retirement account, like commemorative and collectible coins.
Goldco also allows you to roll over your IRA if you have already opened one. The company partners with Equity Trust Company as its preferred IRA custodian to transfer or open an IRA from scratch. Some of the coins that you can trade or invest in include Gold American Bald Eagle Coin, Gold American Eagle Coin, Silver American Eagle Coin, Silver Maple Leaf Coin, and more.
As for Birch Gold Group, you will be connected with a custodian or specialist who will provide how the paperwork works and will also process your application. After creating the account, they will roll over your funds from your existing retirement account.
Some of the bullion and coins that you can invest with Birch Gold Group include American Buffalo, American Eagle Coins, Austrian Philharmonic, Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, American Silver Eagle, and more.
You can also diversify your investment by opening a self-directed IRA with Birch Gold Group, although they don’t specify which custodian they are working with. Their fees also depend on the custodian that you choose. Birch Gold also comes with IRA rollover services.
Fees and Minimum Investment Amount
The minimum investment amount offered by Goldco is $25,000 when you want to open an IRA or invest in gold or silver assets. When you invest this first, you will pay a fee of $175. Then, you can receive silver that is worth the value of a year of storage with another $25,000 investment. If you end up investing $100,000, your fees will increase to $225.
When you sign up, you will pay a flat fee of $50 for setting up your account and a $30 wire fee. The annual maintenance fee is $100, and for storage, you can choose between segregated and non-segregated for $150 and $100. There are no storage fees on transactions over $25,000.
When investing with Birch Gold Group, the minimum investment amount is $10,000. It’s a lower threshold than many other gold companies, so this makes it accessible to those who are on a budget. It also offers different promotion campaigns to its clients, like free metals.
When opening an account on Birch Gold, you will pay $50, which is a flat fee. As for the custodian and maintenance fees, you will pay up to $180 every year.
Customer Service and Education
Goldco offers reliable customer service and education to its customers. It offers detailed ADA compliance and a privacy policy that keeps customer information safe. The company also has a dedicated team of customer support agents, which is available through email and live chat to handle your queries. You can read their terms and conditions to address your queries.
As for Birch Gold, it focuses on educating its clients about investing in precious metals and opening a retirement account. You can read all the risks and rewards of precious metals and choose the right investment opportunity. There are also guides on identifying investment scams.
Storage and Depository Options
Goldco offers multiple depository options, which include Delaware Depository and Brink’s Global Services. The company mostly works with the depository in Salt Lake City, Utah, but you can choose another location if you want.
There is another storage option that you have access to on Goldco, which is International Depository Services. This is located in Texas and offers major tax advantages. You can also access segregated vaults for $150 per year.
Birch Gold Group also works with Brink’s Global Service and Delaware Depository. These are the same with Goldco and are one of the best in the world. Brink recommends its customers use its depositories in Utah, Los Angeles or New York.
Online Reputation
Goldco is a famous and highly reputable precious metals company. The company has an A+ rating from Better Business Bureau, a 4.83 out of 5-star rating. On Trustpilot, you get a rating of 4.9 stars, while Consumer Affairs gives you 4.8 stars. It has up to a thousand reviews online, most of which are positive.
While Birch Gold only has hundreds of reviews per website, it also has good reviews. Birch Gold is also accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+. It has received 4.69 stars at the BBB, 4.8 stars from Trustpilot and 4.8 stars from Consumer Affairs.
Who Wins Between Goldco and Birch Gold?
Both Goldco and Birch Gold Group are two leaders in the industry that have mostly received positive feedback from their customers among hundreds of reviews. Even when there is negative feedback, it seems like both companies try to solve the issue quickly. You will also get competitive prices when you work with either one and a flat fee structure that saves from hefty storage fees.
After our extensive review, we recommend Goldco over Birch Gold. Goldco has a more streamlined approach to precious metals or IRA investments because one specialist will be assigned to you and help you with the paperwork. The company will coordinate with your depository and custodian, so all you have to do is crosscheck and sign the paperwork.
Goldco also has transparent information on its website, so you can easily understand the management and the employees that work there. You get a wider range of gold and silver coins available on Goldco for direct purchase and IRAs. The main downside is that you need to meet the $25,000 investment amount, as this is the minimum.
Even with this in mind, the Birch Gold Group still offers solid services. It comes with a low minimum amount of $10,000 and great customer service. It also surpasses a lot of other precious metal companies. If you decide to invest in either Goldco or Birch Gold, you can rest assured as the companies protect your assets.
Alternative Gold Investment Companies
If you’re unsure about using Goldco or Birch Gold Group, there are some alternatives that you can consider working with instead.
Augusta Precious Metals (WINNER)
Augusta Precious Metals is a reputable company and a gold and silver IRA provider. The company provides IRA-compliant precious metals, gold storage, direct purchase of silver and gold, and one-on-one account lifetime support from specialists. The company is focused on educating customers and will help you open an IRA.
Although Augusta Precious Metals offers quality services, there is a minimum investment amount of $50,000. If you cannot afford this, you can consider working with Goldco instead. Despite this, the company offers full education, even if you haven’t signed up, account lifetime support, and excellent customer reviews.
American Hartford Gold might be a relatively new company, but it is still one of the best in the industry. The minimum investment amount is $5,000, and you might not have to pay fees for up to three years. It also has an A+ rating from BBB and a wide range of positive reviews and ratings.
It is a great choice for those on a budget and offers a buyback program with no fees involved. The main downside is the lack of transparency on their website.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking to start an investment in precious metals, you can consider choosing between Goldco and Bich Gold. Both companies have a great reputation among investors and have received mostly positive reviews online. You should consider them based on your budget and the precious metals that they have to offer. To know more, you can contact the companies before making your choice. You can also consider the alternatives that we included in our guide.