Top 5 Best Gold IRA Companies in 2023 & Gold IRA Guide

A gold-based IRA is considered by many to be one of the best options to protect your retirement account from an unstable economy. This is because gold has proven itself to be a safe-haven asset that can withstand severe fluctuations and downturns in the market, and often outperforms other asset classes during recessions. Given the current market volatility, it may be an optimum time to consider a gold or precious metal IRA. Below you’ll find a convenient listing and comparison of our top-rated picks for the Top 5 Best Gold IRA Companies with links to reviews.  You will also find an informative Gold IRA Guide.

What is a Gold IRA?

A Gold IRA allows you to purchase and hold physical gold, and other hard assets, in what is called a “self-directed” IRA. Legally, Gold IRA’s must have a custodian. A custodian is an institution that maintains the account, its disbursements, IRS reporting, etc.. Storing your precious metals at your home is not permitted for gold or precious metal IRA’s. For more details, request an information packet from one of the top-rated Gold IRA companies below.

Why Gold?

Below are the top 3 reasons why people choose to diversify with gold and open a Gold IRA account:

Economic safety: If the stock market crashes, having part of your investments in gold may protect you from significant losses. This is especially important to consider if you are nearing retirement.

Inflation defense: Your purchasing power drops as the value of the US dollar drops. Having gold in your portfolio can protect you as gold has outperformed the value of the dollar historically.

Portfolio diversification: Having all of your money in a single investment class (such as stock and bonds) can open you up to significant risk. Diversifying your portfolio to include gold, such as in a Gold IRA, may be an important step to protecting your nest egg.

How does Gold perform during recessions?

Gold almost always increases during economic recessions. One way to analyze gold prices during a recession is by comparing its performance with the S&P 500. The chart shows 9 of the largest stock market declines and the performance of gold during the same time period.  As this data clearly shows, gold increased significantly during most of these recessions, and outperformed the S&P in all but one. 

Gold significantly outperforms the S&P 500 during stock market declines.

This article is not financial advice. Please refer to a finance professional before making your financial decisions. Some of the companies listed here may advertise with us and/or have an affiliate relationship with us. The opinions expressed, however, are our own.

Understanding the Basics: IRA’s versus Gold IRA’s

An IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is a savings plan with your name on it into which you may put certain investments approved by the Government. The Government does this because they give you tax breaks on the assets they allow in your savings plan.

In the past many people tried to include several things in their IRA plan over the years such as property, rental real estate and raw land. These are all prime examples of things which are sometimes allowed, and sometimes not.

With property, for example, you cannot live there, or let anyone else in your family live there. You cannot gain any immediate benefit from the property either, in fact you cannot have any personal involvement with the property in your IRA pot.

Once your investment is in the IRA savings plan, it stays there untouched until the person looking after it for you lets you have it back to draw the proceeds down.

Rules like this exist to ensure your investments are sound, and still likely to be there when you finally retire.

Different Strokes For Different Folks

There are various types of IRA pots used for different investments.

Imagine a set of savings plans that have rules stating which types of investments they allow.

You are permitted as many types of investments as your income, assets and circumstances allow.

A Self-directed IRA is a savings plan that will only let you put certain “alternative” investments like real estate or intellectual property into it.

A simple IRA savings plan will allow stocks or mutual funds to be put in.

A Gold IRA or precious metals IRA savings plan will allow physical (i.e. real) gold, silver, or other approved precious metals to be put in. This type of IRA does not allow ETFs, or gold mining shares - just physical metals.

Like the others, the Gold IRA savings plan is kept by other people, called a custodian, so you are not tempted to spend the metal before you retire. This is an especially important and convenient point with gold - it can be easily sold. Make sure the people looking after your IRA are reliable and honest. A safe place to store your gold is also a must for obvious reasons. Be sure to research not only the reputation of the Gold IRA companies you are considering but also where and how they store your gold.  Gold storage facilities are called depositories.