If you’ve been looking into gold IRA providers, you must’ve heard of Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals. Both of them are highly popular gold IRA companies and each of them have their unique advantages.
Investing in a gold IRA can be extremely beneficial for someone looking to safeguard their wealth from economic downturn. However, when it comes to finding a reliable provider, things can get a bit tricky.
Find the Best Rated Gold IRA Company of your State
Over the last few months, the gold IRA industry has seen a surge in popularity.
There are many companies, all claiming to be the best. However, the two that stand out from the crowd are Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals.
Quick summary: Augusta Precious Metals is a better company than Goldco. The following article will give a more detailed overview of why I arrived at that conclusion.
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Overview
| Comparison Point | Augusta Precious Metals | Goldco |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | $200 after first year | Variable fees (higher than industry standard) |
| Products | Gold, silver, platinum and palladium | Gold, silver |
| Reviews | 1000s of positive reviews across different platforms | Many positive reviews but some complaints are also present |
| Education | Large selection of resources and experts on staff | Good selection of resources |
| Minimum Investment | $50,000 | $25,000 |
| Check APM Reviews | Check Goldco Reviews |
What is Goldco?
Goldco is a precious metals company with nearly two decades of industry presence. The company has been operating in the sector since 2006. However, that’s only a bit more than Augusta.
Still, Goldco has been in the gold industry even before gold IRAs became so popular. The founder and CEO of Goldco is Trevor Gerszt.
He writes frequently and according to his posts, he believes in the value of well-diversified portfolios.
According to Trevor, having a diverse portfolio can be extremely helpful in protecting your wealth.
A notable highlight of Goldco’s leadership is that their CEO sits on the Board of Directors of BBB itself. Certainly, it shows just how reputable Goldco’s leadership is.
However, this doesn’t mean that APM is any behind. They too have extremely recognized leadership.
What is Augusta Precious Metals?
Currently, Augusta Precious Metals is an industry in the gold IRA industry. They arrived in the industry in 2012 and have been a dominant player ever since.
The company’s CEO and founder, Isaac Nuriani is among the most notable figures in the precious metals industry. He has decades of industry experience.
While the company has a large selection of gold and silver products to offer, they excel at teaching investors through their vast content library.
Now that you’re familiar with both of these companies, let’s look at some of their similarities:
Key Differences Between Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Their Fees
Checking the fees of a gold IRA dealer is extremely important. High fees can eat away at your returns and make it difficult for you to get a decent profit.
Goldco charges a minimum $80 annual custodian fee which might increase depending on your portfolio. Also, they charge a minimum $100 annual storage fee.
If you avail their buyback services, you’d need to pay additional fees.
What is a buyback?
Buyback refers to when you sell the precious metals products you bought from a dealer back to them. Companies that offer buyback services tend to offer better prices for their own products. This can be a great liquidation tactic especially in the case of an emergency.
Buybacks ensure that you get a good return on your precious metals while avoiding the hassle of finding a buyer.
On the other hand, Augusta charges 5% markup on its bullion products. However, the company waives its setup fee and its annual storage and custodian fees for up to 10 years.
Furthermore, Augusta doesn’t charge any shipping fee.
It’s worth noting that Goldco’s fees are a bit on the higher end when you compare them with the industry standard as well.
The only advantage Goldco has over Augusta is their lower minimum investment requirement. Goldco’s minimum investment requirement is $25,000 while Augusta’s minimum is $50,000.
| Type of Fees | Augusta Precious Metals | Goldco |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Custodian Fee | $80 (waived for up to 10 years) | $80 (minimum) |
| Annual Storage Fee | $100 (waived for up to 10 years) | $100 (minimum) |
| IRA Rollover Fee | $0 | $0 |
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Their Reviews
Just as it’s crucial to check the fee structure of a gold company, you should always check their online reviews. This is another section where Augusta beats Goldco.
Augusta Precious Metals has no complaints on BBB. In fact, they have received thousands of positive reviews across various consumer platforms including Trustlink and BBB itself.
On the other hand, there are several Goldco complaints available online.
Most of these complaints are regarding their pushy sales staff. Certainly, it doesn’t send the right message and when you do a one-on-one comparison, it doesn’t paint a good picture.
Hence, this is another area where Augusta Precious Metals performs better than Goldco.
Still, it’s worth noting that both of these companies have received a ton of praise online.
Goldco Reviews:
While Goldco has received a lot of praises online, there are several complaints against the company as well.
Goldco has an A+ rating on BBB with hundreds of positive reviews. Most of these reviews praise their vast product selection and helpful customer support.
Apart from BBB, Goldco has received 5-star reviews on Trustpilot as well. Trustpilot is another popular consumer platform where users generally give feedback on online businesses.
However, you might come across some complaints against them as well while browsing the internet. Most of them focus on their pushy sales staff:
Here’s a more detailed overview of Goldco reviews.
Augusta Precious Metals Reviews:
Augusta has received 100+ reviews on BBB alone. All of them are positive.
On top of that, they have an A+ rating and an accreditation with the BBB. Both of these are prominent trust factors because the Better Business Bureau has strict criteria for giving its accreditation.
That’s not all.
Augusta Precious Metals also has hundreds of positive reviews on Trustlink, another prominent consumer platform. Their BCA profile has an AAA rating, the highest possible on that platform, and a huge number customer reviews as well.
Certainly, the various positive reviews are a strong indicator of this company’s trustworthiness.
Here’s a more detailed overview of Augusta Precious Metals reviews.
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Their Products
This is another area where Augusta Precious Metals fares better than Goldco.
While Goldco only offers gold and silver products to consumers, Augusta offers gold, silver, platinum and palladium to consumers.
Platinum and palladium have become increasingly popular among investors. Both of them allow investors to add more diversity to their portfolio in case gold or silver start performing poorly.
Having the option to add more diversity to your portfolio is surely a great advantage. Hence, Augusta takes the lead in this case as well.
It’s worth noting that their product catalogs mainly consist of IRA-eligible metals only. The IRS has strict guidelines on which metals you can add to your IRA. Hence, both of these companies focus on only keeping IRA-eligible precious metals in their product selections.
Prominent Goldco Products:
At Goldco, you’ll find many popular gold and silver coins to invest in. Some of their gold products include American Gold Eagles and Canadian Gold Maple Leafs.
Additional notable products include:
- Gold Liberty Coin
- Gold Independence Hall Coin
- Gold Australian Saltwater Crocodile Coin
- Silver American Eagle Coin
- Silver Great Barrier Reef Coin
- Silver American Eagle Proof Coin
Surprisingly, there weren’t any Platinum or Palladium products available here. This can be a huge concern for investors because both of these metals
Prominent Augusta Precious Metals Products:
As I mentioned earlier, Augusta has a bigger product catalog with plenty of variety to offer.
You’ll find all the popular IRA-eligible gold and silver products here. This includes:
- Helena Gold Sovereign Coin
- American Gold Eagle
- Australian Striped Marlin Gold Coin
- The Rose Crown Guinea Gold Coin
- Canadian Silver Soaring Eagle
- American Silver Eagle
- American Platinum Eagle
And many more.
You would also find platinum and palladium coins and bars in their product catalog. Also, Augusta’s focus on client education ensures that you get to know everything about the coins you’re interested in.
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Custodians and Storage
When you’re going to open a gold IRA, it’s important to know who’s the custodian you’re investing with.
In most cases, your fees and charges depend primarily on the custodian you’re working with.
However, both Goldco and Augusta work with reputable custodians. This section will shed light on which
What is a Gold IRA custodian?
According to the IRS’ rules, you must invest your precious metals of your gold IRA with a 3rd-party and IRS-approved storage provider. Your gold IRA custodian will be responsible for managing your IRA and store your precious metals with the partner storage provider.
There are several notable IRS-approved storage providers including the Delaware Depository and Brink’s. The gold IRA custodian is the enterprise which keeps your precious metals IRA account.
Precious metals companies such as Augusta and Goldco focus more on helping you open an effective and reliable gold IRA account.
Goldco’s Custodian and Storage:
The custodial partner of Goldco is Equity Trust Company. They have decades of industry experience and are one of the most prominent names in the industry.
Equity Trust Company is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio.
Apart from precious metals IRAs, Equity Trust Company allows clients to invest in other alternative investments as well including real state and currency.
In terms of storage, Goldco claims that it has partnered with all major storage providers. This is a huge advantage as it means you can store your precious metals with your nearest IRA-eligible vault.
Augusta Precious Metals Custodian and Storage:
Surprisingly, Augusta’s custodial partner is also Equity Trust Company. Surely, it’s a huge sign of trust for Equity Trust as two of the most popular gold IRA companies are their preferred partners.
Furthermore, just like Goldco, Augusta has multiple storage partners as well.
Their storage partners include:
- Salt Lake City (Utah)
- Wilmington (Delaware)
- Los Angeles (California)
- Springfield Gardens (New York)
- Jackson (Ohio)
- New Castle (Delaware)
Having such a large variety of storage locations is a huge green flag. It’s proof that both of these companies focus on making precious metals accessible to their customers.
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Additional Highlights
Although I have compared the primary areas of comparison, there are some other differences in these companies as well.
For starters, while I noticed many reviews praising Augusta’s support, they also received a lot more praise for their emphasis on client education.
This means, if you have any doubts or concerns about gold IRAs, the team at Augusta Precious Metals would surely be able to help you out.
On the other hand, I noticed several Goldco complaints and how their sales staff ignores the concerns of their customers. Certainly, this is not a good sign.
Another prominent highlight is Augusta’s web conferences. The company conducts web conferences to help customers learn in detail about how gold IRAs work.
That’s something you wouldn’t get with Goldco.
It’s also worth noting that both of these companies have a lot of similarities. Both Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals offer their customers gold IRAs as well as gold IRA rollovers.
Frequently Asked Questions on Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals Comparison
What is the Difference Between Goldco and Augusta?
When you compare Goldco with Augusta Precious Metals, the former falls behind in terms of fees and product selection. Goldco has fewer products as it only offers gold and silver to its clients.
On the other hand, Augusta Precious Metals provides customers with gold, silver as well as platinum and palladium products. Having the option to add these precious metals to your gold IRA ensures that you have more freedom and investment opportunities.
Is Goldco a Reputable Company?
Yes, Goldco is a reputable company with more than a decade of industry experience. They have been in the industry since 2006 and have a large catalog of gold and silver products for investors.
Goldco has an A+ rating on BBB and has received numerous positive reviews across multiple consumer platforms including Trustpilot and BCA.
Is Augusta Precious Metals Legit?
Yes, Augusta Precious Metals is legit. The company has been in the industry since 2012 and its leadership comprises of multiple experts.
Augusta (a popular nickname for Augusta Precious Metals) has received thousands of positive reviews on reputed consumer platforms. These include the likes of Trustlink, BBB and BCA. They are reputed for being transparent and have received accolades for the same.
Do Goldco and Augusta Offer Personalized Advice?
Yes, both of these companies have received a lot of praise from their customers for offering personalized advice.
However, I must add that Augusta takes the lead when it comes to offering consumer guidance. While many Goldco reviews praise their professional staff, Augusta offers dedicated web conferences to its customers.
A web conference ensures that you’re able to remove all of your doubts and make a well-informed decision.
Still, both of these companies have industry experts in their staff to help you make smarter investments.
How Long Does it Take for Goldco and Augusta to Process an Order?
Typically, it takes both Goldco and Augusta Precious Metals several days to process an order. The time to process your order might depend on multiple factors including the size of your order, your location, availability of the products and more.
However, when I checked their reviews, I noticed that both of these companies excel at delivering their orders on time.
Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals: Conclusion
I hope the above guide on Goldco vs Augusta Precious Metals helped you remove any doubts and concerns.
While Goldco has a lower minimum investment requirement, it has higher fees and a lack of product variety. On the other hand, Augusta has a high minimum investment limit but more product variety and lower fees.
Due to these reasons, I personally recommend going with Augusta Precious Metals.
You can check out my detailed review of Augusta Precious Metals here.
Alternatively, you can get in touch with them through the following button:
Also, we have listed out the top-rated gold IRA companies of each state. Find the most trusted IRA dealer of your state below: