Questions to Ask a Gold IRA Company Before You Sign

A kit request usually brings a phone call from the company. You’ll get more from it if you set the agenda. Have the kit open, a pen ready, and three facts about yourself to hand: what kind of account the money sits in now (an IRA, an old 401(k), something else), roughly how much you’re thinking of moving, and when you’d need to take money out.

Check the minimum before the call. Goldco says it generally requires $25,000 to roll over; Augusta’s standard minimum purchase is $50,000. If you’re under the line, you can say so at the start and save both sides the time.

Decide one rule in advance: no order on the first call. Write it at the top of the page.

Start with who you’re talking to, because it colours everything after.

• “How are you paid? Salary, commission, or both?” The CFTC warns that commissions often drive precious-metals sales recommendations. Augusta says its staff are salaried with no product-specific commissions, though some may receive a fixed incentive that doesn’t depend on the product.
• “Are you licensed to give investment advice?” Usually the honest answer is no. That’s fine, as long as the call stays on facts.
• “What is the company’s legal name and where is it based?” You’ll need both to look up complaints and any regulator records.
• “Has the company settled any lawsuits or regulator actions?” Compare the answer with the public record. For Goldco, this longer write-up on Gold IRA Companies Ranked lists the court docket and complaint history.

• “Which custodian will hold my IRA?” You want a name, not “one of our partners”. Augusta names Equity Trust. Goldco names Equity Trust as one of several and doesn’t publish the full list.
• “Which depository, and where?” Augusta uses Delaware Depository. Goldco features Delaware Depository but doesn’t say every account goes there.
• “Segregated or commingled storage, and what does each cost?” On Equity Trust’s current schedule, $110 a year for non-segregated and $160 for segregated.
• “Please send me the custodian’s own fee schedule.” Not the dealer’s summary of it. Equity Trust lists $50 setup and $125 a year administration, plus $30 per wire and $60 for paper statements.
• “Will you cover any fees, and on what conditions?” Augusta says qualifying accounts may get up to ten years of eligible fees paid but doesn’t publish who qualifies. Ask for the conditions in writing.

This is the part of the call most likely to drift into market talk. Bring it back to the product.

• “What exactly would you put in my account?” Product name, weight and quantity.
• “Is each of those bullion or a premium, proof or collector coin?” The CFTC says numismatic coins typically carry higher markups and are much less liquid than bullion.
• “What is your markup on each one, as a percentage or in dollars?” Neither Goldco nor Augusta publishes a range.
• “What would the same money buy in plain bullion?” Ask this whenever free metal is offered. Goldco’s free-silver promotion applies to its premium coins.
• “Is each product IRA-eligible, and will you confirm that in writing?”
• “When and how is the price locked?” Augusta says it locks the price on a recorded order-confirmation call.

Few kits spend long on selling, and it’s the part you’ll care about most in a few years.

• “If I want to sell, will you buy the metal back, and how is the price set?” Goldco advertises buybacks at “the highest price” with no fees but doesn’t state the conditions on its about page. Augusta says a buyback isn’t obligatory for either side.
• “Is there a holding period before a buyback?”
• “What does the custodian charge to sell or to close the account?” Equity Trust lists $30 per sale and $250 to close.
• “Can I cancel an order after it’s placed?” Augusta says some purchases qualify for a 7-day money-back period, and it describes a 24-hour window to cancel if you find a better offer. Goldco’s price match says it will match a lower competitor price on the same coin or send a 5-gram silver bar, and that it may change or end the offer.

The representative will offer to handle the transfer. Ask how, because the method matters for tax.

• “Will this be a direct transfer between institutions, or a payment to me?” The IRS describes both routes. A payment to you has to reach the new IRA within 60 days, and the IRS says withholding can apply to it.
• “Have I made an IRA-to-IRA rollover in the last 12 months?” That one is a question for yourself. The IRS allows one such rollover in any 12-month period; the limit doesn’t apply to trustee-to-trustee transfers.
• “Who fills in which form, and who sends it?”

None of this is something a sales call should settle for you. Talk to a tax professional before money moves. For the mechanics of moving 401(k) or IRA money, Gold IRA Companies Ranked has a step-by-step rollover walk-through, and our own seven steps from kit to funded account follows the order of events.

Send a short email the same day: “Thanks for the call. Please confirm in writing the custodian, depository, storage type, fee schedule, products, markup per product, buyback terms and cancellation terms we discussed.” Then wait for the reply before doing anything else.

Read the call back against your notes. The CFTC lists invented urgency, such as talk of limited supply, among the persuasion tactics it sees in precious-metals fraud. A rush to close, vague answers on price, or an offer to finance the purchase are all reasons to stop. Our gold IRA red flags page covers the warning signs in more detail.

If you’re comparing two companies, put the two replies side by side. A broader set of dealers, ranked on published terms, is at goldiracompaniesranked.com.