Have you ever spoken to a Gold/Silver IRA company that tried to sell you coins in your IRA?

This is a niche market but accounts for billions in transactions per year.

Because precious metals dealers often charge premiums above the spot price and fee structures vary widely, pricing for Gold and Silver IRAs can differ significantly, making it challenging to compare costs and reputations when choosing a company.

But there are so many of these Gold/Silver IRA companies out there making so much money that they can insulate themselves from the competition.

In fact, Tucker Carlson has said that after departing Fox News in 2023, several Gold IRA companies offered to pay him as much as $20 million per year for endorsements. This highlights just how marketing-driven much of the industry has become.

When it comes to marketing, Google ad words associated with this topic (i.e; gold ira, best gold iras, precious metals ira, etc) are some of the highest cost search words money can buy.

Due to the high margins, some with markups of 50-100%+, salespeople can make a high six or even seven-figure income, attracting very talented tricksters.

The average investor doesn’t stand a chance when looking into most of these companies.

Many Gold IRA companies even pay well-known celebrities to be their spokespeople; you’ve probably heard of many of them. Typically they are conservative news anchors or famous celebrities getting paid millions to promote a company they don’t fully understand.

They advertise on cable news, radio stations, and through scary email tactics. They have a knack for targeting older, conservative investors who fear losing their retirement to a financial crash, inflation, or some other marketing scare tactic to prey on your fears.

But is the Gold and Silver they want to sell you going to provide the protection you’re looking for, or is it going to put a massive amount of your hard-earned retirement money into their pockets?

8 RED FLAGS: If you start noticing any of this, RUN!

COST / FEES

It’s all about the spread in the coins they are going to push you to buy. They will advertise “No Custodian fees for X years” or “Get $5,000 back in free Silver”.

These are all ways to avoid disclosing where they make their money, which is the margins on the coins. It is common for spreads these days to be 20-30% or more on coins. That means that if you do a $100,000 deal, they make $20,000-$30,000.

Some even make more when selling “Exclusive coins.”

EXCLUSIVE COINS

Many of the companies in this space have their own “Exclusive Coins.”

They make deals with various mints for coins that only they will get. The most common mints that do this are the Canadian Mint, British Royal Mint, and Perth Mint.

The mints are happy because they will contract to sell a specific amount of coins, which is what they are in business to do.

They sell these coins for about the same price they would sell a common bullion coin like a Maple Leaf or Britannia.

The Gold/Silver IRA companies then take these coins and mark them up 50-100-200% or more.

Then claim that because they are unique, they will appreciate better and offer more tax benefits.

Because no other company will be able to provide the same coin, it allows them to price them at whatever they want.

NO COMPETITION IS VERY BAD FOR CONSUMERS!

On top of overpaying for these coins, you are essentially stuck with selling them back to the same company because no other source will be interested in buying them for anything more than the spot price (melt value).

LIMITED MINTAGE COINS

The sales pitch - "They only minted a small amount of these coins so they will outperform other, more recognized coins."

This one seems like it would make sense, but don't be fooled. Outside of that company, there is rarely any secondary market for some random coin that the company has made.

If there is a strong secondary market, you should easily be able to find the exact same coins from previous years selling for higher prices than what you are being offered for the same coin.

Examples of limited mintage coins:

Proof Coins
Exclusive Coins
Pre-33 U.S. Gold Coins (Not IRA eligible)
Pre-1964 U.S. Silver Coins (Not IRA eligible)
Various modern U.S. Coins.

You should check prices from online retailers, not the U.S. Mint.

Kitco, Apmex, and JM Bullion are good sources to check prices.

COMMISSIONED SALESPEOPLE

It should be common knowledge that if you have to talk to a commission salesperson to do a transaction of any kind, you will pay more.

Sometimes it’s acceptable as long as the cost is clearly outlined upfront. Where to especially look out for this is when making financial decisions, and someone earning a commission is advising you. They are incentivized to sell the product that makes them the largest commission, which typically puts the investor in the worst position.

This is a common problem in the Gold/Silver IRA space. If they sell you the lowest cost bars/coins, commonly known as bullion, the sales rep may make 1% or less of the total transaction. However, if they sell you Proof, Exclusive, Low Mintage, or Numismatic coins, they can make 10% or more of the total transaction.

Is this really the kind of person you want to be taking investment advice from?

CALL FOR PRICING

When you go to the companies website and see pricing for some coins, but many other coins say “Call for Pricing” (like the picture below). The call for pricing coins are the ones the salesperson is going to recommend you buy for the reasons outlined in this report.

poster of a scam precious metals dealer which require you to call or get a guide

Of course, the real reason is that they make more money selling those coins.

If they are so confident that it is the best investment and are offering it at a competitive rate, they should be proud to display pricing at all times, right?

TAX-LOOPHOLE

To get you to buy “specialty coins” with high markups, they will justify the costs and reason to go with these coins because by buying them, you will lower your taxes when you take a distribution in-kind.

They will say the coin is worth more than what will be reported on your 1099. This is rarely accurate, and if you have to overcome a 30% or higher spread, any additional tax savings will be lost to the profit margin on the coins.

Plus, do you really want to take on the IRS when they realize what you did?

YOUR IRA CUSTODIAN VALUE WHEN YOU GET YOUR STATEMENT IS NOT THE REAL VALUE

This comes into play after a purchase is made. It is tied to the tax-loophole angle. The pitch is basically this:

“Your statement is only going to show you the melt (spot) price of the metals, not the REAL value (wink, wink, this is how your taxes will be less). Call me to give you updates on the REAL value.”

Don’t you find it strange you never see the REAL value in writing anywhere?

REPURCHASE CLAIMS

When buying coins, most companies will claim it is easy to sell-back anytime you want and that they always buy-back.

However, when it is actually time to sell, the story can change dramatically. Most of these companies have no interest in buying back the coins they recommended and will make-up all kinds of excuses that they can’t repurchase your coins at this time.

A typical response is that their inventory is full, and they are not currently buying. Or that you haven’t held the coins for the recommended 3-5 years, and the price would be much less than the posted spreads in the client agreement.

On top of that, even if you do get them to repurchase the coins, usually at a substantial loss, the time it takes to get the coins converted back to dollars at the custodian can be weeks to months. Keep in mind the gold and silver markets are open 24/7, and the ability to liquidate quickly is vital. Don’t you want to be in control of your investments 24/7?

Basic Questions when researching Gold IRA companies:

Do they have a transparent pricing & fee schedule on the homepage of their website? This must not only include storage fees, but all fees paid over the spot price.
When you call in, are you speaking with a commissioned salesperson?
Are you able to cross-reference the price of the product they wish to sell you at multiple sources? The exact product, on multiple sites, not something similar.
Can you check the values of your account anytime online? Or do you have to call in and take a sales reps word for it?
Can you sell your investment anytime the market is open without having to speak to a live person?
Is every claim the representative makes over the phone supported in writing?

Don’t rush - Do your research and don’t be convinced right away

It is essential to do your research on any investment you are considering.

Countless companies are trying to take advantage of investors every day, especially when it comes to retirement accounts, which have $27 trillion reasons to focus in this direction.

When looking up reviews always go to the one-stars. If there is a consistent theme of overpriced coins, likely not figured out until clients try to sell, you should AVOID!

You have to use your best judgment and make sure you understand and have verified what the company is offering.

Don't just take their word for it.

At the end of the day buying physical gold and silver is not complicated. You want to buy the most common bullion bars or bullion coins as close to the spot price as possible.

That’s it!

Everything else is smoke and mirrors designed to take advantage of you and line the dealers and salespeoples pockets.

If you’re interested in buying and selling precious metals, you can do so with iTrustCapital through a Premium Custody Account or Tax-Advantaged Crypto IRA.

Open an account today!

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute investment or tax advice in any way or constitute an offer to buy or sell any digital asset, cryptocurrency, or security or to participate in any investment strategy.

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