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Company Reviews

• How We Review Gold IRA Dealers: Sources, Checks, and What We Leave Out The method behind every dealer review on Gold Unpacked: primary sources, dated figures, attributed claims, and what the reviews deliberately leave out.
• Augusta Precious Metals Review: What It Publishes and What to Ask For Augusta publishes a $50,000 minimum, a named custodian and depository, and no fee schedule of its own. What to ask for, with dates and sources.
• Birch Gold Group Review: What It Publishes and What to Ask For Birch Gold Group publishes a $5,000 minimum and the $235 a year its usual custodian charges, but no premium over spot or buyback formula. What to ask for.
• Goldco Review: What It Publishes and What to Ask For Goldco publishes a $25,000 minimum and the fees its custodian and depository collect, but not the custodian's name or its premium over spot. What to ask for.
• Noble Gold Investments Review: What It Publishes and What to Ask For Noble Gold Investments publishes its IRA fees, minimums, and Texas depository. This review lists what it omits — custodian, premiums, buyback terms — and what to ask for.
• Goldco vs American Hartford Gold vs Noble Gold: What Each One Actually Publishes What Goldco, American Hartford Gold, and Noble Gold publish on fees, minimums, and custody, checked August 30, 2026, and the questions that close each gap.

Gold Investing

• Gold IRA Alternatives: Five Other Ways to Hold Gold Exposure Five alternatives to a gold IRA, compared on ownership, custody, cost, and tax: gold ETFs in a standard IRA, metal at a broker, mining funds, futures, and bullion.
• Gold IRA Minimum Investment by Company: Published Figures Compared Dealer-published gold IRA minimums as of October 3, 2026, from $5,000 to $50,000, plus dealers that publish none, custodian balance rules, and the funding math.
• Precious Metals IRA: Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium Under One Rule A precious metals IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds gold, silver, platinum, or palladium under Section 408(m)(3). See fineness rules, real returns, and costs.
• Gold vs the S&P 500: Real Returns, Volatility, and Why the Comparison Is Usually Rigged Gold vs the S&P 500 after inflation, window by window: total returns, volatility, correlation, and the fees and taxes the performance tables leave out.
• Gold vs Silver: The Record, the Volatility, and What Each One Costs to Hold Gold vs silver with figures, not adjectives: real returns since 1970, volatility, the 1980 falls, correlation, storage weight, and the tax rules both share. Data through August 2026.
• Is Gold a Good Investment? The Five Numbers That Decide It Gold pays no income, so its return is the resale price minus the costs of buying, holding, and selling. The inflation-adjusted record, the losing stretches, volatility, and the tax and spread drag, in one place.
• Gold IRA Custodian Fees Compared: Five Published Schedules, Side by Side Five custodian fee schedules compared as printed: on a $50,000 account, first-year fees run $265–$781 and later years $215–$656.
• Gold IRA Depositories: Where the Metal Sits, and What Each One Publishes Where gold IRA metal must sit, and what five depositories publish about locations, segregated storage, insurance, and fees, checked September 21, 2026.
• Gold IRA Due-Diligence Checklist: What to Get in Writing Before You Fund A printable checklist of the documents and written answers to get from a gold IRA dealer, its custodian, and its depository before you fund the account.
• Gold IRA Glossary: The Terms in a Dealer Quote and an Account Agreement Definitions for the terms in a gold IRA dealer quote and account agreement, from spot price and spread to prohibited transactions.
• Gold IRA Spread and Buyback: The Round-Trip Cost, and How Selling Works The round-trip cost of a gold IRA is the premium over spot at purchase plus the gap below spot at sale. The arithmetic, what dealers disclose, and what to ask.
• The Gold to Silver Ratio: 66 Years of Data, and What Traders Get Wrong About It Gold price divided by silver price: what 66 years of monthly data shows, how to compute the ratio today, and where the trading reading breaks down.
• How to Sell Gold: Where to Sell, How the Price Is Set, and the Tax How to sell gold: compute melt value first, get written offers, compare each as a percentage of melt, and know the 28% collectibles tax rate on a gain.
• Charles Schwab Gold IRA: Options and Alternatives Schwab's published materials show no way to hold physical precious metals in an IRA. Here is the gold exposure Schwab does provide, and how a self-directed gold IRA works alongside it.
• Fidelity Gold IRA: What You Can (and Can't) Do Fidelity does not market a Gold IRA, but its IRAs can hold a limited list of physical metals. Compare that path with ETFs and a self-directed gold IRA.
• Gold and Silver IRA: Holding Both Metals in One Account A gold and silver IRA is one self-directed account. How silver's purity rules, storage volume, volatility, and premiums differ from gold's.
• Gold IRA Fees and Minimum Investment: The Full Cost Breakdown Gold IRA fees come in three layers: one-time setup costs, annual custody and storage fees, and the dealer markup built into the metal price. Dated examples inside.
• Gold IRA Tax Rules: Contributions, Distributions, and Penalties Gold IRAs generally use ordinary IRA tax rules: Traditional withdrawals are income, qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free. The 28% collectibles rate is for gold outside an IRA.
• Gold Roth IRA: How It Works and When It Makes Sense A gold Roth IRA is a self-directed Roth IRA holding IRS-approved metal. Contributions are after-tax, qualified withdrawals are tax-free, and there are no lifetime RMDs.
• Home Storage Gold IRA: Why the IRS Says No A home storage Gold IRA is not a recognized account type. What IRC 408(m) requires, what McNulty v. Commissioner held, and the legal storage alternatives.
• Robinhood Gold IRA Match Explained (It's Not About Gold) The Robinhood Gold IRA match is a cash contribution match for paid subscribers, not gold metal. How the percentages, transfer bonus, and clawbacks work.
• Self-Directed Gold IRA: Rules, Structure, and Setup A self-directed gold IRA is the same account as a gold IRA: any IRA holding physical metal must be self-directed. Custodian and prohibited-transaction rules apply.
• Vanguard Gold IRA: What's Available and What Isn't Vanguard does not offer a physical gold IRA. What gold-adjacent exposure exists in a Vanguard IRA, why, and how investors move to a self-directed account.
• What Is a Gold IRA? (And How It Works) A gold IRA is a self-directed retirement account holding IRS-approved physical metals. Here is how it works, what it costs, and who it may suit.
• How to Invest in a Gold IRA: The Six Steps Opening a gold IRA takes six steps: size the position, open a self-directed IRA, fund it, agree a price with a dealer, pick eligible metal, and ship it to a depository.
• Best Gold IRA: A Comparison Framework, Not a Ranking No gold IRA provider is best for everyone. Compare fee schedules, minimums, custodians, depositories, and written buyback terms against your own allocation.
• Gold IRA Risks: What Each One Costs and What to Check The main gold IRA risks are price swings, layered fees, spread costs, concentration, custody exposure, and dealer fraud. Each can be managed. None disappears.
• Gold IRA Benefits: Each One, and What It Costs A gold IRA's benefits are narrow: it holds eligible physical metal under the usual Traditional or Roth tax rules. Each benefit carries a cost inside the account.
• Gold IRA Returns: How the Figure Is Built A gold IRA has no single expected return. The result is the gold price change over your holding period, minus the premium, the account fees, and the exit discount.

Retirement Planning

• Gold IRA RMDs and In-Kind Distributions: Selling Metal or Taking It Out A traditional gold IRA owes the same RMDs as any traditional IRA. Sell metal inside the account, or take it out in kind, taxed at fair market value that day.
• SEP, SIMPLE, and Inherited Gold IRAs: How the Rules Change The same gold rules apply in SEP, SIMPLE, and inherited IRAs. What changes is who can contribute, the 2026 limits, and when the money must come out.
• Transferring a 401(k) to a Gold IRA: Direct vs Indirect Move a 401(k) to a gold IRA by direct transfer, where the money never reaches you, or by indirect rollover, which starts a 60-day clock and triggers withholding.
• Gold IRA for Retirement: What the Account Does and What It Costs A gold IRA's role in retirement is allocation, not protection. Test its share of your assets, its running cost, its time to cash, and the brokerage-IRA alternative.
• Retirement Planning with a Gold IRA: Where the Position Sits A gold IRA fills one narrow slot in a retirement plan. It holds an asset the rest of the plan does not, pays no income, and charges fees in every market.
• Gold IRA and Social Security: Where the Two Interact A gold IRA and Social Security meet on your tax return. Traditional IRA withdrawals count toward the income the IRS uses to decide how much of your benefit is taxed.
• Gold IRA vs 401(k): Seven Structural Differences A 401(k) is an employer plan with a set fund menu. A gold IRA is a self-directed account you fund that can hold physical metal. Funding, holdings, cost, and access differ.