American Hartford Gold - A Reliable Place For Gold & Silver IRAs

American Hartford Gold is an award-winning business that’s ranked 64th on the Inc. 5000 list of financial services companies in the entire country. It specializes in precious metal investments, particularly for retirement planning. The company regularly provides special offers to entice new customers - including the chance to earn up to $15,000 in free silver when opening your account.

American Hartford Gold is a prominent player in the gold IRA industry, known for its commitment to customer support and educational resources.

With promising customer reviews and a very high trust rating, American Hartford Gold could be the company you’re looking for if you’re eager to diversify your retirement investments or transfer an existing IRA. Our review will explain more to help you see precisely what this company offers and if it’s got all the features you’re searching for.

A Gold IRA, also known as a Precious Metal IRA, is a type of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that allows investors to hold physical gold and other precious metals in their retirement portfolio. This type of IRA is designed to provide a safe-haven asset class that can help protect against inflation, market volatility, and economic downturns.

Definition of a Gold IRA

A Gold IRA is a specialized IRA that allows investors to hold physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in their retirement account. These precious metals must meet specific purity requirements and be produced by an approved refinery. Gold IRAs are subject to the same contribution limits as traditional IRAs and are designed to provide a tax-deferred growth opportunity for investors. By holding physical gold and other precious metals, investors can diversify their retirement portfolios and potentially safeguard their wealth against economic uncertainties.

Benefits of Investing in a Gold IRA

Investing in a Gold IRA can provide several benefits, including:

• Diversification: Gold and other precious metals can provide a diversification benefit, reducing reliance on traditional asset classes like stocks and bonds.
• Hedge against inflation: Gold and other precious metals have historically been a hedge against inflation, retaining value and increasing in value during periods of high inflation.
• Tax benefits: Gold IRAs can provide tax benefits, including reducing taxable income and avoiding taxes on gold profits until cashing out the IRA.
• Safe-haven asset: Gold and other precious metals are considered safe-haven assets, retaining value and increasing in value during periods of economic uncertainty.

By incorporating a Gold IRA into your retirement strategy, you can potentially enhance the stability and security of your investment portfolio.

Choosing the best Gold IRA company can be a daunting task, but there are several factors to consider when making a decision.

Factors to Consider

When choosing a Gold IRA company, consider the following factors:

• Reputation: Look for a company with a strong reputation in the precious metals industry. Check customer reviews and ratings on platforms like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau to gauge the company’s reliability and trustworthiness.
• Fees: Compare fees among different companies, including setup fees, annual fees, and storage fees. Understanding the fee structure can help you avoid unexpected costs and make a more informed decision.
• Storage options: Consider the storage options offered by the company, including secure depositories and home storage. Ensure that the storage facilities meet high security standards and are fully insured.
• Customer service: Look for a company with excellent customer service, including a dedicated account manager and 24/7 support. Good customer service can make the investment process smoother and more reassuring.
• Investment options: Consider the investment options offered by the company, including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. A wider range of options can provide more flexibility in building your precious metals portfolio.
• Transparency: Look for a company that is transparent about their fees, investment options, and storage procedures. Transparency can help build trust and ensure you are fully informed about your investment.

By considering these factors, investors can choose the best Gold IRA company for their needs and goals, ensuring a secure and beneficial investment in precious metals.

Pros

• Free consultations for new customers
• A great welcome offer providing free silver
• A+ BBB rating
• Only need $5,000 to invest in precious metals
• Lots of free educational resources to help you invest
• Same-day Gold IRA set up

Cons

• It’s hard to find all the fees without calling ahead
• Charges a yearly custodian fee
• While there’s a $5,000 minimum for cash accounts, $10,000 is needed for a Gold IRA
• Doesn’t offer a Silver IRA
• Only offers gold & silver as precious metal investments, excluding options like palladium coins

American Hartford Gold presents three main products for customers:

• Buy Gold
• Buy Silver
• Open A Gold IRA

American Hartford Gold specializes in precious metal IRAs, allowing investments in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium as part of a diversified retirement strategy.

All three let you invest in precious metals - though there are differences between buying gold & silver and setting up your IRA.

Buying Gold & Silver

You can purchase gold or silver coins and bars through American Hartford Gold. It promises to provide the cheapest prices possible for these investments, though you must call the team if you want to buy any of the gold/silver products listed on the site. You’ll also need a minimum investment of $5,000 to create a cash account that lets you buy directly from American Hartford Gold.

When you’re buying gold or silver, you’re physically purchasing these assets, and they’ll be shipped to you. Alternatively, you can make use of the company’s secure storage facility - which normally comes with storage fees, but you can bypass them with the new “Freedom Package.”

Opening A Gold IRA

Most customers opt for the Gold IRA service as a way of protecting and diversifying their retirement savings. American Hartford Gold’s IRA comes with a $10,000 minimum investment and lets you tie your savings to physical gold coins or bars. As part of the service, the company will hold your gold assets in their secure storage facility until you wish to cash in on them.

Additionally, American Hartford Gold offers Roth gold IRAs, which are funded with after-tax dollars and allow for tax-free withdrawals during retirement.

What’s more, because this is an IRA, you can transfer or rollover funds from existing IRAs to this one. The benefit of this is that transferring funds gives you more money to invest in gold assets - but you also don’t pay any penalty fees or taxes. American Hartford Gold will help you initiate these transfers to make the entire process as straightforward as possible.

You’ll be charged small fees when purchasing gold or silver, as well as general fees for opening a Gold IRA and keeping it active. Frustratingly, American Hartford Gold doesn’t state all of its fees online, so you only learn about them while creating your account.

When comparing fees, it's essential to consider the best gold IRA companies, which offer transparent fee structures and competitive rates.

Based on our research and speaking to other customers, the two main fees are as follows:

• A $230 fee for opening your account
• A $200 annual maintenance fee

The $200 maintenance fee goes towards things like insurance and security to protect your assets at their secure storage facility. Keep in mind that you may incur other storage-related fees - all of this should be outlined to you in a consultation before setting up your account. We strongly suggest calling ahead to schedule a conversation with a representative instead of setting your account up online. It may take longer, but this gives you a chance to go through all the separate fees before committing.

We also recommend checking the company’s current offers or asking a customer support advisor if there are any ongoing deals. You’ll almost always be able to find an offer that helps you save money or forgoes some of the fees - we’ll talk more about the current special offer later in this guide.

American Hartford Gold has extremely positive reviews and ratings across the board. It boasts a 4.8-star rating from 939 reviews on the ConsumerAffairs website, proving that a lot of customers enjoy the services on offer.

Selecting reputable gold IRA companies with high customer service ratings can significantly impact your investment experience.

Turning your attention to Trustpilot, you’ll see the company holds a 4.8-star rating from over 1,300 reviews. That’s remarkably impressive - and most people comment on how trustworthy and secure the precious metal investment services are.

Lastly, if you look at the Better Business Bureau review, you’ll see that American Hartford Gold has a 4.9-star rating on that platform, too. This is from over 650 reviews, which is a very reasonable sample size.

To open your American Hartford Gold account, you’ll need to fill in a 5-step online application form. This should only take a few minutes to complete - though it’s the first of two stages in the account creation process.

For those considering a Roth IRA, it's important to note that these accounts are funded with after-tax dollars, offering tax-free withdrawals during retirement.

The online form will include the following sections:

1. Basic contact information
2. Confirmation of your address
3. Identity verification - you can use your driver’s license, state ID, or passport
4. Information about your beneficiaries
5. Details on where your funds are currently held and their estimated value

An advisor from American Hartford Gold will contact you after you’ve completed this form. They’ll offer a quick consultation to finalize the details and set up your account. This includes talking about the precious metals you want to invest in and answering any of your questions. You’re not obliged to go through with the account creation at this point - if you don’t like the answers to your questions, then you can hang up the phone and back out.

In terms of security & insurance, American Hartford Gold gives clients access to gold depositories to store their precious metal investments. These facilities meet the highest security standards and are approved by the IRS. They’re also fully insured up to a billion dollars to further protect your valuable assets.

Investing in any precious metals will always carry certain financial risks, though American Hartford Gold tries to mitigate this with its “Buyback Commitment.” This is the company’s commitment to buying back and liquidating your assets if you want to sell them. It won’t guarantee that you won’t lose money on your investment, though it's designed to keep any losses to a minimum.

American Hartford Gold always has unique offers and promotions for you to explore. The current deal is called the “Freedom Package,” and it’s available for all new customers. This exclusive deal gives you loads of perks and helps you save a lot of money by offering the following:

• Free Silver up to $15,000
• Free Insured Shipping
• Free Secure Storage
• Free Account Setup
• Free Access to the Investor Library

It’s always worth checking the website for more promotions, as they change all the time. In the past, the company has offered up to $20,000 in free silver.

Looking at our review of American Hartford Gold, it’s evident that this is a stellar company for a Gold IRA. It provides a relatively low minimum investment when compared with its rivals, as well as some unique perks and promotions. The fact it boasts very positive reviews and ratings from multiple review websites further proves that this is a company and service you can trust. The only downside is that it has some of the more expensive fees on the market - particularly in terms of annual fees and account setup fees.

Still, you can avoid some of these fees with the exclusive Freedom Package offer, which is always nice to see. Overall, American Hartford Gold could be the best place for you - especially if you’re eager to take out a Gold IRA.