Investing in gold and other precious metals can be scary when you’re a beginner. It seems completely foreign to you if you’re entirely new. But it’s a valuable way to diversify your portfolio and protect your wealth for the future.
We recommend opening a precious metals IRA as your investment vehicle of choice. This type of account gives you the ability to pick and choose your precious metals to invest in. Whether you decide to buy US Gold Eagles or Canadian Silver Maple Leafs is up to you. With an IRA account at your beck and call, investing in precious metals for beginners is easier than ever.
Are you ready to learn more about gold IRA investing? We’ll guide you through the process below. Keep reading to discover the truth about this powerful investment strategy.
Why Investing in Precious Metals for Beginners Is a Good Idea
New investors might worry that they’re making a mistake by investing in precious metals. They fear that buying gold and silver is a passing fad and nothing more. To be honest, it makes sense to worry this way. But your fears are completely unfounded as you’re about to learn.
Believe it or not, many billionaires as well as the richest countries in the world all stockpile gold and other precious metals. Why? They realize that countries fall and governments crumble all the time. If all of your wealth is tied to your country’s currency, you end up penniless and poor once the poop hits the fan.
Top Investors Currently Stockpiling Gold
Take billionaire investor George Soros as an example. His total net worth is $22 billion. When he looks at the United States and in particular the US dollar, he recognizes that it’s a weak asset. In fact, he tells all investors that they need to move their money away from the US dollar and toward real assets.
Guess what? Physical tangible gold is a real asset. It’s the type of investment that George Soros and many other prominent billionaires recommend.
Let’s not forget about billionaire business magnate John Paulson. Paulson is worth billions upon billions of dollars. And his current gold investment is worth $4.6 billion alone.
But he doesn’t look at gold as a commodity. Nope. He looks at it as currency which is what it truly is. According to Paulson in his own words, “I view gold as a currency, not a commodity. It’s importance as a currency will continue to increase as the major central banks around the world continue to print money.”
So Paulson isn’t a big fan of central banks continuing to print money. He recognizes that this creates massive inflation which devalues currencies tremendously. Gold on the other hand will remain stable, strong, and full of value regardless of inflation.
Other prominent gold investors include:
To learn more about the top 10 gold IRA companies in the world, please read our detailed review by clicking the link.
Is a Failure to Diversify Threatening Your Financial Health and Well-Being?
Beginner investors convince themselves that mutual funds, 401(k) accounts, and stock market investments equate to diversity. Sure, having different types of investment accounts is a good thing. But are all of your accounts exposed to the same kinds of investments?
This isn’t diversity my friends. This is just having different accounts that all invest in the same assets. And if you’re so heavily bloated with stock market and bond investments, you’re susceptible to failure as soon as the tides change.
By failing to properly diversify, you leave yourself susceptible to the following:
- The next US financial crisis – if the US banks fail your personal wealth fails right along with them. Unless you own gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, you leave yourself at great personal risk. President Trump was just impeached so who knows what’s happening in the United States government. The value of the US dollar could plummet at any moment. Buying gold means buying security and preserving your wealth.
- The FDIC cannot cover the next banking crisis – the FDIC doesn’t have enough reserves to cover the next banking crisis for the next five years. Your deposits are not protected no matter how much they want you to believe they are. You have to begin distancing yourself from the US dollar to a degree. By purchasing precious metals, you’ll have physical assets that aren’t connected to the US government and the struggling dollar.
- US banks aren’t considered safe any longer – Global Finance magazine puts out a list of the 50 safest banks around the world each year. Guess what? Out of the top 50 banks, only five of them are located in the United States. And the best the U.S. Bank is ranked #39 out of 50. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, right? Protect yourself and your wealth from untrustworthy US banks by purchasing gold and other precious metals.
How to Choose a Gold IRA Company
Because we’ve investigated dozens of gold companies throughout the years, we know a thing or two about how to choose the best one. In fact, we consider ourselves experts on this topic.
We use seven critical factors to determine if a gold company is trustworthy or not. And based on the seven critical factors, we’ve developed a list of the top 10 gold companies operating today. You should check it out to read the results of our findings.
Or if you prefer, you can investigate these gold companies yourself. In fact, doing your own research certainly proves that you’re serious about choosing the right company for the job.
We’d like to help you by sharing our wisdom in this area with you today. So, without any other fanfare, our seven critical factors include the following:
1) Trustworthy Online Reviews
Discover gold company ratings on online peer-reviewed websites. We recommend investigating each company on peer-reviewed websites. The best sites include the Better Business Bureau, Trustlink, and the Business Consumer Alliance. If the company you’re considering has an A+ or AAA rating and no unresolved complaints, they’re likely a great candidate.
2) IRA-Approved Physical Precious Metals
Physical precious metals. Make sure the company sells IRS approved physical precious metals for your gold IRA account. Many gold brokers sell other gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars that aren’t IRA approved. Find a company focused on precious metals IRA investing and you can’t go wrong. Regal Assets is our gold broker of choice.
3) Availability of Buyback Program
Do they have a precious metals buyback program? Nothing is ever certain in life. Sometimes you need money quickly and you’ll have no choice but to sell your precious metals. The top gold brokers all have generous buyback programs available to their customers. Make sure your gold broker has this program in place as well for quick liquidation purposes.
4) Choose Segregated Stockpiling
Precious metal stockpiling. Do they offer segregated stockpiling? You do not want your gold investments tied up in a vault with other investors. If your broker does not offer segregated stockpiling, you should find a better company that does.
5) Low IRA Fees
IRA fees. Each gold company and storage facility requires certain fees on a one time or yearly basis. Some companies are much more expensive than others. We’ve determined that Regal Assets offers the lowest fees during our investigation.
6) Efficiency and Delivery
Professional service and delivery. Some companies take forever to set up your account and this slows down your investing. Other companies take months before they finally ship your gold purchases. Find a company with satisfactory service and delivery times.
7) Customer Support
Terrible customer support and heavy-handed sales. Lastly, you should avoid companies with bad customer support and pushy salesmen. This is the last thing you need when making such an important life decision.
Choosing the Best Precious Metals for Your Gold IRA Portfolio
As mentioned earlier, some precious metals are excluded from gold IRA investments. The IRS provides a list of investments that are acceptable for a precious metals IRA. To help you get started, we’ll share some popular gold, silver, platinum, and palladium investments below. They include:
- American Gold Eagle
- Australian Gold kangaroo
- Austrian Gold Philharmonic
- Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
- Mexican Silver Libertad
- Silver Morgan Dollar
- American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins
- Austria Vienna Platinum Philharmonic Coins
- Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf Coins
- Russian Ballerina Palladium Coins
As you can see, you have a wide range of investment options for your precious metals IRA account. Use this list to choose IRS approved coins and bars and avoid making potentially devastating buying mistakes.
Investing in Precious Metals for Beginners
Before we go, just know that precious metals investing for beginners don’t need to be mind-numbingly difficult. In fact, it can be quite easy if you follow our guidance shared today. We want your first time gold IRA investing experience to go smoothly. That’s why we share so much information on this topic on our website.
Remember, if you don’t have enough time to research these companies yourself, you can always look at our list of top 10 gold IRA companies. We’ve evaluated each of these businesses using our seven critical factors. Out of dozens of companies, only these 10 businesses were worthy enough to make it on our list.
Our favorite gold company is named Regal Assets. They have more than 1000 verified client testimonials. They are an official member of the Forbes Finance Council, which is a very prestigious honor. And they’ve helped future retirees invest in precious metals for the past 10 years. They are the highest rated company in this regard. Please visit their website and sign up to receive their free gold IRA investor’s kit today.
Thanks a lot for such an amazing review about Investing in Precious Metals and explanations are given.
I have never tried to invest in precious metals, but after reading this article I think I should try. I have tried many other goodies, but this seems very ok and profitable, but you have to do a little work, as well as other businesses.
As you said here, this is a good way to make money. Can you recommend a place where I could invest?
Thanks again and I wish you all the best.
Hello Razvanllie! The best place to start is through our #1 recommended gold IRA company, Regal Assets. You can rollover or transfer funds from your existing retirement account for a minimum of $10k or make a cash deposit for a minimum of $5k with them. I’m glad my article was an eye-opener for you. Thank you for the feedback and the inquiry!
Hi David! Thank you for this good writing! I agree with you that investing in precious metals is a good investment. I also have an investment in gold (20% portion), because gold is one of the rare and valuable metals that is loved by many people. Because of his scarcity, the price will continue to rise. Maybe a few years back is not a good year for gold, because of the crisis that hit Europe and Greece. But in the end, the price will continue to rise. In addition, I also invest in gold as a form of “Dont put all your eggs in on basketball” or in other words diversification.
However, I am interested as you wrote about IRA Options, so I want to ask if this is one of the companies that trade Options for gold commodities? And what if I don’t have experience for investment options, what can I do?
Hi Kylie! I think you made a wise decision to invest that much of your portfolio into gold. I hope you made the choice to do so with physical gold rather than gold in paper asset forms such as gold stocks and/or gold ETF’s which is not the same as holding physical gold. We introduce the gold IRA options because there are very reliable gold IRA companies that you can hold your physical gold with in the form of an IRA (individual retirement account). You can rollover your current retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or a traditional or Roth IRA into a gold IRA, which is an IRA consisting of physical precious metals that are owned by you and held at a depository of your choosing. Our recommended gold IRA company of choice is Regal Assets. You can contact them for a free gold IRA investor’s kit which will tell you all you need to get started in investing in gold and other precious metals with them. Thank you for your compliments, feedback and inquiries, Kylie!
What an informative article! I have to wonder if President FDR is turning in his grave. We can invest in gold! I always felt that gold and silver are better for long term investments that banknotes of any government currency. You have explained the best way to get started, and I really appreciate that. So far, I have only invested in cryptocurrency, but I’m looking to branch out. I can’t afford any precious metals at this time. I’m a silver-lover, by the way. It would be so awesome to just have a brick of shiny silver. Thank you for pointing beginners to the best companies for investing, such as Regal Assets. Keep up the good work!
Hello Cathy! Thank you for the compliments and I’m glad that you’re investing in cryptocurrency! We recommend investing in precious metals and cryptocurrency the most. Regal Assets has options for both gold IRAs and cryptocurrency IRAs. If you do invest in an IRA you wouldn’t be holding the silver or precious metals yourself. They will be held for you at a depository. There are no home storage options for precious metals IRAs, although many scammers might want to lead you into believing them. However, you can visit the depository and take a look at your own precious metals any time you’d like. They are yours. Just remember that the minimum amount to invest in through our best company, Regal Assets, is $5,000 for cash deposit and $10,000 for a rollover of a retirement plan. Thank you for the compliments and feedback! And also for sharing your own testimony with alternative investments. Thank you, Cathy!
I had no earthly idea about investing in precious metals until today. and mind you , I am no spring chicken..lol
But this has been very informative and enlightening. Thank you so much for your site and the helpful information in it.
Do you have to spend alot of money to get started? What are the gold scams ? This is so interesting. Shannon
Hello Shannon! In order to invest in a gold IRA with our #1 recommended company, Regal Assets, the minimum cash deposit amount is $5,000 and the minimum rollover amount (of a retirement vehicle such as 401(k) or a traditional or Roth IRA) is $10,000. What’s important to note is not the actual amount but the percentage of your portfolio you’re willing to invest in. Many investors suggest a 5-30% allocation of your portfolio in gold and precious metals.
There are many gold scams out there but two of the main ones to avoid are 1) gold IRA companies trying to upsell your rare and numismatic coins that do not qualify for an IRA and 2) home storage gold IRA options (there is no such thing as a home storage gold IRA but scammers will try to convince you to believe there is one).
Thank you for the feedback and inquiries, Shannon! I’m glad you found my article interesting!
I was thinking about investing in precious metals and didn’t really know where to start, but then this article came up. It was pretty perfect timing if you ask me.
I knew about how the US Dollar isn’t very stable and is really just a bunch of green paper, but it never really clicked for me. I heard about how if Canada were to invade and take over the states, a dollar would be nothing. But gold is intrinsically valuable (and shiny), so that seems like the obvious choice of currency.
I knew someone who was investing in gold and I got a chance to see some of it. I was probably 12 years old at the time and I thought it was really cool but I didn’t quite understand why anyone would just buy gold. Of course, it all makes sense now.
This was a very informative article and I’m definitely going to be keeping tabs on precious metal investing because I want a piece of the action. I do have one question: when investing in precious metals, do companies hold the metals for you, or do you keep them yourself?
Hello Isaac! Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts with us. Let me answer your question first: in a gold or precious metals IRA, it is the company that holds the physical gold and/or precious metals bullion and coins for you with the depository that the company works with. You can choose to hold physical precious metals yourself or have your own vault but that would not be the same as investing in physical precious metals through an IRA. IRA-approved metals also meet higher purity prerequisites than ordinary gold and precious metals bullion so you can only choose among the coins and bullion that are IRA-approved, and as mentioned before the metals are held for you at a depository you choose with the gold IRA company. I’m glad you found my article informative and that you’re interested in precious metals investing. I hope to see you around! Thank you, Isaac.
Hiya David
I read your article on investing in gold and precious metals for beginners with interest as I am a very beginner investor with little knowledge and less sense! I am trying to read everything I can on investing before I get too far into it financially. I have started on an investment platform called etoro and I have some crypto and a couple of popular stocks but I’d also like some precious metals as I also don’t believe fiat is going to last.
If only I had a clue what I was doing! This is where sites like yours are invaluable for people like me who want to invest but are basically clueless. About that, could I ask what an IRA is? You mentioned it often but I couldn’t see what it was anywhere.
I have bookmarked your site for future reference, thank you for a well researched, well written article, krs PurpleLioness
Hello PurpleLioness! I’m glad you agree that fiat currency won’t last and i’m glad to see you invest in alternative investments like cryptocurrency and that you are also interested in precious metals. Let me answer your question first: an IRA is an individual retirement account, a retirement vehicle such as a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or a self-directed IRA that allows you to invest in various assets (usually paper assets like stocks and bonds). A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA in which you can invest in physical precious metals and also various alternative commodities like real estate and oil & gas. You can click on the link above for more details about what a self directed gold IRA can offer. Thank you for the bookmark, feedback, and the inquiry, PurpleLioness!