Advantage Gold helps investors seeking to invest in precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum. Their Learning Center provides information to assist new investors in making knowledgeable decisions about their IRAs. They also deliver fast, quality services and offer a wide selection of metals for diversification.
We recommend Advantage Gold as it can help create a portfolio tailored to your individual financial objectives and protect savings for retirement. It's an excellent option for those looking to establish a long-term commitment to their investments.
Although Advantage Gold offers great features, it’s not the cheapest option when it comes to investing in gold. You can get a better deal with Augusta Precious Metals, for example, which has the same $50 account set-up fee, and charges $280 for both custodian and storage charges during the first year and $180 thereafter while at the same time offering the best customer service of any gold company on the market.
When it comes to investing in gold, you must choose a reputable company that’ll help you choose what assets to buy and that’ll keep your gold safe from the hands of thieves. There are dozens of companies in the U.S. offering this type of service, one of which is Advantage Gold. Is this company a good choice to help you start your gold-investing journey? Or are there better options out there? Keep reading to find out.
What Is Advantage Gold?
Advantage Gold is a renowned authority in the world of precious metals investments, providing people with superior services, qualified guidance, and reasonable fees to help them reach their financial goals. Founded in 2014 by Larry Levin, Adam Baratta, and Kirill Zagalsky, Advantage Gold is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Advantage has built an exemplary reputation as a reliable way to convert IRAs and 401(k)s into gold or other valuable metals, helping diversify your retirement portfolio without losing any of the tax advantages of the mentioned retirement accounts.
Advantage Gold's efficiency and convenience have been acknowledged by mass media outlets; its process of buying back gold or silver is straightforward and quick. Every day they calculate buyback rates based on market prices of precious metals – all you need to do is fill out the required forms. They will determine how much you are due before sending payment promptly. This feature remains one of their most prominent selling points.
Features Of Advantage Gold
Let's take a look at the specifics of what Advantage Gold has to offer.
#1 Robust Learning Center
Advantage Gold's robust learning center provides investors with the knowledge and understanding they need to make the best financial decisions around gold investment. It’s an invaluable resource for those looking to invest in their future, particularly if they don’t have any investing experience.
The robust learning center includes helpful resources such as IRA information, charts that explain 401k fees, retirement tools, infographics, and a free guide on IRA info, all of which are intended to provide customers with an insight into how money works so they can choose investments wisely.
The learning center also boasts a team of trusted IRA representatives who have helped thousands of clients secure and protect their retirement savings through careful investment strategies tailored to each individual's needs. Clients may be sure that any precious metals purchased through Advantage Gold meet all IRS regulations due to its great selection of coins approved by the government agency.
Having access to these resources means investors can educate themselves about investing without relying on third parties. This also gives them peace of mind when making investment choices with their money.
#2 Vast Array Of Products
Advantage Gold offers a diverse collection of precious metals. These include different forms of Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium. With many options, investors can find the right product to fit their portfolio and financial needs. You can buy precious metals such as:
- Bullion Coins
- Proof Coins
- Platinum Coins
- Palladium coins
These coins come from reputable mints worldwide, such as the US Mint and Royal Canadian Mint.
Having a vast array of products is important for investors. It allows them to diversify their investments by investing in different metals, making it easier for them to create a well-rounded investment portfolio designed to meet their specific financial needs and goals. Furthermore, with Advantage Gold's extensive selection of products, investors can easily find a product that fits their budget and risk tolerance.
#3 Precious Metals IRA
Although they call it Gold IRA, Advantage Gold offers a comprehensive IRA option that allows investors to Invest in four precious metals—gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. This feature provides investors with an additional layer of diversity not offered by most other retirement accounts. For example, although it’s one of the best gold IRAs in the U.S., American Hartford Gold doesn’t offer platinum or palladium investments, only gold, and silver.
Not only will investing in precious metals provide a hedge against inflation when the dollar loses value, but it also diversifies your investment portfolio by adding a type of asset uncorrelated to the stock market. Since investing in gold and other precious metals doesn't correlate to stock market fluctuations, you can potentially maintain financial stability when other markets crash.
What's more, Advantage Gold allows you to open either a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA with precious metals. Traditional IRAs allow you to fund your account with pre-tax dollars; withdrawals are then subject to taxation, so it’s an example of a tax-deferral account. In contrast, Roth IRAs let you invest with post-tax dollars so that withdrawals are tax-free come retirement.
In short, the Precious Metals IRA from Advantage Gold offers a great way for investors to add another layer of safety and security into their portfolios while also taking advantage of tax benefits available through traditional or Roth IRAs.
#4 Safe And Secure Storage
Advantage Gold offers its customers the highest level of security in storage for their gold and precious metals investments. Through a partnership with two premier depositories, Brink's Global Services USA, Inc. and Delaware Depository, Advantage Gold provides secure, approved storage for customers' assets in Los Angeles or Salt Lake City and Wilmington, DE. Both depositories offer fully-insured safety for gold IRA customers.
Advantage Gold has chosen proven depositories tested by the IRS to ensure all regulations are met or exceeded. This means investors can safely and securely store their gold assets with no worry of loss or theft of their metals. As an investor, you can easily track your assets online through your personal account with the depository.
Furthermore, both depositories are fully insured, so your investments won’t be affected even if an unforeseen adverse event happens.
#5 Five-Star Reviews All Around
Advantage Gold is proud to boast a 100% 5-star rating from its customers and ratings agencies. The company has an AAA rating from the Business Consumer Alliance and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 2014. It consistently receives high ratings on review sites such as TrustLink, where it has earned a 10 out of 10 based on 352 reviews, and TrustPilot, which gave it a 9.9 out of 10 based on 680 reviews.
Five-star reviews are essential because they tell investors that Advantage Gold is reliable and trustworthy. This gives investors peace of mind knowing they will get good value for their money with Advantage Gold.
For example, these rave reviews tell potential clients that Advantage Gold offers excellent customer service and timely returns without hidden fees or surprise charges. Additionally, this feature shows potential clients that there are multiple options for investing with Advantage Gold, depending on individual needs and risk tolerances—something not all gold companies offer.
#6 Buy Back Service
Advantage Gold offers clients the convenience of an easy and efficient Buy Back Program. This feature is essential because it allows investors to quickly and easily liquidate their precious metals investments if need be. This program eliminates the hassle of finding a buyer and the headaches of complicated paperwork. With the Gold Buy Back Program, investors can simply fill out an online form and email or fax it to the company to receive funds for their investments. The company bases the buyback price on the current market prices for each metal so that investors can get a fair value for their assets.
The Buy Back Program gives investors peace of mind knowing that they can access funds from their investments whenever they need them without worrying about whether or not they will find a buyer or get a fair price. Lastly, this feature also helps clients make informed decisions regarding when it’s best to sell off their gold holdings to maximize potential profits.
Related: Noble Gold Investments also offers a no-questions-asked buyback program.
#7 Easy 1-2-3 Account Opening
Advantage Gold offers an easy three-step account opening process that makes it simple to open and fund your self-directed IRA. This feature is important because it allows investors to easily open their accounts without going through a lengthy, often confusing process.
With Advantage Gold, all you need to do is complete the self-directed IRA form, decide your investment amount, and open and fund your IRA account. This simple three-step process is designed to make it easy for investors to open their IRA accounts without worrying about unnecessary paperwork or steps that could delay the process.
How To Open A Gold IRA With Advantage Gold
As mentioned above, opening an account is as easy as 1-2-3:
Step #1: Self-Directed IRA Application
This is a standard application form with basic personal and financial data. You can complete this step online through a secure server or with a paper IRA Custodial Account Application.
You’ll need to provide a valid state-issued form of ID, such as your driver’s license or photo ID, as well as payment for the fees associated with opening your account.
Step #2: Choose How You’ll Fund Your Account
You can choose between direct transfers from another custodian, rolling over funds from an IRA, 401(k), or other employer-sponsored retirement plan.
Finally, you can fund your new Gold IRA with an annual IRA contribution as long as it’s within the specified IRS limits.
Step #3: Provide Your Investment Directions
This means telling Advantage Gold the type of investment you wish to hold in your Gold IRA. In other words, you’ll need to choose what types of coins and metals you wish to buy and hold on your Gold IRA.
Besides these steps, you’ll also need to sign several forms, including:
- A Client & Shipping Agreement: This agreement defines how your gold or other precious metal will be transported to its final destination, be it your home or one of the approved storage facilities.
- A Precious Metals Investment Disclosures Form: This form explains the potential risks involved in investing in precious metals and seeks to ensure that you know what you’re getting into by opening a gold IRA.
You’ll also be required to submit the latest official copy of your current retirement account’s financial statement. This allows Advantage Gold to see how much you have saved and whether or not gold or another precious metal would be a good addition to your retirement savings.
Pros Of Advantage Gold
- Advantage Gold provides various educational resources for investors, such as complimentary videos, classes, webinars, retirement safeguarding resources, and up-to-date market charts.
- Investors can effortlessly change gold into cash.
- Advantage Gold has garnered good reviews from TrustLink and TrustPilot and is a reliable option for investors.
- This firm is ideally suited for those new to investing in precious metals since they are knowledgeable about teaching their customers.
- They provide multiple options for investing in rare metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
- It offers platinum and palladium in addition to gold and silver investments and lower minimums than its counterparts.
- They offer safe storage solutions for valuable metals, which gives investors peace of mind.
Cons Of Advantage Gold
- Though Advantage Gold has been busy educating clients for a few years, the company is relatively new; it was created in 2014.
- Advantage Gold does not make the pricing and fees associated with investing in gold very clear, which may prove to be an issue for some individuals. For example, their website does not offer any specific prices for coins.
Pricing
- Advantage Gold's fees depend on the custodian chosen, with Equity Trust Company and STRATA Trust Company offering a $50 account setup fee.
- Equity Trust Company provides a variable annual maintenance fee of $225 or more. At the same time, STRATA has a yearly fee of $95 or more.
- Both companies have segregated precious metal storage for $150, and Advantage Gold requires at least a $25,000 deposit for IRA rollovers.
- They have no refund policy or guarantee as of writing this article.
- Their pricing compares favorably to Augusta Precious Metals and Patriot Gold Group. The former has a higher minimum investment requirement of $50,000 while only providing gold and silver options. The latter offers no-fee IRAs but needs a $100,000 minimum investment amount instead.
In Summary
Advantage Gold is a precious metals investment service that provides its clients with the assistance they need to acquire physical gold and silver through direct purchase or retirement accounts. Its expertise lies in educating customers and equipping them with the resources and information vital for making sound financial decisions. Some features include a detailed learning center, several products, and long-term investment options to preserve retirement savings and diversify portfolios.
Although Advantage Gold offers great features, it’s not the cheapest option when it comes to investing in gold. You can get a better deal with Augusta Precious Metals, for example, which has the same $50 account set-up fee, and charges $280 for both custodian and storage charges during the first year and $180 thereafter while at the same time offering the best customer service of any gold company on the market.
Advantage Gold FAQs
Is Advantage Gold worth it?
Yes, Advantage Gold is an ideal option for anyone new to investing in precious metals with their individual retirement account (IRA). Their expertise lies in teaching the client about their many available IRA-approved coins. They have excellent customer service and offer many products to invest in.
However, if you have over $50,000 to invest in your gold IRA, I can’t recommend Augusta Precious Metals enough. In the long run, it’ll be a cheaper option and offers better customer service.
If you're a small investor, you can also try Fidelity's Gold IRA, which offers one of the market's lowest minimum investments in precious metals.
Is Advantage Gold safe?
Yes, Advantage Gold is a safe choice for investing in precious metals via an IRA. It’s well-suited for those just beginning to invest and serves as an ideal approach for diversifying investments in precious metals. You’ll find hundreds of positive reviews on TrustLink and TrustPilot and not a single negative comment, so you can bank on its credibility.
Are TrustPilot reviews trustworthy?
You can have confidence in reviews on TrustPilot. It’s an extraordinarily reliable platform with over 111 million assessments and more than ten years of experience. While Trustpilot can be a useful reference point when making decisions regarding certain organizations, it’s also important to consider other opinions and use your judgment before forming an opinion.
How good iare gold ETFs?
Gold ETFs can be a great way to invest in gold without having to store physical gold. Gold ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to the price of gold without the inconveniences associated with owning and keeping physical gold, such as storage costs, transport costs, and potential security risks. Investing in a gold ETF also allows investors to liquidate their position quickly since it is traded on an exchange like any other stock or bond. However, there are some drawbacks associated with investing in a gold ETF that should be taken into consideration before investing. One such drawback is that expenses for managing a gold ETF can add up over time and may reduce returns. Additionally, some investors are concerned about the lack of transparency since some of these funds do not publish holdings regularly or provide details about the investments they make.