Gold Alliance Capital is a reputable precious metals dealer offering physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium as well as investments in self-directed precious metals IRAs. This company was founded in 2002 and has since built a reputation as a leading precious metals dealer.
Gold Alliance makes investing in precious metal IRAs simple. You can roll over funds from a range of retirement savings accounts directly into your new self-directed IRA. Because the company requires no minimum investment, new investors can feel confident opening their gold and silver IRAs through Gold Alliance Capital.
Do you want to open an individual retirement account (IRA) that invests in gold and silver? Gold Alliance Capital, with its proven track record and excellent Better Business Bureau rating, is among the most popular gold IRA companies in the United States.
However, opening a precious metals IRA should fit your investment objectives. For example, you should ensure that your savings are safe and that you’ll be able to sell precious metals acquired from the company when you retire.
In this Gold Alliance review, our team at Learn About Gold discusses whether Gold Alliance is the right company for your investment needs.
History and Background of Gold Alliance Capital
A team of veteran precious metals and gold IRA advisors founded Gold Alliance Capital in 2002. Currently, the company’s headquarters are in Reno, Nevada. The Gold Alliance CEO is Joseph Sherman, who has a degree in law from the University of Tel Aviv and two decades of experience in providing financial services.
The company’s objective is to help investors add gold and silver coins and bars to investment accounts and take advantage of tax benefits. According to the dealer’s official mission, it aims to help Americans achieve financial security through the protection and benefits of precious metals beyond banks’ and Wall Street’s reach.
Investors who want to open a self-directed IRA (SDIRA) and hold gold and other precious metals as retirement assets should expect the following from Gold Alliance Capital:
- Access to the senior portfolio management team, a dedicated account executive, and gold IRA experts
- Lifetime client support, which includes assistance with storage and distributions from precious metals IRAs
Is It Safe To Invest in Gold Alliance?
When looking at information on independent consumer sites, investments in Gold Alliance products appear to be generally safe. At the time of writing, Gold Alliance has 13 five-star reviews on Business Consumer Alliance with no complaints regarding refunds, adjustments, and unanswered queries.
Gold Alliance also has an AAA rating with the Business Consumer Alliance. This rating considers various factors, including the company’s background information, the length of time it has been in business, and its complaint history.
This high rating also indicates that Gold Alliance meets all relevant licensing requirements and that the company has never faced regulatory actions relevant to its reliability.
Gold Alliance IRA
Before discussing the Gold Alliance offers, it might be helpful to explain the differences between regular IRAs and self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs).
Regular IRAs and SDIRAs are similar in that both types are available as a Roth or traditional IRA. However, with a regular IRA, you can only invest in conventional securities, such as equities, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds.
On the other hand, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations allow an SDIRA holder to include alternative investments in their investment portfolio, including physical assets, such as precious metals.
Service Overview
The terms “precious metals IRA” or “gold IRA” both refer to a type of SDIRA that holds precious metal assets. These assets can include physical gold bullion bars, coins, or securities, such as shares in gold mining companies.
Gold Alliance specializes in providing investors with a process for setting up precious metal IRAs to contribute physical gold and silver to their retirement accounts. After opening your gold IRA, you can also purchase the precious metals you want to add to your retirement account directly from Gold Alliance Capital.
IRS Regulations: Custodians and Storage
Under IRS requirements, a trust or custodian must hold retirement accounts. In the case of regular IRAs, these custodians are typically banks or brokerage firms. However, a nonbank custodian that complies with IRS regulations can hold an SDIRA on your behalf.
An SDIRA custodian is a financial services provider who executes any investment decision you make within your SDIRA. This custodian also ensures that your gold IRA complies with all relevant IRS regulations.
Currently, Gold Alliance Capital works with the following IRS-approved IRA custodians:
- GoldStar Trust Company
- Preferred Trust Company
- Equity Trust Company
The Gold Alliance team also coordinates the functions of the depository, which is an IRS-approved facility that physically holds the precious metals that form part of your gold IRA.
The Delaware Depository in Wilmington, DE, is Gold Alliance’s designated facility for storing precious metals. Unlike most IRS-approved depositories, the Delaware Depository has 72,000 square feet of storage space with Class 3 vaults. The Delaware Depository also has a comprehensive insurance policy from Lloyds of London, one of the oldest and most well-known insurance companies.
Opening a Gold IRA: How To Get Started With Gold Alliance?
Gold Alliance Capital differs from conventional investment companies. While conventional companies enable you to invest in traditional securities, a gold IRA from Gold Alliance allows you to invest in precious metals as part of your retirement savings strategy. Gold Alliance works with leading custodians who oversee all reporting, ensuring tax and regulatory compliance.
If you want to purchase precious metals and include them in your gold IRA, you can follow Gold Alliance’s three-step process:
- Apply for an IRA account: The first step is to get in touch with a Gold Alliance company representative and let them know that you want to open a precious metals IRA.
The representative will send you an application. After receiving your application, they will open your new IRA account within 24 hours. You will also receive an email with instructions on opening an online account that allows you to track your retirement account’s performance.
- Fund your IRA: The next step is funding your new SDIRA with a regular IRA or 401(k) rollover. You can also transfer funds from any other retirement account. The entire process takes three to five business days.
- Purchase gold or other investment metals with your IRA funds: After funding your account, you can buy gold or other precious metals. The price of precious metals varies daily, and you need to know the current market price before purchasing gold and other metals. However, you can consult with the Gold Alliance precious metals dealer to help you make informed decisions so you don’t lose money.
Products of Gold Alliance
Owning gold is the most exciting part of opening a retirement savings account with Gold Alliance Capital. As a precious metals dealer, Gold Alliance offers a wide selection of investment metals for gold IRAs, including premium gold coins and gold bars. However, you can also filter your search by metal type: gold, palladium, platinum, and silver.
The silver category includes 90% silver coins, such as the Silver Kennedy Half Dollar and the Silver Mercury Dime. Other search categories include:
- Collectible
- Common Bullion
- Limited Mintage
- IRA-Eligible
When shopping for precious metals to form part of retirement investments, remember that, under IRS regulations, only the following metals are permissible:
- Gold with a purity of 99.5%
- Silver with a purity of 99.9%
- Platinum and palladium with a purity of 99.95%
The precious metals that meet these requirements are available under the Gold Alliance “IRA-Eligible” category. In other words, the company’s collectible, limited mintage, or common bullion products might not be IRA-approved coins or bars. You must only check the “IRA-Eligible” box to find these products.
Gold Alliance Capital doesn’t list precious metal prices on its website. You need to call the company to learn a piece’s current market value.
What Are Your Rollover Options for Gold Alliance?
We mentioned above that a rollover is the funding method for gold IRAs. The retirement accounts or plans you can use to fund your new Gold Alliance IRA include:
- 401(k)
- 403(b)
- 457(b)
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SEP IRA
- SIMPLE IRA
- Pension plans
- Thrift Savings accounts
Your IRA rollover should take place in compliance with IRS regulations. If you are younger than 59 ½ years, you must complete the process within 60 days. Should you fail to complete the rollover during this period, you will need to pay income tax on the amount you withdrew and a 10% early-withdrawal fine.
Letting Gold Alliance and one of its custodians do an institution-to-institution transfer mitigates this risk, as the funds are never under your control.
Gold Alliance Costs
Before opening an SDIRA with Gold Alliance Capital, you need to consider two fee categories:
Yearly Account Fees
Gold Alliance charges account holders a yearly account fee of up to $180. The fee covers account maintenance, storage fees, online access to account information, and financial statements every quarter.
Some third-party reviews mention that Gold Alliance offers free storage and free silver with precious metal purchases. However, we couldn’t verify that these offers exist.
The Cost of the Precious Metals
The prices of gold and silver are constantly fluctuating, which is why Gold Alliance doesn’t list precious metals prices on their website. After making a purchase, Gold Alliance will have your physical metals shipped to the approved depository. If you don’t want to include the precious metals in an IRA, you can personally take possession of these products.
Gold Alliance Buyback Program
When you retire, you will need to liquidate your precious metal investment, then withdraw the returns. However, liquidating your precious metal assets can be challenging if you are not a dealer.
Fortunately, Gold Alliance offers a buyback program, which means the company will buy the metals from you when you need your retirement funds. If you bought the metals from a Gold Alliance competitor, the company will inspect the metals before making you an offer.
How Much Is the Minimum Investment?
Gold Alliance charges a $75 minimum yearly account maintenance fee, depending on the custodian you use. In terms of precious metal purchases, no minimum investment exists. Removing minimum investments makes it easier for investors to buy precious metals and include these assets in their retirement funds.
The Company’s Charity Program
Under the Gold Alliance charity program, the company donates a percentage of its yearly net profit to organizations supporting United States veterans.
What Organizations Do They Support?
The organizations that Gold Alliance supports include:
- Wounded Warriors Family Support
- National Veterans Foundation
- Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation
Are There Any Customer Complaints?
Currently, there are only four customer complaints on the Better Business Bureau website. However, Gold Alliance resolved the complaints successfully, and the BBB closed them.
Given the large number of IRA holders the company serves, four complaints are relatively insignificant and don’t indicate issues with the company’s reliability, integrity, or service quality.
How To Reach Gold Alliance Contact Support
You can contact the Gold Alliance support team by visiting the company’s contact page and completing the online contact form. You can also call one of the Gold Alliance consultants at (888) 734-7453 to learn more about their gold IRAs or request an application form.
Gold Alliance Review: Is Gold Alliance the IRA Company for You?
Gold has been an investment metal for centuries, and its value will likely remain stable for centuries to come. The gold price’s relationship with the United States dollar means the metal is a stable hedge against inflation, and it can help to protect the value of your retirement account during times of economic turmoil.
After reading these Gold Alliance reviews, you can make an informed decision about whether this company is the right precious metals dealer for you. If you want to secure your financial future with gold, opening an SDIRA with Gold Alliance is a safe option.
