By Tim Schmidt Sr.
Gold IRA Investor.
Many Americans are looking for a better option for their existing retirement account, and one way to do this is to convert their IRA to gold with a gold IRA rollover. Gold IRA companies work with gold IRA custodians to seamlessly help those who want IRS-approved precious metals, like physical gold, as part of their retirement portfolio. If you want to learn more about gold-backed traditional or Roth IRAs, as well as how these tax-advantaged retirement accounts can help diversify your finances in retirement, consider requesting a free gold IRA kit from a reputable gold IRA company.
For those who have an retirement account already, like an existing IRA or a 401 k, you can move the money in those accounts into a gold or silver IRA. To do this, you will need to do a rollover or transfer. Here’s how you can do it in a really easy way:
Augusta Precious Metals provides an exclusive one-on-one online presentation that outshines anything else in the industry. If you’re planning to allocate $50,000 or more toward precious metals, this is the first step you should take. Recognized by Money as the #1 gold IRA company for 2025 and backed by thousands of five-star customer ratings, Augusta remains our highest-recommended choice.
Goldco stands out for its outstanding customer support and generous buyback offers should you choose to sell your precious metals in the future.
For a limited time, new account holders can also receive up to 10% of their purchase back in complimentary silver coins, adding even more value to your portfolio.
GoldenCrest Metals is a family-owned company delivering some of the most competitive pricing in the precious metals space, quickly earning the attention of savvy investors.
If you’re looking for premium, concierge-style service and guidance from a knowledgeable team of experts, request their gold IRA kit and schedule a conversation with them today.
A long-standing leader in the field, Noble Gold is known for its low entry requirements and one of the most extensive precious metal selections available.
Whether you want to open a gold IRA or purchase metals outright, the process is straightforward—simply request details and complete a few quick steps online.
The first thing you need to do is choose an company to work with. There are many companies that specialize in precious metals IRAs, but they aren’t all created equal. To invest in gold or silver, you will need to fund a self-directed IRA that is managed by a reputable custodian.
You might have a company in mind, but if you haven’t, I suggest checking out my guide to the best gold IRA companies to work with. I’ve also shared my favorite companies, with an overview of each, below. All of them offer free gold IRA kits.
A gold IRA company will work with a custodian to help you transfer funds from an existing IRA or retirement account to a precious metals IRA, and then they will help you buy physical metals. You want to make sure you work with a company that understands thinks like gold IRA rules, how gold investments work, and companies that won’t charge high fees for these services.
Speaking of fees, you also want to consider the fact that since these are physical assets, you will need to store them somewhere, so you should expect storage fees. Home storage isn’t allowed for metals used in an IRA.
Once you have chosen a reputable company, it really just takes a few days to open the account and get it ready for funding. A good IRA company will be there to help step-by-step.
Before we talk about how to initiate a gold IRA transfer or rollover, it’s important to understand what a gold or silver IRA is.
A gold or silver IRA is a self-directed retirement account. This means that you get to choose which assets are held in the account. This differs from traditional retirement accounts, which are backed by stocks, bonds, and other funds.
With a precious metals IRA, you use things like gold bullion, physical gold coins, or other types of IRS approved gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. You can get a traditional gold IRA, a Roth gold IRA, and there are even SEP gold IRAs.
Regular IRAs don’t allow people to invest in physical precious medals. The closest you can get is investing in gold stocks. With a self-directed IRA, however, you can take advantage of all of the benefits of investing in precious medals without the tax implications that may come with other types of accounts or investments.
There are some things to keep in mind if you are going to set up a new gold IRA. For instance, setting up a gold or silver IRA generally comes with higher fees. This is because of the costs of storing physical gold, silver, and other precious metals. Though you hold precious metals in your account, the actual metals must be stored in a depository, which must be IRS-approved. This is why it’s so important that you understand the process here, and how important working with a gold IRA company really is.
Another thing to keep in mind is the contributions you make to the new precious metals IRA. Currently, the limit is the same for traditional IRAs: $7,000 per year (or $8,000 if you are over the age of 50.) You can open as many IRAs as you want, but the total annual contributions cannot go above that.
Once the self-directed IRA is funded, the next step is to transfer funds from your current account to a new account. This is done through a rollover process, but it must follow IRS regulations or you will end up having to pay taxes. This is also why it’s so important to have a good custodian. They will know how to rollover funds, or transfer them, and make sure your income taxes aren’t affected…as long as you choose a direct rollover.
You can rollover from your current IRA via a direct rollover or an indirect rollover. The easiest way is with a direct rollover, but you can also do an indirect rollover. This means that you will cash out the funds from your current IRA, and then deposit those funds into a new IRA. You must do this within 60 days, or you will be penalized.
When the account has been funded, choose the precious metals that will help you meet your investment goals. Again, this is where the knowledge of a good gold IRA company is invaluable. Remember, gold IRAs follow IRS rules. This means that only certain types of gold can be used.
You can mix gold, silver, platinum, and palladium as long as they meet IRS standards. Some of the popular options include American Gold Eagles, Silver American Eagle Coins, Gold Bars, Silver Bars and Coins, and more.
A gold IRA lets you invest in metals, but when you hold physical gold in an IRA, you must store it in an IRS-approved depository. Many custodians offer storage solutions or work closely with a trusted depository.
Like any other investments, you need to watch and monitor your gold IRA and make changes, as needed. This just means that you should adjust how you are allocating your assets and ensure you are maintaining a good balance in regard to diversification. This, too, is a good reason to choose a highly-rated custodian. They will help here and let you know what to do.
Now, here are my choices for the best gold IRA companies. All of them offer a free gold IRA kit, which is a really valuable asset. The kits are full of information, educational materials, they are totally free, and you never have any obligation to invest.
Each of these companies here have amazing reviews, and I have personally worked with them in the past. You don’t have to take my word for it, though, because they are also highly-rated by sites like the Better Business Bureau and TrustPilot.
Several of these companies also offer additional promotions, too, for certain investors. These include free silver and waived fees.
Here are my picks for the best place to convert your current IRA to a gold IRA:
If I ever had to choose one gold IRA company, it would be Augusta Precious Metals. This company offers 1-on-1 service, which I believe is the most educational in the whole gold IRA industry. Augusta is ranks as the best overall gold IRA company this year, and it has thousands of 5-star reviews on many consumer review sites.
Make sure you check out my full review of Augusta Precious Metals.
Another option is Goldco. This company’s customer service is excellent, and it has an exceptional buyback program, which means they will buy back your precious metals if you need to liquidate, and they offer fair prices.
I also like that Goldco offers promos like free silver coins when you open a self directed IRA.
Interested? Read my Goldco review.
If you have $10,000 or more, and you are looking for a great, overall choice for a gold IRA, consider American Hartford Gold. This company often waives fees for storage, has no annual fees, and don’t charge for set ups. They also have a really nice range of metals available, including platinum, which not all companies offer. They will also re-price the purchase for you if the price of the metals falls within 7 days following the opening date of your account.
My American Hartford Gold Group review.
GoldenCrest Metals is a newer option, but they offer very competitive pricing and the company is gaining a lot of momentum in the industry. They really do offer white glove experiences, and everyone I have ever spoken to here has been well-educated and professional.
Read my GoldenCrest Metals review, today.
Noble Gold has been around for many years, and it’s a very highly regarded company in the precious metals industry. The best thing about Noble Gold is that it offers low minimums for investing, and it has a really big selection of precious metals to choose from. You can buy metals from Noble Gold to invest with, or open a gold IRA.
Start by reading my Noble Gold review.
I want to help people make the best decision possible, for them, when investing their money. This is why I am sharing my picks for good gold IRA companies to get a free gold IRA kit from. These kits will not only allow you to purchase gold, silver, and other metals, but they will also explain what you need to know about fees, any buyback programs, storage options, and promotions, like free silver.
The only companies that I really recommend for investors who are looking for platinum and/or palladium is Noble Gold. Order a free gold IRA kit from them for access to platinum and palladium.
No. Not all gold coins are approved precious metals for an IRA. I will tell you, though, that all of these companies offer IRA-approved coins, and they will help you choose the best ones for your goals. Only choose gold and silver that is fully IRS-approved to your account, or you could find yourself in trouble with the IRS.
I recommend opening a gold IRA mostly because there are so many great benefits available. Here are some of them:
When stocks and paper assets fall in value, precious metals tend to rise.
We can see this very clearly by looking at the past few years. A couple of years ago, gold was valued at just under $2,000 an ounce. By mid October, 2025, it reached its highest price ever at $4,530.00/ounce. It more than doubled in just a couple of years.
During that time, we have seen war, there has been turbulence throughout the world, new leaders, higher inflation, and other considerations, which has pushed the value of precious metals to soar.
Precious metals IRAs have also become more popular, and even Central Banks are stockpiling everything from gold bars, bullion, coins, and more to silver and other precious metals. With several banks failing back in 2023, we have seen the importance of investing in precious metals.
You also don’t need to be a financial guru to notice that the purchasing power of the dollar has fallen, too. If you had stockpiled gold just a few years ago when the price was lower, thanks to inflation, you would have thousands and thousands of dollars right now. Gold is a simple and easy way to diversify your savings and protect your wealth.
Finally, you must diversify your portfolio, and this is an excellent way to do it. Many investors only focus on stocks or certain industries, but this isn’t enough. Precious metals should also be added, in my option, and experts say 5-20% of your portfolio should be precious metals.
My best advice is to request a gold IRA kit. It’s free, and you really don’t have anything to lose. Even if you do nothing else, you can see how precious metals IRAs work, and how they are important to any solid retirement plan.
