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American Hartford Gold is probably best for investors who want to convert significant portions of their retirement assets to gold or other metals, because AHG may waive certain fees with larger opening deposits. For those who may be on the fence about investing in gold, want to find more educational resources, or prefer a more digital and automated experience, refer to our best gold IRA guide.
Diversification is one of the most important aspects of investing. While stocks, bonds, and cash tend to be the most common assets to diversify your portfolio, precious metals like gold could also play an important role. American Hartford Gold allows investors to invest in gold and other precious metals.
American Hartford Gold Review
American Hartford Gold is a precious metals retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars directly to individual investors.
AHG has one of the top gold IRAs for those interested in holding precious metals within their retirement accounts. The company also offers cash accounts, which allow you to buy gold and silver from American Hartford Gold and have them shipped to your home.
Pros and Cons of American Hartford Gold
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American Hartford Gold Costs
American Hartford Gold charges a $230 application fee and $200 annual fee for storage, insurance, and custodian services.
While not explicitly listed on the site, know that some fees may be waived or reduced depending on the amount of your initial deposit or rollover, and you can discuss your specific situation with a representative when you open an account. However, in our calls with representatives, they did not give a concrete amount that would warrant a fee waiver.
How to Open an Account with American Hartford Gold
To open either an American Hartford Gold IRA or cash account, you must call the company at the number listed on its website. After completing the required paperwork via DocuSign, the account is typically open within three to 10 business days. Alternatively, to open a gold IRA, there is an intake form on the website if you want to skip the phonelines.
After the account is opened and funded, you can select the metals that best fit your portfolio and risk profile. You also have the option to schedule a meeting with a representative to discuss all of the different metal offerings at no charge.
Once selected, those metals will be physically shipped to a storage facility under your name if you open an IRA. If you open a cash account, American Hartford Gold will ship the metals directly to you.
American Hartford Gold Options
American Hartford Gold offers a handful of services to investors. The main offerings are its gold IRA and the ability to buy and sell individual gold and silver coins, bars, and other precious metals.
American Harford Gold IRA
Through American Hartford Gold, you can open and fund an IRA and invest in physical gold, which will be shipped to a secure facility. During the account opening process, AHG takes you through the process to roll over one of your existing retirement accounts to serve as the initial funding method. The retirement plans eligible for rollover at AHG include 401(k), 403(b), traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 457 plans, and Thrift Savings Plans. You also have the option to fund the account with cash via wire transfer.
Similar to traditional IRAs with stocks and bonds, there is a limit to how much you can contribute in a tax year. The limit for 2023 is $6,500 if you're under age 50 and $7,500 if you're 50 or older. In 2024, those limits increase to $7,000 and $8,000, respectively. You can hold a gold IRA, Roth IRA, and traditional IRA simultaneously, but opening more types of IRAs doesn't increase your contribution limit.
American Hartford Cash Account
A cash account with American Hartford Gold allows you to purchase physical gold or silver directly from the company without opening an IRA. This option may appeal to investors who are not interested in holding precious metals within their retirement accounts, prefer to store them independently, or wish to buy more than the amount allowed with an IRA.
If you want to sell a portion or all of your holdings back to American Hartford Gold, you can call its service line to receive a price. Then AHG will send you the proper packing and shipping materials.
Compare American Hartford Gold
American Hartford Gold is one of many options for investing in precious metals. Let's compare how AHG stacks up against other major companies.
American Hartford Gold vs. Rosland Capital
Rosland Capital is slightly more transparent in displaying its setup and maintenance fees than AHG. Rosland Capital has a $50 one-time set-up fee, $100 annual maintenance fee, a storage fee of $100 or $150, and a $40 paper statement fee (if you choose to receive paper statements).
Both companies offer gold IRAs and the ability to receive physical gold and other metals directly. Rosland Capital does have a minimum purchase of $2,000 currently.
Other than slightly different fees and minimums in some areas, investors may not see a big difference between Rosland and American Hartford.
Rosland Capital Review
American Hartford Gold vs. Silver Gold Bull
Silver Gold Bull has limited background information about the company that is readily available, so it may not make the list for investors who prefer to understand a firm's history and track record. Like other firms in this space, Silver Gold Bull doesn't list many of its fees on the website.
Both American Hartford Gold and Silver Gold Bull have a library of resources anyone can access without giving up their personal information. But the educational materials from Silver Gold Bull are written in a more neutral and advisory tone that may help potential investors decide based on data rather than fear or excessive pessimism.
American Hartford Gold vs. Webull
Webull is a traditional online brokerage that does not offer a gold IRA or the ability to own or ship physical gold. However, investors can still gain exposure to gold and other precious metals through gold ETFs available on the Webull platform with much lower fees than owning physical gold.
Webull Investing Review
American Hartford Gold FAQs
Is American Hartford Gold legit?
Yes, American Hartford Gold is one of the largest gold retailers in the US. It has appeared multiple times as one of the top financial services companies on the Inc. 5000 list. The company has also collected hundreds of positive reviews from third-party sites like TrustPilot and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Is American Hartford Gold worth it?
Investing in gold with any company, not just American Hartford Gold, isn't worth it for most people. Compared to the stock market, gold has serious disadvantages. Gold does not pay dividends or have earnings, and between 2012 and 2022, the S&P 500 outperfomed Gold 80% of the time. Still, investing in gold may be worth it for investors who are looking for more and more ways to diversify their portfolios.
How much does American Hartford Gold charge?
American Hartfold Gold charges a $230 application fee and $200 annual fee for storage, insurance, and custodian services.
What is the minimum investment for American Hartford Gold?
You will need a minimum of $5,000 to start investing with a cash account with American Hartford Gold, and $10,000 to invest with your gold IRA.
How long has American Hartford Gold been around?
American Hartford Gold was founded in 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
What is the American Hartford Gold buyback program?
American Hartford Gold encourages investors to contact the company when they're ready to sell their holdings. While the company does not guarantee that they'll purchase, they do not charge any fees if there is a transaction and will arrange payment and shipping.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed American Hartford Gold
We evaluated American Hartford Gold using Insider's methodology for rating investing platforms. We examined account options, fees, customer service experience, and investment options and rated them on a scale of 0 to 5. Some investing platforms are better suited for more advanced investors, while others cater to newcomers. American Hartford Gold was examined with a focus on how it performed in each category.
Kevin L. Matthews II is a No. 1 bestselling author and former financial advisor. He has helped hundreds of individuals plan for their retirement in addition to managing more than $140 million in assets during his advisory career. In 2017, he was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Financial Advisors by Investopedia. Kevin holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Hampton University and a certificate in financial planning from Northwestern University. In 2020, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Master's in Technology Commercialization (MSTC).
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Evelyn He is a Compliance and Operations Associate on the Personal Finance team to ensure content accuracy and editorial independence so readers get up-to-date and objective financial advice.The compliance team's mission is to provide readers with fact-checked and current stories so they can make informed financial decisions. The team also works to minimize risk for partners by ensuring language is clear, precise, and fully compliant with regulatory and partner marketing guidelines that align with the editorial team.
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