When you are entrusting your retirement savings to a company obviously you want to be very confident that the company concerned is absolutely trustworthy in their dealings.
Due to the increasing popularity of gold investing in general and particularly switching from a standard IRA to a gold backed IRA account, many gold IRA companies have sprung up in recent years to service this ever growing need. So how do you go about choosing a reputable gold IRA dealer?
Reputation is Key
Well firstly look for a company with an excellent reputation. There are many ways to check this from objective third party sources. The Better Business Bureau or the Business Consumer Alliance are both good resources to find out this sort of information. Check out what the firms’ customers are saying about them, also look at any complaints that have been filed. There are many other trusted third party resources out there that can help you to build up a clear picture of how well regarded a company is. Here are a few further choices, Trustlink, Facebook, Google Business, and Consumer Affairs.
It goes without saying that a company should have all the necessary licenses, registrations and insurance required to protect their clients’ investments. Ensure that you ask for verification of these from respective companies.
Look for a company that has been in business for a reasonable length of time. This is not to say that more recently started gold IRA companies may not be reputable and trustworthy however nothing beats experience. You will far more easily be able to assess the reputation of a company that has been in business for many years.
Beware High Pressure Sales Tactics and “Free Silver”
Be very wary of any gold IRA company that immediately hits you with a hard sell or offers what seems to be a very generous amount of “free” silver as a sign up bonus. These are not tactics that a reputable gold IRA company would employ. You can guarantee that any free metals you are being offered will be priced into your purchases and hence are not genuinely free at all. A reputable dealer will never use high pressure sales tactics. Companies of this nature are primarily viewing you as a transaction, they just want your money as opposed to looking at you as an individual with specific needs and goals.
Building a Long Term Relationship
A highly reputable gold IRA dealer will first and foremost listen to what you want to achieve from investing in gold?, what are your aims and goals?, what are your timelines?, and then will educate you on the best options and choices that you can make in order to achieve the results you want.
A reputable gold IRA dealer is first and foremost an educator, guiding you towards the right choices, for you and your family’s individual needs. They are looking to build a long term relationship with you, where you are not just a transaction, but a valued client with long term goals, who they can have a mutually beneficial relationship with for many years to come. Many clients of the best Gold Ira companies will be repeat clients who purchase numerous times during the course of their relationship with the company. Another hugely positive benefit for the company in building long term supportive relationships with their client base is that of referral business. Referrals from satisfied clients are absolute gold [no pun intended] for any business, and Gold IRA dealers are no exception.
Great Price Deals a Warning Sign
Another commonly employed tactic by less than reputable gold IRA companies is the “Great Price Deal Story”. This is where the company concerned creates a narrative around the fact that you can get a really good deal if you purchase now. This can vary from reasons why a current client needs to sell their gold quickly to making out that they have just made a huge gold buy at a fantastic price and they can pass those savings on to you if you purchase immediately. It is a pressure sales tactic cunningly designed to seem that they are doing the potential client a huge favor. The reality is that gold and silver buying prices do not change that much in the short term, and no single gold IRA companies’ “massive buy” is going to change that price even fractionally so this is simply a lie. Gold IRA companies due to the volumes that they buy at are already getting the best market price out these.
The Cancellation Opportunity
Another less that savory tactic used by Gold IRA dealers is the “cancellation opportunity”. This is presented as a situation where a gold buy has had to be cancelled because of a death in the family or a divorce etc. and the dealer is stuck with the gold and has to offload it quickly, so they can offer you a very good deal in order to facilitate this. Again simply another pressure tactic disguised as a favor to you. Gold IRA dealers are buying gold constantly, in the event of a cancellation this would simply go towards filling the next order, no dealer is ever going to be “stuck” with gold.
Let me check the Vault
This is another unethical gold IRA dealer tactic designed to pressure you into buying. The salesperson on the phone will probably not even have access to the vault where the gold is stored, in all likelihood this may not even be in the same building so them “pretending” to check the stocks of gold the company currently has in stock is a lie designed to pressure you into buying as no doubt stocks will be low.
Taking advantage of a “large institutional trade”
This is a similar high pressure tactic disguised as doing you a favor and working on the principle that you don’t know how gold markets operate. One institution buying gold is not going to shift the gold price one iota nor enable you to take advantage of a great price. Multi-billion dollar buys of tons of gold by sovereign nations such as China and Russia may cause the gold price to shift marginally, institutional buys within the US, not likely!
The “must buy now” ploy
This has to be one of the oldest sales techniques in history. Trying to convince the customer that they must buy now in order to take advantage of this exceptionally good deal [which just coincidentally happens to be ending very soon]. There simply aren’t any “great deals” when it comes to precious metals, the price is pretty much the price. This is designed to take advantage of that very common human emotion FOMO, fear of missing out. Again this is a dishonest technique employed by unethical gold IRA dealers to convince people to act immediately rather than allowing them the time to make a considered decision.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, there are other techniques which the less than scrupulous gold IRA dealer will employ to get your business.
In Summary
In choosing a gold IRA dealer reputation is paramount. A reputable and ethical gold IRA dealer will not employ ANY of the underhand sales techniques we have discussed previously.
Do your due diligence at the start and look for that company with the highest ratings for ethics and trustworthy dealing. You are looking for a company that will first and foremost educate you on your options and allow you the time to consider these options rather than immediately trying to offer you a deal to secure your custom on the spot.
Finally you are looking for a gold IRA dealer with a sterling reputation for customer service and support, as well as one that is looking to build a long term mutually beneficial relationship with you.