Deciding to diversify your financial portfolio is a great way to ensure that you are able to weather the ebb and flow of the stock market. One great way to do that is by investing in gold, silver, and other precious metals.
As with any investment, it is important to do your research on the company you are considering investing with. Afterall, these companies are going to be taking large sums of your money and in turn, hold your financial future in their hands.
When looking into the credentials of an investment company that manages precious metals in their investment options, it is important to do your due diligence. The Better Business Bureau is a great jumping off point for your research. While most people associate the Better Business Bureau (https://www.bbb.org/) for consumer-based businesses like restaurants and retail, you can find most investment companies there as well.
What Does the Better Business Bureau Do?
Since its foundation in 1912, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been a trusted source for assessing a company’s performance and trustworthiness. For further assurance, you may look at the BBB profiles of companies you’re considering, such as a solid company in which to invest and purchase precious metals or mining companies.
The BBB’s goal is to advance “marketplace trust,” which it achieves, most notably, by rating businesses according to their performance and trustworthiness and acting as a middleman when consumers have concerns.
The bureau assigns a letter grade to a specific firm based on more than a dozen variables, including the company’s track record of managing customer complaints. The BBB has long cultivated a reputation as an impartial adjudicator of ethical business practices; nevertheless, detractors point out that accepting funding from member companies might lead to a conflict of interest.
BBB Goldco Rating
A company like Goldco,for instance, can easily be found on the BBB website. If you want a company that has been in business for a while, you can note their 15 years in the gold and silver investment business. Under the BBB Goldco profile you can see that in addition to assisting with the transfer or rollover from an existing IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other eligible retirement account to a Gold IRA, Goldco also assists people with the conversion of funds into real gold and silver.
If Goldco is the type of investment company you are looking for, checking out some of the reviews and the letter rating may be helpful when deciding on which company to choose to utilize. GoldCo has one of the best letter ratings the BBB provides, an A+. While their score is high, they do have some complaints, which you can read and see how the company resolves client concerns.
Another great way to learn about a precious metals investment company is the Bear Lake Gold Review website. Bear Lake is a gold investment company, but they also rate other gold IRA companies through a rigorous vetting process.
Bear Lake looks at the current players in the market and puts them up against a ten-point review process that includes researching the company and contacting them directly for more information or clarification on a review or response to a customer complaint. Bear Lake goes one step further and shops the company as well, going through the process as a prospective client to gain real world experience with each company they review.
Once they have all of that information, they stack them against each other in a ranking system. Including on the site are links to order a kit directly from the investment company to get more information.
What is a gold IRA?
An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that holds actual gold or other permitted precious metals in custody for the benefit of the IRA account owner is known as a gold IRA or precious metals IRA. The main difference between it and a conventional IRA is that it keeps real bullion coins or bars rather than paper assets.
To discover a more balanced way to manage risks associated with having all of your money invested in stocks and shares, many people turn to precious metal investments. Others invest in precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in order to potentially earn returns higher than those offered by the stock market.
Gold and other precious metals may be incorporated in various Individual Retirement Accounts while investing for retirement or generally increasing your wealth. These are frequently known as Gold IRAs.
For a company like GoldCo that also offers Gold IRAs, expect to see a profile of the business. It gives pertinent information such as length of time in business, a brief company history, and a very helpful pros and cons list.
Bear Lake has noted GoldCo’s excellent customer service, non-aggressive sales tactics, great buyback program, and its ratings with other third-party sites. They also have listed possible cons, such as a $25,000 investment, which may deter some potential investors that are not looking to invest that much money initially.
There’s a lot of information out there on precious metal investments and how they can help diversify your portfolio or enhance your IRA. Once you’ve made the decision to invest, doing some research into the types of companies that offer these kinds of services can better educate you about the process, help you understand the kind of company you want to work with, and could save you money and hardship down the road.
