Diversification

Top Five Gold IRA Companies Reviewed

Susan PaigeLeave a comment

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A gold IRA makes it possible to invest in physical gold or other precious metals through an Individual Retirement Account. It functions in a similar way to a normal IRA. instead of having holdings in paper assets, gold IRA account holders hold physical bullion coins or bars. These accounts allow for greater diversity of investments.

The four approved metals for individual retirement accounts include gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Out of all of these metals, gold is the most sought after. A gold IRA presents several unique features:

  • It must be a self-directed IRA
  • Usually comes with more fees than a traditional or Roth IRA.
  • Serves as a good hedge against inflation.

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Lear Capital

For over two decades, award-winning Lear Capital has played a key role in the IRA industry. With more than $3 billion in transactions under its belt, the organization is always prepared to serve its customers needs.

Lear Capital offers many customer benefits including a guarantee for seamless transactions, no-fee buy-back program, and professionalism. Lear Capital reviews show positive feedback from satisfied customers.

Lear Capital is on a mission to empower investors to diversify their investment strategies with an easy-to-use system. Investors can gain positive exposure to demanded metals such as rare coins, physical gold , and physical silver.

Its top customer service keeps it miles ahead of the competition. It is focused on providing great customer service while remaining compliant with IRS guidelines for IRAs. All customers are provided with a customer engagement representative to guide them through the investment process.

American Hartford Gold Group

American Hartford Gold Group is an accredited player in the Gold IRA industry. It has received a positive rating from the Better Business Bureau website.

The organization specialises in the purchase and sale of gold and silver for physical possession as well as Gold and Silver IRAs. It uses a three-step process to exchange precious metals for physical delivery.

Most complaints made against American Hartford Gold Group revolved around the fluctuating prices of precious metals.

Patriot Gold Group IRA

Patriot Gold Group IRA is specialised in a process called facilitation. It focuses on overseeing transactions for precious metals IRAs.

Patriot Gold Group IRA sells bullion bars, bullion coins, and coins for IRA customers. Customers are encouraged to gain an adequate understanding of regulations when making purchases as they may be subject to reporting laws.

Bird Gold Group

Birch Gold Group sells physical gold, palladium, silver, and platinum for IRA investors and personal ownership. It helps its customers to manage precious metals and Gold IRAs. Bird Gold’s in-house department helps in opening precious metals IRAs.

Bird Gold Group is rated by the Better Business Bureau. Account holders pay fees for holding an IRA with Bird Gold. The organization works with STRATA Trust Company for custodial services and Delaware Depository for storage.

Orion Metal Exchange

Most complaints about Orion Metal Exchange revolve around the performance of gold and silver commodity prices. It works with customers to diversify their IRA. It offers precious metals storage for up to three years.

An Orion Metal IRA can be used to acquire bullion coins, bars of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Not all coins are acceptable for an IRA. For example, Silver coins must be at least .999 fine while gold coins must be .995.

Diworsification: How Much Diversification is too Much or Little?

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Diworsification

When I was picking stocks, I saw my portfolio lose 15% of its value in one day.  Simply put, I had too many of my eggs in one basket or too many of my investment dollars in one stock.  I wasn’t diversified.  Sure, I could hit it big with a stock, but I could also lose.  I saw the amount of time I was spending on picking stocks and knew it could be put to better use if I let the professionals handle my money.

My portfolio was under diversified, but many people also suffer from too much diversification of their portfolio or diworsification.  Diworsification occurs when you continually invest in the same asset class and keep your risk low but hurt your overall return potential.  It would be the equivalent of investing in many different mutual funds that only contained U.S. stocks.  If you want exposure to the U.S. domestic stock market that is great, I highly recommend it, but pick a fund that gives you just that and move on.

My investment strategy has come a long way from my earlier days when I was picking and choosing stocks.  I thought just like many that I could pick homerun stocks that nobody else could.  I did well on some and poorly on others.  I would come home every day from work and watch Jim Cramer’s show Mad Money.  I soon realized that the effort I was putting in wasn’t yielding the rewards I desired.  I quickly shifted all my investments to a mutual fund.  Being young, I knew I wanted a large exposure to stocks.  What better stocks to invest in than the U.S. Stock Market?  Warren Buffett has been noted to say that when he passes he wants the remainder of his fortune put into a low-cost index fund that mirrors the S&P 500.  That’s right, just one fund.  If he wanted his fortune to be spread across many funds that mirrored the S&P 500 he would be subject to diworsification.  I decided to follow Warren’s advice.

While my investment dollars are placed into a single low-cost Index fund that mirrors the U.S. Stock Market, not everyone will agree with this position, and that is fine.  Investment advice can be given to you from a hired professional or you can decide on your own.  My knowledge came about through the reading of numerous books.  If you want to invest in South America, there are funds for that.  If you want exposure to corporate bonds, there are funds for that.  If you think that the pharmaceutical sector is the next big thing, then by all means find a fund that suits you for that investment.  There are many ways you can invest your hard-earned money, but try and keep to the One and Done Philosophy when investing in mutual funds to prevent diworsification: Pick one mutual fund that covers the class or sector you are wanting exposure to and leave it at that.  Not only does it simplify your portfolio, but it keeps you diversified and away from diworsification.