Methodology
Every Gold IRA company review on this site is scored against the same six axes, with primary-source citation required for every quantitative claim. This page explains exactly how that works — so a reader can replicate the analysis.
The six-axis scoring rubric
- Account minimum match for seniors. Score 1–10. Does the company accept the typical rollover balance for the senior segment ($10K–$250K), or exclude smaller portfolios?
- Phone-first service. Score 1–10. Is there a dedicated agent assigned for the life of the account, or does each call route to a different rep? Seniors weight phone access heavily; chat-only is a deduction.
- Buyback program. Score 1–10. Is there a published buyback guarantee? What commission, if any, is charged on repurchases?
- Fee transparency. Score 1–10. Is the full fee schedule published before the call? Or do you have to call to learn the spot premium?
- RMD handling. Score 1–10. Does the custodian handle the annual Required Minimum Distribution paperwork automatically, and offer in-kind distribution as an option?
- Senior-pressure score. Score 1–10. Public complaints about post-kit follow-up call volume. A 10 means almost no friction; a 5 means moderate; a 1 means documented harassment patterns.
How the rating is calculated
All six axes carry equal weight. The rating is the average of the six scores, halved to give a score out of 5, rounded to one decimal (half up). A company that scores 49 of 60 points averages 8.17 and rates 4.1/5. Ties rank by the buyback score, then by the account-minimum score. Affiliate commission plays no part in the score or the order.
Each axis is scored by a fixed rule, so two readers with the same facts reach the same number:
| Axis | Weight | Scoring rule |
|---|---|---|
| Account minimum | 1/6 | $10,000 or less: 9. Up to $25,000: 8. Up to $50,000: 6. Not published: 5. |
| Phone-first service | 1/6 | Named agent for the life of the account: 10. Assigned agent or team: 7. Standard dealer phone line: 6. Order desk with no guidance: 5. Documented failure to respond: 2. |
| Buyback program | 1/6 | Zero-commission repurchase in writing: 10. Written best-price or no-fee pledge, or a published sell-fee schedule: 8. Buyback offered, terms not in writing: 6. Nothing documented: 4. |
| Fee transparency | 1/6 | Every fee including transaction spread published: 10. Fixed account-fee schedule published, spreads by phone: 8. Ranges only: 6. Nothing published: 3. |
| RMD handling | 1/6 | Assigned agent processes RMD paperwork each year: 9. Standard custodian process, cash or in kind: 7. IRA offered, custodian not named: 5. No published IRA arrangement: 4. No IRA terms and unanswered complaints: 3. |
| Sales pressure | 1/6 | No sales floor: 10. Education-led, few call complaints: 8. Moderate marketing, small answered complaint file: 7. Persistent calls or a large complaint file: 6. Pricing complaints, or a review count that does not match the platform: 5 to 6. BBB F grade with pricing complaints: 1. |
Every current rating
One scorecard per company. These are the only ratings on the site; every page reads them from the same file. Last scored 2026-10-16.
| Company | Account minimum | Phone-first service | Buyback program | Fee transparency | RMD handling | Sales pressure | Points | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta Precious Metals | 6 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 49/60 | 4.1 |
| Fidelity Precious Metals IRA | 9 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 49/60 | 4.1 |
| Goldco | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 44/60 | 3.7 |
| Birch Gold Group | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 44/60 | 3.7 |
| Noble Gold Investments | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 43/60 | 3.6 |
| American Hartford Gold | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 35/60 | 2.9 |
| Advantage Gold | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 30/60 | 2.5 |
| American Alternative Assets | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 28/60 | 2.3 |
| Beverly Hills Precious Metals Exchange | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 27/60 | 2.3 |
| Sanctuary Metals | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 28/60 | 2.3 |
| United States Precious Metals | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 28/60 | 2.3 |
| Colonial Metals Group | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18/60 | 1.5 |
October 2026 change: earlier ratings were editorial summaries that did not reproduce from the axis scores, and one company carried two different scorecards. We replaced them with this single, equal-weight scorecard, which lowered most ratings.
Citation requirements
Every quantitative claim must cite a primary or first-tier secondary source:
- IRS rule claims must cite the Internal Revenue Code section, IRS Publication number with year, 26 CFR section, or an IRS.gov FAQ URL.
- Company-specific claims (fees, ratings, complaints, history) must cite at least one of: Better Business Bureau (BBB), Business Consumer Alliance (BCA), TrustPilot, TrustLink, ConsumerAffairs, SEC EDGAR, FINRA BrokerCheck, or the company's own published fee schedule URL.
- Market figures (gold prices, returns, allocations) must cite LBMA, World Gold Council, or an SEC-filed prospectus.
Claims that cannot be sourced are removed from the draft, not weakened.
Phrases that never appear on this site
We do not use the following language patterns, regardless of who pays us to:
- "Guaranteed return", "risk-free", "no risk", "100% safe", "can't lose"
- "Dollar collapse", "before it's too late", "last chance"
- "Tax-free retirement", "IRS loophole"
- Any phrasing that implies gold prices will only go up
Investment-related superlatives ("best investment", "must-have", "no-brainer") are similarly out. Specific data with a citation is in.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure
The Gold IRA Desk has applied for, or holds, affiliate relationships with multiple companies covered on this site. Affiliate links are tagged "sponsored" in the HTML and are programmatically distinguishable from editorial links. Our scoring rubric is applied identically to companies we have no relationship with — see the comparison reviews for verification.
If commission rates change for any program, the change is logged in the affiliate registry and does not affect prior reviews. Reviews are dated and updated quarterly; the "Updated" date on each post reflects the most recent fact-check pass.
How readers can replicate our analysis
- Pull each company's published fee schedule from their site (or call to request).
- Check the BBB and BCA ratings on each at the time of writing.
- Read IRS Publication 590-B for current RMD rules.
- Score each axis with the rules above and average them. If your weights differ from ours, apply them to the same scores.
Corrections
If you find a factual error on any post on this site, please send the URL and the specific claim to the contact page. Corrections are made publicly and dated.