Methodology
How we rank Gold IRA companies
Published so you can see how a ranking was earned, not sold.
Anyone can publish a "best Gold IRA companies" list. The problem is that most of them are ordered by commission, not merit, and they never show their work. This page fixes that. It sets out who we let onto the list, the four things we score, how we weight them, and how our commercial links work.
Who makes the list (inclusion gates)
A precious-metals company has to clear every one of these before we score it:
- A clean standing with the Better Business Bureau and Business Consumer Alliance, without a pattern of unresolved complaints.
- A fee schedule a customer can actually find and understand before opening an account.
- IRS-eligible metals held with a qualified, independent custodian and depository, never "home storage" schemes.
- No current securities or consumer-protection action that goes to the heart of how it sells.
A company that fails a gate is left off, no matter how generous its affiliate terms are.
The four things we score
Each company that clears the gates is scored out of 10 on four dimensions, and we show every score on the company card.
- Transparency. Are fees, spreads, minimums, and buyback terms clear and consistent, or do you have to get on a call to learn the real numbers?
- Fees and cost. Setup, annual custodian and storage fees, and the markup over spot on the metals themselves. Flat fees score better for larger accounts; low minimums help smaller ones.
- Education. Does the firm teach, with real guides and honest tradeoffs, or only sell?
- Service. Onboarding, responsiveness, the buyback process, and the weight of independent customer feedback.
Weighting and re-checks
Transparency and fees carry the most weight, because they are where precious-metals buyers most often get hurt. Education and service refine the order among firms that are already priced fairly. We re-check each company on a rolling basis and stamp the date on its card, so a review that has gone stale is obvious at a glance.
How our links work
Some links in this section are affiliate links. If you open an account through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That payment plays no part in the gates, the scores, or the order of the list. We have left well-known, high-paying programs off the list when they failed a gate, and we keep lower-paying firms high on it when they earned the spot.
See the rankings in action on Best Gold IRA Companies.