You may already know about the benefits of investing in major precious metals like gold and silver. Precious metals investing has been one of the best practices to gain a hedge against inflation and diversify your portfolio.
There are dozens of different companies that will allow you to store your gold, silver, or other precious metals without any problems. While some companies have proprietary depositories, others work with third-party depositories for your precious metals.
Today, we’ll go through everything you need to know about finding the right precious metals depository, as well as the top options on the market today.
How Important Is It to Find a Good Depository for Your Precious Metals IRA?
A depository is an institution or company that has state-of-the-art facilities to store your precious metals or other assets. The goal of a depository is to give you peace of mind when you get your precious metals stored.
As many people already know, storing your precious metals at home isn’t the best option, as that will expose you to theft or burglary. On the other hand, if you’re opening precious metals IRAs, you must store your precious metals in an IRS-approved depository; otherwise, you may not be able to enjoy the tax benefits of your precious metals investment once you retire.
The importance of finding an approved depository to store your gold or other precious metals relies on safety and peace of mind. Taking that into consideration, you must look for a depository with reasonable fees, insurance, and top-quality facilities to store your assets.
Thankfully, there are many depositories that fit these parameters, so you will be able to store your physical gold there without any problems.
What Is an IRA-approved Depository?
Now, if you want to store funds for your gold IRAs, the IRS requires you to store them in an IRS-approved depository (also called an IRA-approved depository).
In essence, an IRS-approved depository must have bank-grade security to store your precious metals. Typically, the best gold IRA depositories have high-quality vaults, 24-hour monitoring, and more.
Most of these gold IRA depositories also get audited frequently to ensure that they hold their tasks to the highest standards.
Overall, these are some of the benefits that gold IRA depositories have in store for you:
- Insurance for theft or damage events
- Frequent monitoring of the precious metals
- Vaults that can withstand extreme weather conditions or natural disasters
- Individual, allocated storage (if applicable)
Remember, if you hold precious metals at home, the IRS could consider them a taxable distribution unless you store them at an approved facility.
What Is the Best Precious Metals Depository? | Top Picks
Now, which gold IRA depositories will fit your needs? There are many options out there, and while all of them serve similar purposes, some have particular offerings that may be more appealing to you.
We evaluated each of these depositories based on pricing, customer support, and accessibility.
Delaware Depository Service Company
The Delaware Depository Service Company is considered, by many, the best gold IRA depository for precious metals. It’s approved by the IRS and the CME Group as an exchange-approved depository. Overall, this depository was approved as a depository for the COMEX and NYMEX markets.
Regarding storage for gold IRAs, you can choose vaults in Wilmington, Delaware, Orange County, CA, Switzerland, and Canada. You can expect up to one billion in “all-risk” coverage from Lloyd’s of London. This coverage includes up to $100,000 in coverage per packaged shipping.
Although DDSC has clients of all types, it specializes in brokerage firms, manufacturers, IRA custodians, retailers, coin dealers, commodity trading houses, and refiners. Another excellent feature of the Delaware Depository is that it comes with several business tax advantages, which is why many people consider it the best gold IRA company for storage.
International Depository Services (IDS)
IDS is another IRS-approved depository that aims to offer affordable prices for its precious metals services.
Currently, it has storage coverage for the US and Canada. In the US, you have two gold IRA storage facilities to choose from: New Castle, Delaware, and Dallas, Texas. On the other hand, you have a single facility in Canada, which is located in Ontario.
If you’re looking for a gold IRA depository with reasonable fees and don’t mind the limited selection of vaults, then this could be the best company to go to.
Brinks Global Services
Although Brinks Global Services is mostly known for transporting money in armored cars for its cash courier service, it also has IRS-approved depository services.
Currently, Brinks has four approved facilities for you to store your precious metals. Three are in the US (Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and New York City), and the fourth one is in London.
This gold IRA company has a wide range of benefits that you cannot miss, including:
- Full liability for all your precious metals stored
- Fast deliveries
- Online inventory management service
- Availability for third-party inspections
HSBC Bank U.S.A.
This gold IRA storage company is considered one of the greatest ones on the market; it’s also considered the largest bullion clearance center worldwide.
Overall, it specializes in gold and silver dealing, and it has approved depositories for you to store your precious metals.
Some factors that make this company great include:
- It’s a leading exchange and depository service for precious metals.
- It has the biggest commercial precious metals vault worldwide.
- It has 24-hour customer service to users worldwide.
JP Morgan Chase Bank NA
Also called “JP Morgan” only, this company has been offering precious metal services for over 30 years. In a little over a decade, it was approved as a depository for precious metals.
The vaults are located in London, Singapore, and New York, and they allow you to store many precious metals, including gold, silver, and platinum group metals.
CNT Depository
It’s an approved COMEX depository based in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This company is known as the largest raw gold seller to the government. Moreover, it has over 35 years of experience in vault management services, making it one of the longest-standing companies on the list.
Any precious metals that get stored in this depository will get insured by Lloyd’s of London, which adds an extra touch of security to your investment. As for the vault, it offers a Class III facility with a 20,000 square feet vault, making it one of the safest and biggest facilities for storing your assets.
Which Gold IRA Depository Should You Choose?
If you want to make the most out of your precious metal IRAs, make sure you go for a company that offers fees and services that accommodate your goals. If you want a company that’s approved for NYMEX and COMEX markets, for example, then DDSC is great for you.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a company with a reputation for having safe vaults abroad, companies like Regal Assets or JP Morgan Chase Bank NA are nice to consider.
Many gold IRA companies can give you advice on what the best gold IRA storage is according to your needs, so feel free to ask them.
Bottom Line
Gold IRAs have given investors the chance to invest in non-conventional assets, which is an advantage over a traditional or Roth IRA, which only allows you to hold stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds.
However, if you want to have peace of mind until the day you retire and withdraw your funds, you must go for one of the depositories mentioned on this list.
All of these companies have an excellent track record, so you can rest assured that your assets will be safe. However, remember that each company offers particular features and fees, so you must go for the one that seems more appealing to you, your budget, and your goals.
Moreover, do your best to work with a company that offers excellent customer service, especially if you’re a beginner. It’s normal to have a lot of questions when starting, but having someone who can answer all your questions as soon as possible is something you will definitely appreciate in the long run.