Editorial Policy

How we research, review, and stand behind our content

Best Gold Company’s editorial process is built on one principle: every recommendation we publish has to be something Tim Schmidt would put his own retirement savings into. Here’s exactly how we work.

01 — Editorial Independence

Best Gold Company operates under the editorial direction of Tim Schmidt as an independent educational platform. No Gold IRA company, precious metals dealer, or custodian pays us to appear in our reviews, earn a recommendation, or receive a favorable rating. Our editorial decisions are made without outside influence — period.

Tim personally holds a Self-Directed IRA and has executed his own Gold IRA rollover. He publishes proof of that investment publicly. That level of skin-in-the-game accountability is the standard every piece of content on this site is held to.

“I built this site because I couldn’t find a source I trusted completely. So I became the source — and I show my receipts.”
— Tim Schmidt, Best Gold Company

Where affiliate relationships exist (such as links that may earn a referral commission), they are clearly disclosed at the top of every page where they appear. Commission eligibility has zero influence on rankings, scores, or written assessments. A company we earn nothing from will outrank one that pays us if the evidence supports it — and it has.

02 — Review Methodology

Our review methodology was developed over more than a decade of firsthand investing experience, regulatory research, and direct company interactions. We do not rely on marketing materials, press releases, or company-supplied talking points as primary sources.

Every company under review is evaluated across five core domains. Within each domain, we apply a combination of hard pass/fail gates — requirements that cannot be scored around — and weighted scoring criteria that allow us to differentiate quality providers from merely adequate ones.

What We Actually Examine: We request and review fee schedules directly from companies, verify custodian approval status with the IRS and relevant regulatory bodies, check Better Business Bureau and Business Consumer Alliance ratings, review independent customer testimonials, test customer service response quality personally, and confirm storage arrangements with approved depositories.

We do not accept company-supplied data as fact without independent corroboration. If we cannot verify a claim from a primary source — a regulator, a depository, an auditor — we note that in the review or do not include the claim at all.

03 — Scoring Framework

Companies are assessed across six weighted categories. Any provider that fails a hard-gate requirement is disqualified from our recommended list regardless of how well they score elsewhere. Passing hard gates is the price of admission — scoring well is what determines rank.

HARD GATE REQUIREMENTS (mandatory — failure disqualifies):

  • Custodian Legitimacy & IRS Compliance: Verified IRS-approved custodian, audited reporting, SOC compliance where available.
  • IRA-Eligible Product Integrity: Only IRS-compliant bullion and coins offered for IRA accounts; no collectibles or numismatic upselling.
  • Written Buyback Policy: Documented buyback terms, clear payment timeline, no penalty for standard liquidation requests.

WEIGHTED SCORING CRITERIA:

  • Fee Transparency — 22%: Setup, annual maintenance, storage, and liquidation costs disclosed in plain English prior to funding.
  • Storage Quality & Segregation — 20%: Recognized depository credentials, explicit bullion insurance, segregated vs. commingled storage options.
  • Customer Service Quality — 20%: Knowledgeable staff, no high-pressure tactics, written order summaries, cooling-off periods honored.
  • Regulatory & Complaint Record — 20%: No unresolved FINRA, SEC, or BBB actions; complaint volume benchmarked against company size.
  • Investor Education Quality — 18%: Balanced materials covering risk, tax implications, price volatility, and suitability questionnaires.

Spread pricing is checked live on common IRA-eligible bullion (American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, PAMP Suisse bars) at the time of review and again at each annual update. Companies that conceal spreads or quote significantly above spot without justification receive a deduction in the Fee Transparency category.

04 — Fact-Checking Standards

Every factual claim in a Best Gold Company review must be traceable to a primary source. We define a primary source as: an official regulatory filing, a company’s published fee schedule or terms of service, an IRS publication, a depository’s certification, an audited financial statement, or direct firsthand experience documented by Tim Schmidt or our review team.

  • Custodian Approval: Verified directly against the IRS list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians. We do not accept a company’s self-declaration of compliance.
  • Fee Schedules: Obtained directly from each company by requesting account paperwork. We document the date received and flag any discrepancies between advertised and actual fees.
  • Depository Credentials: Confirmed against recognized facilities (Brink’s, Delaware Depository, IDS, CNT Depository, etc.) and verified for insurance coverage and audit cadence.
  • Regulatory Standing: Checked against FINRA BrokerCheck, SEC EDGAR, the Better Business Bureau, and the Business Consumer Alliance at the time of each review or update.
  • Product Eligibility: Cross-referenced against IRS Publication 590-A and IRC Section 408(m) to confirm all products marketed for IRA inclusion meet purity and form requirements.
  • Customer Testimonials: We read independent reviews on Google, Trustpilot, and the BBB — not company-curated testimonials. We flag statistical anomalies (sudden review spikes, unverified bulk reviews) in our assessment.
  • Spread & Pricing Data: Spot prices obtained from KITCO and the London Bullion Market Association at time of price checks. Company quotes are compared to same-day spot.

What We Do With Unverifiable Claims: If a company makes a claim we cannot verify from a primary source — “industry-lowest fees,” “five-star rated,” “#1 gold IRA company” — we do not repeat that claim in our review as fact. We note that the claim is made by the company and cannot be independently confirmed. If a company provides documentation that contradicts its own public marketing, we report both and note the discrepancy.

05 — Review Process

Our reviews follow a structured, repeatable seven-step process developed to ensure consistency across all evaluated companies. The full process typically takes several weeks per company.

Step 1 — Initial Regulatory Screen: Before spending time on a full review, we confirm the company has no disqualifying regulatory bars. We check FINRA, the SEC, the CFTC, and state-level regulatory filings. Any company with unresolved enforcement actions is flagged and may be excluded from the process entirely.

Step 2 — Document Request & Account Inquiry: We contact the company as a prospective investor. We request the full account opening package, fee schedule, storage agreement, buyback policy, and a sample IRA statement. We document how long it takes to receive materials and whether all requested documents are provided without prompting.

Step 3 — Customer Service Evaluation: We interact with the company’s sales and support teams by phone, email, and where available, live chat. We specifically test for high-pressure tactics, scripted scarcity claims, unsolicited upselling into collectibles, and willingness to answer direct fee questions without deflection.

Step 4 — Independent Review Aggregation: We compile and analyze customer reviews from the BBB, BCA, Google, and Trustpilot. We look at complaint patterns, resolution rates, and response quality. We pay particular attention to complaints involving delayed distributions, unexpected fees, or difficulty reaching support.

Step 5 — Primary Source Verification: All factual claims are verified against primary sources as outlined in Section 04. This step includes a live spot-price spread check, depository verification, and custodian approval confirmation. Any gaps or discrepancies are documented.

Step 6 — Scoring & Draft: The company is scored against our weighted criteria framework. Tim Schmidt reviews the scoring and draft content personally before publication. His sign-off is required on every review. Any language that could be interpreted as a definitive financial recommendation is revised to reflect that our content is educational — not personalized financial advice.

Step 7 — Publication & Ongoing Monitoring: Published reviews carry the date of last verification. We monitor BBB complaint activity, major regulatory changes, and fee schedule updates on an ongoing basis. Full re-reviews are conducted annually, or sooner if a significant event warrants it.

06 — Investor Profiles

Not every Gold IRA company is the right fit for every investor. Our reviews are written with three distinct investor profiles in mind. When we say a company is “recommended,” we specify which profile(s) it best serves.

  • Profile A — Capital Preserver: Primary goal is wealth protection and inflation hedging. Seeks low minimum investments, straightforward fee structures, and maximum transparency. Not interested in high-premium numismatics or complex product mixes. Prioritizes ease of process and reliable buyback.
  • Profile B — Balanced Diversifier: Adding gold as a 10–20% allocation within a broader retirement portfolio. Wants a core bullion focus with the option to include silver and platinum. Values responsive customer support and quality educational resources as much as pricing.
  • Profile C — Opportunistic Allocator: Comfortable with higher minimum investments and a wider product mix. May be interested in numismatics where appropriate, understands premium implications, and has a longer time horizon with tolerance for price volatility. Prioritizes depth of selection and expert guidance.

Each of our Gold IRA company reviews includes a “Best For” designation that maps the provider to one or more of these profiles based on their minimum investment requirements, product selection, fee structure, and service model.

07 — Red Flags & Disqualifiers

The following behaviors and practices represent automatic disqualifiers or serious demerits in our scoring. We actively test for these during the review process and report them candidly when we find them.

  • High-pressure sales tactics: Scripted urgency, artificial scarcity claims (“prices going up tomorrow”), or repeated unsolicited callbacks after a single inquiry.
  • Collectible/numismatic upselling into IRA accounts: Steering investors into coins that carry high dealer premiums and may not qualify for IRA inclusion under IRC §408(m).
  • Undisclosed or hidden fee structures: Fees not clearly presented in writing before an account is funded, or fees that differ between verbal quotes and documentation.
  • Use of non-approved custodians: Companies that direct clients to custodians not approved by the IRS as nonbank trustees, exposing investors to prohibited transaction penalties.
  • Refusal to provide a written buyback commitment: Any company that will not document its buyback terms in writing before account opening.
  • Unresolved regulatory actions: Active enforcement actions, unresolved BBB complaints involving fiduciary issues, or a pattern of distribution delays cited in customer complaints.
  • Undisclosed compensation conflicts: Advisors earning higher commissions on numismatics without disclosure, or affiliate relationships influencing product recommendations without client awareness.
  • Unverifiable storage arrangements: Companies that cannot produce documentation linking client assets to a specific, named, IRS-compliant depository.

08 — Updates & Corrections

The Gold IRA industry changes — companies change ownership, fee schedules shift, custodian relationships evolve, and regulatory standings change. Content that was accurate at publication can become misleading if not maintained. We take that responsibility seriously.

  • Annual Full Review Cycle: Every rated company on our recommended list is subject to a full re-review on an annual basis. Reviews carry a “Last Verified” date reflecting when the most recent check was completed.
  • Event-Triggered Updates: If we become aware of a material change — a BBB rating drop, a regulatory filing, a fee increase, a change in custodian — we update the relevant review within 30 days of confirmation.
  • Correction Policy: If a factual error is identified in any published review, we correct it promptly and note the correction at the bottom of the article with the date it was made. We do not silently edit errors without acknowledgment.
  • Reader Feedback: We welcome feedback from readers and from companies reviewed. If a company believes our review contains an inaccuracy, they may contact us with supporting documentation. We will investigate and update if the evidence warrants it — but we do not alter editorial positions in response to commercial pressure.

09 — Disclosure & Compensation

Best Gold Company participates in affiliate marketing programs with certain Gold IRA companies. This means that when a reader clicks a link on our site and subsequently opens an account with a recommended company, we may receive a referral commission from that company.

This commercial relationship does not influence our editorial rankings, scores, review content, or recommendations. Companies are ranked solely on the merit of our scoring framework. A company that pays us a higher commission will not rank above a company that pays less — or nothing — if our evaluation data does not support that placement.

Every page where an affiliate relationship exists carries a clear disclosure notice at the top of that page. We do not bury disclosures in footers or legal pages. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the full list of partners and disclosure language.

This Editorial Policy reflects Best Gold Company’s operating standards as of the date shown above. Questions about our methodology may be directed to [email protected].