There's a good chance that you've heard of Fidelity, even if you don't have a background in finance. Fidelity is one of the biggest investment companies in the world. Today, they manage nearly $5 trillion in assets for their clients. The company has a global reach and employs over 50,000 people at varying worldwide locations.
Fidelity does not specialize in precious metals specifically, but they do have various precious metals services available. You may be wondering whether their IRA services are the best in the industry. For people who want to put gold in an IRA, there are other companies we'd recommend instead. But Fidelity is still a solid corporation with a good reputation.
We'll take a look at some of the services and products offered by Fidelity, as well as some of the best alternatives for buying IRA precious metals.
We have done hundreds of hours of research on the best precious metals investment companies for anyone that wants to invest in an IRA!
Fidelity Services
Fidelity is involved in every aspect of the investment and finance industry on a global scale. They provide a wide variety of services to a wide variety of clients. Some of their most commonly used services include:
Fidelity has an affiliation with the SEC in the US. They also have a huge number of partner companies and subsidiaries that cater to other parts of the finance sector. Because Fidelity is so ubiquitous, they have the resources to make sure that financial situations go according to their clients' needs.
Fidelity Go
The Fidelity Go service is a type of automation that helps you complete paperwork more easily. You can get information about what paperwork and processes are necessary to open and maintain certain investment accounts. You'll also get information about how to connect with retailers who have the products that you want.
When you use Fidelity Go, you can view the company's money management system with a birds-eye look at your account. Since the processes are automated, you don't have to constantly look for updates or stress about potential paperwork. This service can be linked to any Fidelity brokerage account, regardless of how much you have in your account.
Personalized Planning
Financial planning is one of the biggest things that Fidelity offers. You won't typically find this with more niche gold IRA companies. So if you're looking to connect with a trained and licensed investment advisor or retirement planner, this might be a good place to start.
The company can connect you to one of their Robo advisors, which manages your accounts and provides ongoing guidance in real time. You can receive insights regarding your holdings and changes that you can make in order to reach your goals.
The future planning services are divided in two. One of the services is specifically for retirement planning. You'll be drafting a long term plan for growth and expansion, with a roadmap to your future goals. This will involve concrete steps to take in order to realize your dream retirement.
The other future planning service is for anything unrelated to retirement. Basically, if you want to use your wealth to meet your goals or to secure your future, then Fidelity can help you brainstorm. Some of the specific services available through this branch include:
Wealth Management
The Robo advisor is a computer program that uses an algorithm and analysis to make suggestions. But sometimes you need a human touch. That's where the wealth management services come in. With these, you're working with an actual human being, who has trained and been certified in financial planning.
You will be given a dedicated advisor who will talk to you about your goals and help you build a map. As time goes on, they will check in with you about how the plan is progressing. If you need to update your goals or your timeline at all, they can help with that.
Wealth management services are often used by high net worth individuals with a lot of assets to keep track of. Your advisor will help with personalized asset management and in-depth long-term financial planning.
For even higher net worth individuals, there are private wealth management services. Instead of having a single dedicated advisor, you will have an entire team to handle your assets. The advisors will work together to offer long-term planning, investment options, and financial guidance that best suits your needs.
If you do want to access the private wealth management services, Fidelity requests that you have at least two million dollars that you wish to invest with the company. In addition, your total net worth needs to be at least $10 million.
Fidelity DIY
If you have at least $250,000 in assets, you can use the Fidelity DIY plan. Instead of having a wealth advisor, you will be given a variety of tools, calculators, and articles with investment information. This should include everything you need to make your own plan for the future.
There are two main focuses when it comes to DIY clients. One focus is on IRAs, and the other is on brokered trades.
The IRA track allows you to have a self-directed account. This is controlled however you want, and it is eligible to hold gold. If you use the brokerage track instead, then you will have access to typical traditional assets like ETFs, bonds, stocks, and mutual funds.
Precious Metals IRA Options with Fidelity
Fidelity does not have the most comprehensive gold IRA services in the industry. They devote very little time to helping people set up and fund their precious metals IRAs. But they do sell some of the products that you'll typically come across in a precious metals IRA.
You can buy gold that is approved for use in an IRA. Fidelity's website does not separate their gold products by IRA eligibility. However, they do display the purity level of each coin prominently. You can double check to make sure that the product meets the purity specifications in the federal codes.
Gold IRAs are just self-directed IRAs that only hold gold. Some people choose to diversify their accounts by investing in other assets, such as cryptocurrency or stock options. Fidelity has far more investment products available for sale than basically any other company on the planet.
Fidelity's gold is traded at a high premium. Before you finalize any purchases, you should check to make sure that you have paid a reasonable price based on the current spot price of gold. All of the gold held in an IRA with Fidelity is insured. You can invest in up to one million dollars worth of gold using Fidelity's customized profiles.
Fidelity doesn't charge any extra fees or transaction costs if you choose to liquidate your holdings. But that's fairly typical for this industry. All of our alternative companies have buyback programs, and none of them charge you extra to sell your items back.
There is a list on the Fidelity website of the available precious metals products that can be kept in an IRA.
Gold Bullion
The available products will fluctuate depending on the company's inventory. But they typically have some of the most popular items available. For example, some of their gold bullion includes:
Silver Bullion
Platinum Bullion
Palladium Bullion
Other Gold Investment Options with Fidelity
Fidelity offers a number of other investments that are related to the precious metals industry. Not all of these allow you to purchase gold directly, and not all of them can use your retirement funds. But it's worth knowing about the options in case they suit your goals.
There is a difference between owning gold and having an account that's backed by gold. With the latter, you own a percentage of the involved gold and have a piece of paper that proves it. With the former, you fully own the gold and can do whatever you want with it.
Exchange-Traded Funds
Gold ETFs are an extremely popular option among investors who don't want to buy gold outright. Part of the appeal is that you don't have to worry about storage. You have a paper that says that you own a certain stake in a gold fund.
Fidelity offers several different gold ETFs, although the investments are only available to people who want long term growth. Gold ETFs have no major tax implications unless they break with regulations, at which point they might be taxed 25%.
Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are assets that you can put into a self-directed IRA. It's not the same as owning physical gold, but it is a way to get involved in the precious metals industry. There are seven mutual funds offered through Fidelity that invest in precious metals.
With a mutual fund, all of the involved investors pool their resources. Then they buy assets in bulk. Many of the precious metals mutual funds put the majority of their pooled funds toward actual physical gold and silver.
Pros & Cons of Fidelity
Pros
Cons
Best Alternatives for Precious Metals IRAs
Fidelity is among the largest and most successful financial companies in the world. They offer a huge number of assets and account options. But they don't have the main option that many people are looking for: the ability to buy physical gold and store it in a retirement account.
If you want to buy actual bullion, rather than investing in traditional assets related to precious metals, then we recommend using one of these companies instead.
#1. Goldco
Goldco offers bullion for both IRAs and for cash purchase. The company is among the fastest growing in the nation, with thousands of customers in the US. They have hundreds of online reviews that praise their IRA services. Many customers say that they are first time investors who feel much more at ease about the process after working with Goldco.
Augusta Precious Metals has a slightly higher barrier for entry, since you need $50,000 to use their IRA services. But they sell a great deal of bullion that can be kept in a retirement account. They also have more educational tools than nearly any other company, including an entire library online and individual webinars.
American Hartford Gold is known for opening the gold IRA industry to an underserved clientele. They don't have investment minimums, which means that you can invest just a few hundred dollars if you want. That's a far cry from Goldco and Augusta's requirements. American Hartford Gold has received thousands of positive reviews, many of which also come from first time customers.
Final Thoughts
Fidelity is a major investment company that manages trillions upon trillions of dollars for clients all over the globe. They have a huge number of financial services, including retirement planning and wealth management. But they don't have a strong focus on precious metals IRAs.
Though it is possible to sign up for a precious metals IRA with Fidelity, we recommend working with one of their industry competitors instead. Goldco is our top pick overall since they walk you through everything and make all of the phone calls for you.
There are some advantages to Fidelity, although it depends on what you're looking for. If you want to invest in ETFs backed by gold, or you want to invest in mutual funds that put most of their assets toward precious metals, then there are multiple options available.
Fidelity also has a high number of services geared toward future financial planning. There is even a robot advisor that can analyze your portfolio and give you insights as you go. The guidance can help you plan for the future. For those who have more involved portfolios, there are individual financial advisors and even teams of advisors available.
Ultimately, Fidelity is a reputable company that is well managed. But it doesn't have the same streamlined services that gold-specific companies do. You'll have a much easier time opening, funding, and buying with your new retirement account if you work with a specialist. Augusta Precious Metals and American Hartford Gold are almost as good as Goldco.