If you’re ready to invest in gold or silver, especially to safeguard your retirement from market crashes or a devalued dollar, our comprehensive American Hartford Gold review explains everything you need to know about one of today’s up-and-coming, fastest-growing precious metals investment companies featured on Forbes Advisor, CBS, NewsMax, Inc. 5000, and others.

As always, we recommend you consult with a financial advisor before proceeding with any investment.

Introduction

As the Federal Reserve’s printing press runs non-stop these days, savers and investors know their dollars will eventually lose purchasing power to inflation. This guarantees that living comfortably in retirement – on a fixed income – will be rough. What options do soon-to-be retirees have to hedge against possible hyperinflation and a devalued dollar?

Enter the self-directed IRA – a method of saving for retirement by holding physical assets like precious metals that can hold their value during uncertain times. Over the centuries, gold and silver have weathered financial storms and today serve as hedges against market downturns.

By diversifying your retirement savings from stocks and mutual funds into precious metals, you’re protecting your ability to live well and enjoy life for years to come. Gold investment firms like American Hartford Gold have IRAs backed by physical gold and silver that can help you get the most out of retirement.

This article will review American Hartford Gold, helping you understand what this highly-rated gold investment firm has to offer, how to avoid gold investing pitfalls, and how to take advantage of American Hartford’s special offers.

(For additional gold IRA company reviews, including summaries and comparisons of the top 5 companies, click here.)

About American Hartford Gold

American Hartford Gold was founded in 2015 by Sanford Mann. Mann’s guiding principle in creating the company came from his father: to give customers “unlimited education and an honest deal”.

As CEO, Mann aims to employ the most ethical and knowledgeable customer service representatives in the industry. He also strives to maintain the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We’ll examine more about how American Hartford puts these values into practice below.

The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and offers both the direct purchase of gold and silver bullion and coins as well as precious metals IRAs. It also offers a 401(k) or IRA rollover service to take all or a portion of one’s retirement savings and invest those funds into physical gold. American Hartford provides custodial services as mandated by the Internal Revenue Service for precious metals IRAs.

American Hartford Gold Products and Services

Precious Metals IRA: Like its competitors, American Hartford offers individual retirement accounts that hold precious metals, specifically gold and silver. As of this writing, American Hartford does not offer IRAs holding other precious metals such as platinum or palladium. Customers can either open a new IRA or roll over their existing retirement savings account into a gold or silver IRA.

This seemingly limited offering actually makes investing easier because gold and silver are by far the most popular precious metal assets. By not having to research dozens of different products you could purchase to include in your gold IRA (like certain coins or bars), American Hartford Gold makes investing straightforward and simple.

Direct Purchases: American Hartford offers its customers the option to purchase gold and silver outside of a retirement account, something the industry calls a “direct purchase”. Customers can then pay to have their physical gold and silver stored in a secure vault managed by a depository company, or they can take possession of their precious metals for storage at their discretion.

American Hartford Gold Catalog: American Hartford Gold has a large variety of gold and silver coins and bars supplied by mints from all over the world. American Hartford’s catalog has filters to let you know what you can buy directly and what assets you can include in your precious metals IRA. Clicking on each coin or bar provides extremely detailed information about Below is a screenshot of the entire American Hartford catalog.

Education: American Hartford offers market analysis and other commentaries on its YouTube channel, which is updated weekly. The company also has a free gold investment guide has a wealth of educational resources on its site. Below is an example of one of their videos that describes the various investing avenues available to soon-to-be retirees.

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What Makes American Hartford Gold Unique?

American Hartford Gold’s strengths lie in making it extremely easy to start investing in precious metals. The company erases many of the hurdles investors face before entrusting their savings to an IRA custodian.

For example, American Hartford doesn’t seem to charge the typical set-up fee. Other companies usually charge $50 to $100 to set up an IRA account. American Hartford waives that fee, making their offering more attractive.

Another example is that American Hartford has a lower investment minimum. Some precious metals IRA companies require at least $25,000 to open an IRA, but American Hartford Gold only requires $10,000.

American Hartford Gold also appears to charge storage fees depending on the amount of precious metals in your IRA account. In some cases, the company will also waive storage fees. Some precious metals IRA companies charge a fixed annual storage fee.

American Hartford Gold’s Reputation

We scoured review and reputation sites like the Better Business Bureau, the Business Consumer Alliance, TrustPilot, and Google to see what both the rating agencies and customers alike think of American Hartford Gold.

Better Business Bureau’s Rating for American Hartford Gold

The BBB gives American Hartford Gold an A+ rating. This means the BBB considers American Hartford to be transparent in its practices and responsive to customer complaints. As of this writing, over 400 reviewers who have left comments on the BBB website give American Hartford a 4.93 out of 5 stars.

These reviewers praise American Hartford for its patient, knowledgeable customer service. They also say American Hartford representatives avoid high-pressure sales tactics and are thorough in explaining all options to make sure customers maximize their investing dollars.

The Business Consumer’s Alliance Rating for American Hartford Gold

The BCA gives American Hartford a AA rating, which is described as extremely high. It’s one step below the top AAA rating, but the BCA says that no significant condition exists for the slightly lower grade.

The company enjoys a perfect 5-star rating from 8 reviews as of this writing. Customers praised American Hartford for the politeness, patience, and professionalism of its staff. One customer appreciated that American Hartford was transparent with its pricing.

What Customers on TrustPilot Say

American Hartford Gold has 4.9 out of 5 stars on TrustPilot with over 1,000 customers taking the time to review the company. Customers here reported that American Hartford’s representatives were knowledgeable, considerate, and patient. These customers were also grateful American Hartford avoided high-pressure tactics and explained the entire purchasing process before any commitments were made.

What Customers on Google Say

Google shows over 500 native reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars for American Hartford Gold. Customers here say that American Hartford reps helped ease anxiety and were patient while answering questions. Reviewers here stress they would recommend American Hartford Gold to others, especially anyone who may feel hesitant to roll over their retirement savings to American Hartford.

Common Complaints Against American Hartford Gold

The most common complaints regarding American Hartford Gold center on its markup on precious metal sales. Unhappy customers relate that the company charges a hefty price above spot, making them second-guess their purchases.

Other complaints include American Hartford Gold sending incorrect coins, being difficult to contact, and not honoring its commitments. Despite the overwhelming majority of customers who felt relaxed while going through the purchasing process, in the interest of full disclosure, a few related that they did, in fact, feel pressured to buy.

American Hartford is very responsive to all grievances, and it appears to make good-faith attempts to resolve all issues. Almost all the complaints are resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, and American Hartford appears to go the extra mile to fix any misunderstandings. However, some of those resolutions as shown in American Hartford’s responses are difficult to understand. They can give the appearance that American Hartford simply checked the boxes to make it appear the customer was satisfied.

American Hartford Gold’s Fees

All precious metal IRA companies have a few fees you should look into before deciding to invest with them. One is a set-up fee that pays the company to create your account and make sure your account and assets are compliant with IRS regulations. In American Hartford’s case, the set-up fee is waived.

Once your IRA account has been funded and you’ve purchased the gold or silver you want to hold in your account, you’ll usually pay the storage company an annual fee (usually no more than $180/yr) for their services to keep your assets safe and secure. Because American Hartford uses various companies to hold precious metals for their customers, these storage fees vary.

Precious metals companies make their profit by charging customers a small percentage of the precious metals purchase price. This market price of the precious metal is called the spot price. Companies tend to keep their percentage above the spot price close to the chest, so if you decide to contact American Hartford, it can’t hurt to ask your account representative how much above the spot price they would charge you.

Because there are no set-up fees and potentially no storage fees, it’s reasonable to say that American Hartford may charge higher than the spot price compared to other precious metals IRA companies.

American Hartford Gold’s Investment Minimums

American Hartford Gold requires relatively less to invest with them. For gold or silver IRA rollovers, you need just $10,000 to get started. Other companies can require $25,000 or more.

This relatively lower barrier to entry makes investing in precious metals a lot easier for those who may not have been able to take advantage of work-sponsored retirement accounts in the past or who are new to retirement planning.

If you’re looking to purchase precious metals directly, American Hartford requires at least $5,000.

American Hartford Gold’s Special Offers

Free Silver

Right now American Hartford Gold has a special deal for those looking to include silver in their precious metals IRA. You can get up to $10,000 in free silver when you make a qualified purchase. If you take advantage of this promotion, be sure to ask your American Hartford representative questions about how to specifically redeem this offer.

Free Storage

American Hartford also will waive your first year’s storage fee if you choose to rollover $50,000 or more. If you rollover $100,000 or more, you can get three years of storage for free.

Where Does American Hartford Store Its Assets?

American Hartford Gold partners with Equity Trust Company to safeguard your gold or silver in secure vaults belonging to one of three companies: Brinks, Delaware Depository, and International Depository Services Group.

A note about storing precious metals with a custodian: there are two storage options – segregated and non-segregated. Segregated storage means your specific bullion purchases are stored in a private area, separate from all others at a depository. Non-segregated storage, as you might imagine, means your bullion is held in a common area with other coins and bars belonging to other patrons held at the depository.

Brinks has vaults in Los Angeles, New York, and Salt Lake City.

The Delaware Depository has vaults in Delaware.

The International Depository Services Group has vaults in Delaware and Dallas.

How Does American Hartford Gold Disburse Funds?

When you’re ready to take a disbursement from your account, all you need to do is contact your account representative and specify that you want to sell your precious metals for cash or take physical possession of them yourself.

American Hartford will liquidate your holdings and wire the funds to your bank account or mail you a check, whichever you prefer.

If you want the precious metals themselves, American Hartford will arrange to securely ship your precious metals to your home, for no added charge.

One important note: American Hartford has a buyback program, and they encourage customers to contact the company whenever they’re looking to sell their assets. American Hartford doesn’t charge liquidation fees, so customers can get the maximum value when they sell their precious metals.

Who Is American Hartford Gold’s Ideal Customer?

American Hartford’s ideal customer is anyone who wants to diversify their retirement portfolio by investing in precious metals but who doesn’t have a large retirement nest egg to roll over or who wants to get started with a smaller amount. This ideal customer would also prefer not to pay a bunch of fees at every turn and wants transparent, thorough communication along the entire purchasing process.

How Can You Invest with American Hartford Gold?

You can get started with American Hartford Gold by clicking here and providing your contact information. As a thank you, you’ll get a free investment guide, and a representative will contact you in short order to answer your questions and guide you through the rollover or purchasing process.

Conclusion

After all the research we’ve conducted, we can confidently conclude that American Hartford Gold is a solid and trustworthy partner for your gold and silver investing needs.

With their low fees, high ratings, and excellent customer service, American Hartford will ensure you’re in good hands as you protect your hard-earned savings and prepare for retirement!