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Schiff Gold, also branded as SchiffGold, is a company that sells precious metals. It was founded in 2010 under the name Euro Pacific Precious Metals. In 2014, the company underwent a branding change, presumably to align more closely with Peter Schiff.
Peter Schiff is the founder of the company. He's constantly making headlines or causing a stir through his strong opinions on social media. His company is a way for him to connect average people with the precious metals wealth that they should have.
One interesting note is that Schiff Gold operates entirely based on Peter Schiff's principles. He never sells any products that he doesn't believe are a wise investment, and he guarantees that everything offered by the dealership is legitimate.
This isn't just talk, either. He puts his money where his mouth is. The dealership never sells collectible coins or rare items, as Peter considers these ventures too risky to be worth the hassle.
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About the Company
Precious metals are a wise investment because they protect against inflation. In addition, they can sometimes gain value over time. People tend to invest in precious metals because they perform inversely to the stock market. When the stock market is volatile, the price of precious metals stabilizes, allowing you to reap rewards no matter what the economy does.
Schiff Gold specializes in silver and gold bullion for people's investment profiles. In addition, they provide secure storage options, so you can have your holdings safely stowed away instead of delivered if you want. The company can also help you open a self-directed IRA funded with physical gold.
However, the self-directed IRA services are not as robust as with some more highly specialized firms. The process isn't as streamlined, and it's possible that the staff doesn't have as much experience with this aspect of investing. Self-directed IRAs have to adhere to complicated IRS guidelines, so it's best to work with an expert.
In comparison to other companies, Schiff Gold has relatively limited services. They don't focus a lot of resources on IRAs, and they don't offer collectibles. The only products they offer are pure bullion.
Services Offered
The main service that the company offers is to help people invest in precious metals. You can ask a customer representative to help you figure out what products are best for your budget, investment goals, and risk tolerance.
There is also a buyback program. If you're a client who needs to liquidate your assets, you can sell the bullion back. In addition, if you own precious metals that were not purchased through Schiff Gold, you can sell them to the company. They may reject products that don't fit within their usual line of investments, though.
The company strongly and repeatedly emphasizes that people should not invest in collectible numismatic coins. The biggest reason for this is because these coins only have value when there is a demand. If no one wants to buy them, then they become worthless.
Pure precious metals, on the other hand, always have value. You can easily find out how the value has changed against different currencies from day to day.
Retirement Services
There are IRA services for people planning for retirement. You can roll over your existing retirement assets into a self-directed IRA account. From there, you can purchase precious metals with the funds.
IRA precious metals must adhere to IRS standards. However, the majority of products sold by Schiff Gold are already compliant with IRS standards, since they are made of fine bullion. In addition, IRAs must be stored in IRS-approved vaults, which will require annual maintenance fees.
Schiff Gold mainly helps you with setting up the IRA account. They can walk you through the paperwork to transfer the funds, communicate with your custodian, and ship the metals you buy to a secure vault. But there isn't a lot of information on how they monitor your investments going forward.
Vault Storage
If you want to put the company in charge of storing your precious metals, they'll work with reputable storage companies all over the world. Every vault has double insurance and full-time care by guards, so you know your money is protected.
In fact, each vault is segregated. That means it's held separately from all the other vaults in the building. Nobody can access it except for you and your custodian. There's no chance that a third party might steal your items or commit some sort of fraud.
The two insurance policies come from the depository itself, plus an independent policy provided by Transcontinental Depository Services. If anything happens to your items, you can be certain that you'll get the value of your items back. The insurance policy covers things like:
Every vault is independently audited by a third party company every quarter. When you invest through Schiff Gold, you'll be given quarterly reports regarding your investments. You'll be able to learn how your investment value has grown or depreciated over time.
You also have a lot of freedom in your storage. If you want to transfer your assets between different vaults, all you need to pay is shipping. If you want to have your metals with you, you can pick them up in person or have them shipped to an address of your choice.
Vaults are available in Nevada, Singapore, and Canada. It is important to note that this isn't the largest range of vault options on the market. Some other dealers offer storage options with a different secured facility in every region in the US. If you want to be able to visit your metals in person, these companies might be a better bet.
All of the vaults are private and professional. They are not subject to international banking systems or the US bank. You have complete control over your assets, rather than having a third party bank borrowing them for their own investments.
Research and Education
There is a robust section for research and education on the Schiff Gold website. This is where the company posts everything there is to know about gold investments, current economic considerations, what to look out for on the market, and how to decide which investments are right for you.
Essentially, if it has to do with precious metals or the economy, Peter Schiff has an opinion about it. And he is not shy about making that opinion known.
Some of the specific available resources include:
In addition, the research homepage on the website says that any customer service representative can answer your questions. Should you be unable to find what you're looking for through the free resources, you can simply call the number and get a response.
The Buying Process
The buying process for this company is somewhat strange and convoluted. You can look at the Price Charts section of the website to see exactly how much different precious metals are worth. These charts don't just update daily, they update every single minute.
At a glance, you can see the price of gold, silver, and platinum. You can also see how the price has changed from the same time yesterday.
The charts themselves show you how the price of different precious metals has fluctuated on a minute-to-minute basis. They show you the past hour of data on the top, and then the past day of data on the bottom. If there are any sharp upticks or declines happening, you'll be able to see in the chart.
However, the price of different precious metals products is not listed on the website. Instead, you have to call or chat with one of the company specialists to get a quote.
That's fair enough, since the price of gold fluctuates from minute to minute. But the price charts update to show the change in value every minute. Shouldn't the company be able to display product prices that also shift in value every minute?
The Issue with Pricing
The main issue with the company's pricing is that it isn't very transparent. The website says that they don't mark up their products or charge high commission fees. But there's no way to confirm that without having an actual price to compare against the market value.
In addition, it's a bit of a pain to need to speak to a specialist to get your order ready. If you want to purchase silver, gold, or platinum products, you can click a button on the website. But that will just open a chat box instead of showing you the available options.
You have to trust that your customer service representative will give you accurate, unbiased information about the products. You have to trust that they will be knowledgeable enough to make the right recommendations for your needs. You have to trust that the company will truly offer you a fair price.
That's a lot of trust and faith to put in the company. Especially since there aren't a lot of previous customer reviews describing past experiences. It's difficult to compare the satisfaction ratings of past consumers when you can't find any satisfaction ratings at all.
Overall, this buying process leaves a lot to be desired. There are companies that make it much easier to purchase exactly what you want, when you want it. And better yet, they tend to have actual customer reviews, so you know what to expect.
Payment Options
Once you and your specialist decide what metals you want to buy, you will be sent an email confirmation. This will list the exact metals that you're purchasing, the price, and the costs of things like shipping and insurance. It will also provide instructions for how to pay.
You'll be able to look over this email and double-check that everything is correct. You can also compare the price quote to the market price if you want, as this will let you determine how high the company commission rates are.
There isn't a way to pay online, which is another hassle. Many other precious metals companies allow you to make purchases using a debit or credit card. With Schiff Gold, you have to either send a check through snail mail, or you have to use a bank wire transfer.
By far the fastest payment method is the wire transfer. This can usually be completed within a few hours.
As soon as the company has your payment, they will package and ship the metals. The products will either be delivered to a secure facility or to the address of your choosing. When you pay by check, the company will need to hold the order for a few more business days while it clears.
It's also possible to pay for your order using cryptocurrency. If you tell your specialist that you want to pay with Bitcoin, your price will be locked for just fifteen minutes. Other prices are locked for longer. You have to transfer your funds within that fifteen minute window using Bitpay, or you'll need to be sent a new invoice with a new quote.
Shipping is done through FedEx, USPS, and UPS. The time it takes to ship will depend on the address of the destination. If you pay using a bank wire transfer, you can expect to get your order much more quickly than if you pay using a check.
Final Thoughts
Schiff Gold is an interesting precious metals dealer that puts Peter Schiff's investment philosophies to work.
They have a limited range of services due to their pickiness with their products. Instead of selling collectibles and other services, they only specialize in precious metals bullion.
The company has a good number of free educational resources available. However, there isn't a lot of information about the pricing. They claim that they don't charge high commissions, but there aren't enough customer reviews online to determine whether that is the case.
One thing is certain: The company hangs its reputation on Peter Schiff. If you trust his investment philosophies, you'll appreciate the setup.
Although we do think that Schiff Gold is a solid company, we believe that there are better companies out there to make your investment with.
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