Lear Capital, Inc., is an accredited and trusted seller of precious metals, including gold and silver. Whereas most Individual Retirement Account (IRA) providers don’t manage physical wealth assets, Lear Capital lets its customers open gold IRA accounts, where they invest holdings of their wealth in the form of physical gold. In this review, we’ll weigh the pros and cons of holding a Precious Metals IRA with Lear Capital. Plus, we’ll look at Lear Capital’s company profile, their costs and some of their customer reviews.
Lear Capital Overview
Lear Capital, Inc., from Los Angeles, California, penned their company slogan, “The Precious Metal Leader.” They aim to go beyond selling precious metals and provide customers with helpful financial services and consultation. As a precious metals broker, Lear Capital allows customers to set up self-directed IRA accounts, whereby they can invest in gold or silver in the form of an IRA account, without receiving the physical metals.
Q3 2019 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Lear Capital opened for business in 1997 as a broker for gold, silver, rare coins and bullion, and went on to offer IRAs later on. They also developed into a service for investors, providing knowledge, advice and other assistance for people looking to diversify their investment portfolio. They aim to educate their customers about market insights that can help protect and grow their investments. The company has processed over $3 billion worth in transactions and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Company Founder: Kevin DeMeritt
Lear Capital was founded by Kevin DeMeritt, who is the company's chairman to this day. He's the bestselling author of The Bulls, The Bears and The Bust, which is a book about how gold investments became a safe-haven during the market crash of 2001. DeMeritt's understanding of economic and financial patterns, sovereign debt and strategies for portfolio diversification have come from over 20 years of experience investing in gold and helping thousands of others do the same, so they can protect their savings during financial downturns.
DeMeritt went on to hire John Ohanesian to be the company's CEO, with his 20 years of experience growing the Bosley brand to over 90 markets.
How It Works
The company is focused on helping individuals safely invest in their retirement by buying precious metals, premium rare coins, bullion and other safe investments that are virtually guaranteed to appreciate over time and not be disrupted by economic downturns.
Lear Capital assigns each customer a personal account representative, who can provide advice about precious metals investing and other relevant news in the worlds of retirement investing and precious metals. Once they have chosen a gold IRA, precious metal investment or other offer, customers are streamlined through Lear Capital's acquisition and transaction process.
Costs of Setting Up Your Gold IRA With Lear Capital
Lear Capital charges an annual recurring fee of $160 for a Precious Metals IRA. This covers the storage and insurance of your metals. That's all you need to shell out, beyond the cost of the gold you're investing in. Gold coins range from $455 to $1,353 each, and silver coins range from $18 to $14,000 each. Not all of these are eligible for the Precious Metals IRA, but many of them are.
Customer Reviews: A Look at Buyer Feedback
- According to a Highya review from a customer, Lear Capital made it easy for her to plunge into investing in precious metals for the first time ever. Interested in diversifying her retirement portfolio, she reported that Lear Capital helped her decide what to do and take the best steps for securing her retirement savings with a gold IRA.
- According to a Retirement Living review from a Lear Capital customer, Lear Capital makes the process crystal clear and unconfusing, providing straightforward offers instead of trying to upsell you to the point of confusion.
- In multiple customer reviews on Lear Capital's website, customers note that their representatives went over their options very thoroughly and helped ensure they made well-educated investments.
Advantages of Investing in Gold and Opening a Precious Metal IRA
Why buy precious metals or invest in a Precious Metals IRA with Lear Capital? Here are the top ways it can help with your retirement savings:
Provides Financial Security by Holding Your Savings in Gold
Gold isn't as vulnerable to fluctuation as the stock market or of the U.S. dollar. Keeping your retirement funds in the form of stocks or cash in the bank doesn't protect you against an economic crisis, where the dollar loses its value and becomes hyperinflated. Gold secures dollar savings you have today so that they can hold the same cash value or higher in the future. This makes it a great retirement investment, because it's not risky, and it secures your savings in a safer way.
Diversify Your Retirement Portfolio
Stocks and mutual funds are riskier than gold, so if you have those in your retirement portfolio, gold is a great way to continue diversifying your portfolio without adding risk. Precious metals are virtually guaranteed to rise and not fall in value over time.
Tax Benefits
Gold is one of the most tax-efficient investments you can possibly make. The gold is in the physical possession of Lear Capital--the IRA trustee--so there's nothing physical in your possession for you to pay taxes on. When it comes to taxes, a Precious Metal IRA works like a regular IRA, providing a tax deduction on contributions. Distributions are taxed as ordinary income at your marginal tax rate.
Disadvantages of Investing in Gold and Opening a Precious Metals IRA
There are pros and cons to every investment, so let's look at what might make you hesitate before opening a Precious Metals IRA.
You Don't Get the Physical Gold
With a gold IRA, you can't see or touch your gold. The physical gold is being held in an account for you. It does physically exist, but it's being kept in a bank with your name on it.
No Dividends, Interest or Yields
It's a long-term investment that will not pay dividends, interest or yields. While it protects your wealth in the event of economic inflation, it takes decades to accumulate gains in worth. Most people don't consider buying gold until they're older, to help secure their retirement funds. At this point, they won't see much growth of their wealth from investing in gold, as opposed to investing in other options, like mutual bonds or stocks.
Won't Help Build Wealth
If economic inflation doesn't happen, your gold investment won't pay off much. This is why it's a defensive, as opposed to aggressive, strategy for retirement. It's not aimed at building wealth, but rather at protecting it against the worst-case scenario. This may not be ideal for younger investors just starting their retirement portfolios.
Annual Fees to Store Precious Metals
You need to pay forward an annual fee if you want to open a Precious Metals IRA with Lear Capital because they're storing and maintaining the physical gold or silver for you.
Bottom Line: Weighing the Pros and Cons of Lear Capital's Gold IRA and Other Services
When you weigh the pros and cons of Lear Capital's services, it looks like there is a major group that can benefit from opening a gold IRA with them: folks nearing retirement who want to secure what they have saved for retirement. Considering that economists are predicting a stock market crash and economic depression in the near future, gold is a smart investment.
Still, it depends on you. Younger individuals may not benefit from the investment as much as they would from investments like stocks, which pay dividends. On the other hand, younger folks who have risky investments in their portfolio and are looking to still diversify could benefit from investing in precious metals. Regardless of who you are, there's nothing wrong with keeping your savings in the form of precious metals. But, you should be aware that your savings could be put into an investment that will provide more returns.
