How to Buy Gold Bars: Everything You Need To Know

You’ve already decided to buy gold. Now it’s time to research, learn, and decide which gold products will help you reach your ultimate goals. 

It’s hard to go wrong with a precious metal that has held value for thousands of years. But some options may fit your investment style better than others. 

This guide will help you understand gold bars. We will teach you not only how to buy gold bars but give you an understanding of:

• What a gold bar is
• What to consider before purchasing gold bars
• How to find a reliable seller of bars
• How much a gold bar should cost

Why Investing in Gold Bars Is a Great Option

Gold bars are refined metallic gold made by bar producers that meet minimum standards for record-keeping, manufacturing processes, and product labeling. 

Bars are considered bullion—meaning their value correlates with their weight. Bars typically do not have collectible or scarcity value. 

Because the manufacturing process is less involved and less expensive, bars cost less per ounce than coins. 

Secondary factors, like scarcity, collectibility, and supply and demand, can affect the price of coins. These factors can exponentially boost the value of a coin. 

Investors who own retirement accounts and are researching how to buy physical gold often come across the precious metals IRA, also known as the Gold IRA. 

The Gold IRA is perfect for those who want to use tax-deferred investment funds to purchase their gold. Both bars and coins are allowed to be owned in a precious metals IRA. 

Gold IRA-eligible bars and coins must meet the following IRS guidelines:

• Gold must be 99.5% pure.
• Bars must originate from approved manufacturers, all of which are traded publicly on exchanges such as the COMEX.
• Coins must be minted by government mints, uncirculated, and in perfect physical condition.

The guidelines help ensure the health of your long-term retirement account. No jewelry, no collectibles, and no pirate ship gold. Nothing that is purely speculative. 

Before buying bars you should consider the following:

• What weight and purity is right for you?
• What type of bar do you want?
• How will you safeguard your bars?

We will touch on those topics in the next section. Having a clear understanding before purchase can help you seamlessly transition to physical gold ownership.

Key Considerations Before Buying Gold Bars

Weight and Purity

Deciding on the weight and purity of your desired gold bars often boils down to one thing—your budget. 

Bars are priced by the weight of the pure gold they contain. Most investors choose bars that are 99.5% to 99.9% pure gold and from top manufacturers.

To determine how much gold will fit into your budget, start by checking the spot price of gold. From there, we can back into the total weight of the bar or bars for our investment. 

Your budget divided by the spot price equals the approximate number of ounces you can purchase. 

Pretty simple. 

Gold bars range from 1/10th of an ounce to 400 ounces. You may break it up any way you see fit. 

Bar Type

In addition to size, you can choose the type of bar you want to own. 

Bars can be either cast or minted. 

Cast bars are made by pouring molten gold into forms and allowing it to harden. The manufacturer then stamps the cast bars with the company info, weight, and fineness. They are far from perfect in appearance but beautiful nonetheless. 

Minted bars are cut from preformed smooth sheets of gold. Their refined finish and smooth surface give minted bars a more decorative look. They cost more to produce and therefore cost more to purchase than cast bars. 

Storage and Insurance

Keeping your investment safe should be on your mind even before taking receipt of your gold bars. 

If you purchase bars inside your IRA, problem solved. The IRA mandates that all physical assets be held in a neutral, guarded, and insured location. There are depositories (vaults) around the country that are IRS-approved to safely store your gold. 

Cash-purchase investors have their bars directly delivered to their doorsteps. 

Before storing your gold at home, consider taking the following steps:

• Buy a safe that you can bolt to the floor or is too heavy to carry away.
• Purchase insurance coverage for your investment.
• Keep your purchase to yourself. No one needs to know you own gold or that it’s in your home. 

Speak with your homeowners insurance agent for directions on how to insure your gold. 

The Importance of Finding Reliable Sellers of Gold Bars

Knowing where to buy physical gold is just as important as knowing how to buy bars of gold. 

When your financial future is on the line, whom you trust with your money means everything. 

Go above and beyond when vetting your gold source. 

In the next section, we will give you tips on what to look for, look at, and run from.

Comparing Gold Bar Sellers

It isn’t difficult to learn what you need to know about your potential gold seller. The internet is where your search should start. 

Established, highly rated precious metals firms will have a verifiable history that they are happy to share. 

Online reviews mean everything in the precious metals world. There are scores of sites where clients can leave unbiased opinions for the world to see. The list includes:

• TrustLink 
• Trustpilot
• Google Reviews
• Better Business Bureau
• Facebook
• Yelp 

Consumers feel safe giving their opinions from the comfort of their homes. We recommend you search for the poor reviews as well as the good reviews. You want to know what to expect, and others’ experience can be a great teacher. 

Make sure the feeling you get when speaking to potential companies matches what their clients say about them. 

Advantage Gold is the highest-rated precious metals firm. We have thousands of five-star online reviews and want you to read them. We encourage our clients to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

It’s important to speak with several firms. Gather pricing from all. Most importantly, use common sense. 

Gold bars are the least expensive option for investment-grade gold. They trade slightly above gold’s spot price. Expect to pay a reasonable price over spot and experience a fair trade. 

If a gold company offers you a deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

Advantage Gold doesn’t buy gold at spot price or below, and chances are neither does any other reputable company. There is no way to sell IRA-eligible gold or direct-delivery bars and coins below spot and stay in business. There would be no profits to pay salaries and keep the lights on. 

Run from any representative offering you spot pricing or “free gold” offers. Nothing is free, especially gold, and you can be certain that the cost of your free gold is buried in the cost of something else.

You will pay, one way or another. 

The Average Costs of Buying Gold Bars

Pricing for gold bars can fluctuate from source to source. When reviewing sources, be sure to compare apples to apples. There are factors that can cause one bar to be more expensive than another. Ask these questions:

• Is the bar cast or minted?
• What refiner, assayer or manufacturer made the bar?
• What’s the fineness of the bar?
• How many ounces is the bar?

Remember to add costs of ownership to the price of the gold. 

If storing your gold at home, include the costs of a safe, insurance, and possibly a home alarm system. 

Gold IRA owners factor in a one-time application fee and the yearly fee that covers the storage and insurance of your gold. The fee also covers the full administration of your precious metals IRA. 

As Smokey Robinson said, “You better shop around.”

Should You Invest in Gold Bars?

You should own gold bars. You should own gold coins. Gold is a great long-term investment. 

By now, you should have an idea of what data to evaluate and how to buy real gold bars and coins. 

Adding gold bars to your individual retirement account is easy. 

If you own a traditional or Roth IRA, the experts at Advantage Gold can transfer it to a Gold IRA. If you are 59 ½ and own a 401(k), or own a 401(k) from a previous employer, we can roll over that plan to a Gold IRA. 

The Gold IRA rollover and transfer are tax-free and penalty-free.

Advantage Gold has walked thousands of clients through the process. We make it fairly quick and painless. 

Call us today, or click the link and we’ll call you.