Augusta Precious Metals requires $50,000 to open a gold IRA and publishes what the account costs to run: about $50 to set up, roughly $225 a year, about $2,300 across a decade. Preserve Gold publishes neither a minimum nor a fee schedule, so it may well accept a far smaller rollover, but you will only find out on a phone call. Above $50,000, with a preference for seeing the costs before you speak to anyone, Augusta is the straightforward choice. Below it you are not eligible for Augusta at all, and Preserve Gold earns a call on one condition: get every number in writing first.
This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you open an account through one of them, at no extra cost to you. It does not change the figures below or who we say each company suits.
Minimum Investment and the $50,000 Wall
Augusta requires $50,000 to open a precious metals IRA, and the threshold applies the same way whether the money arrives as a 401(k) rollover or a transfer from an existing IRA. There is no small-account tier and no discretionary exception that shows up reliably in customer reports. For a large share of the people reading this comparison, that single number settles it.
Preserve Gold is harder to pin down, and the reason deserves stating plainly. The company publishes no minimum anywhere on its website. Third-party review sites report $10,000 with near-unanimity, and at least one published account of a call with a representative puts it at $25,000 instead. Neither figure comes from Preserve Gold. Treat $10,000 as a number that circulates rather than a number you can plan around, and ask it on the first call.
That difference cuts in both directions. Augusta's gate is high, but you know exactly where it sits before you pick up the phone. Preserve Gold's may be much lower, and the only way to confirm it is a conversation with a salesperson, which is the same conversation in which you will be asked to buy. Our guide to the smallest amount needed to open a gold IRA shows where the rest of the field starts.
What Each Company Publishes About Fees
Augusta's running cost is about $125 a year to Equity Trust as custodian and about $100 a year for storage at Delaware Depository. Add a one-time setup charge near $50 and a wire fee around $35, and the account costs roughly $225 a year, or about $2,300 across ten years. Those figures are consistent across independent sources and were verified in September 2026. The full breakdown sits in our Augusta Precious Metals review.
Preserve Gold publishes no setup fee, no annual administration fee, no storage fee and no buyback spread. Its own FAQ says fees vary with your chosen investments and the services you use, and that the team will provide a breakdown before you decide. That is a promise of disclosure, which is a different thing from disclosure. It is common in this industry rather than a warning sign, but it does mean the ten-year total in the table above can only be filled in for one of the two companies. Our Preserve Gold review works through what the company does and does not put in public.
Keep the transparency point in proportion, though. Neither company publishes what it charges over spot for the metal itself, and on a six-figure purchase the spread dwarfs the admin fees. One extra percentage point of markup on $100,000 costs you $1,000 on the day you buy. A full decade of Augusta's annual fees comes to $2,300. Published fee schedules are a real advantage, and they answer the cheaper of the two questions.
The Question Nobody Answers About the Waiver
Both companies lead with an incentive. Augusta advertises fee coverage on qualifying accounts, commonly described as up to ten years depending on how much you move. Preserve Gold's published promotion is free insured shipping, a $200 account credit and a home safe for new clients on a qualified purchase, and review sites additionally describe a multi-year storage fee waiver and no liquidation fees on buybacks.
Augusta's version can be priced. Ten years of covered fees is worth about $2,300, because the fee underneath it is published. Preserve Gold's cannot be priced at all, because the fee it waives has never been stated. A five-year storage waiver on an unpublished storage fee is an unknown discount on an unknown number, and no competing comparison seems willing to say so.
The question worth asking is what the fee reverts to in year six. A gold IRA is a twenty or thirty year account. The waiver covers the opening stretch and the reverted fee covers everything after it, which makes the reverted fee the one that determines what the account really costs. Ask for it in writing alongside the annual administration fee, before anything is funded. A generous waiver at the front that converts to an above-market charge at the back is worse than a published flat fee you can plan around from day one.
BBB Records and Two Different Kinds of Clean
Both hold an A+ from the Better Business Bureau. Augusta has been accredited since February 2015 and shows one complaint across the last three years. Preserve Gold has been accredited since September 2022 and shows two, one closed as Resolved and one as Answered, with none closed in the last twelve months.
Read those counts with volume attached. Augusta has traded far longer and handles considerably more accounts, so a single complaint in three years is the more impressive of the two figures. Preserve Gold's file is thin partly because the company is young and smaller: a dealer processing a tenth of the orders attracts roughly a tenth of the disputes even when the process behind them is identical. You will also see it claimed across review sites that Preserve Gold has zero BBB complaints. It has two.
Neither record points to a problem. The honest framing here is established against emerging, not safe against risky.
Storage, Custodian and the Texas Option
Augusta names Equity Trust as its custodian and Delaware Depository for storage, both on public pages. Preserve Gold names three depositories on its own site, Texas Precious Metals Depository in Shiner, Delaware Depository, and International Depository Services, but does not name a custodian anywhere.
The custodian gap matters more than it first appears. The custodian is the entity that legally holds your IRA and files with the IRS, and it is a separate company from the dealer selling you the metal. Knowing which one you are being signed up to is ordinary due diligence. Augusta answers it on a web page; with Preserve Gold you have to ask.
The Texas depository is Preserve Gold's genuine point of difference. In-state storage appeals to investors who would rather their metal sat in Shiner than in Wilmington, and few dealers offer the option. Our comparison of Delaware Depository, Brink's and IDS sets out what the facilities actually differ on. Preserve Gold also maintains product pages for platinum and palladium alongside gold and silver, which is broader than most dealers in this category, so confirm metal availability directly if a four-metal account is what you want.
Which One Fits Your Rollover
Above $50,000, and with a preference for knowing the costs before the conversation starts, Augusta is the better fit. The annual fee schedule is published, the custodian and depository are named, the complaint record is close to spotless against real trading volume, and the waiver on qualifying accounts can be valued in dollars rather than guessed at.
Below $50,000 the comparison is narrower than it looks, because you are simply not eligible for Augusta. Preserve Gold then earns a call, with conditions attached. Get six things in writing before you fund: the account minimum, the setup fee, the annual administration fee, the storage fee, the storage fee after the waiver expires, and the custodian's name. If all six arrive promptly and look reasonable, the disclosure gap has closed and what is left is a well-rated dealer with an uncommon storage option. If they do not arrive, you have your answer.
Most of the field sits between these two on minimum, and our comparison of gold IRA companies by minimum and fees shows exactly where.
On the commercial side, so you can weigh what you have just read: we have an affiliate relationship with Augusta Precious Metals and earn a commission if you open an account through the links on this page. We have no affiliate relationship with Preserve Gold and earn nothing if you choose it. That arrangement did not move the $50,000 gate, and it did not soften the paragraph above telling you when Augusta is the wrong answer.
Common Questions
Can I open a gold IRA with less than Augusta's $50,000 minimum?
Yes, but not with Augusta. The threshold applies to new accounts and rollovers alike. Several established dealers accept $5,000 to $25,000, and Preserve Gold is widely reported to sit near the lower end of that range, though it does not confirm a figure publicly.
Is Preserve Gold a good alternative to Augusta Precious Metals?
For a rollover under $50,000 it is a reasonable one to shortlist. It holds an A+ with a very thin complaint file and offers a storage option Augusta does not. The trade-off is that you cannot compare costs until someone quotes them to you.
What happens to Preserve Gold's fees after the waiver period ends?
Not published, and not answered by any third-party review we found. Since the underlying storage fee is also unpublished, the post-waiver cost is the single largest unknown in the account. Ask for it in writing before funding.
Which company has the better BBB record, Augusta or Preserve Gold?
Both are A+. Augusta shows one complaint in three years against far higher volume and a decade longer under accreditation, which makes its record the stronger of the two. Preserve Gold's two complaints are a good result for a company accredited only since 2022.
Is Augusta Precious Metals worth it for a smaller rollover?
The question does not arise, because Augusta will not open the account. If it could, fixed annual costs of roughly $225 would consume around 1.5 percent of a $15,000 balance each year, against 0.2 percent on $100,000, which is the reason the minimum exists in the first place.
Figures were checked in September 2026 against each company's own published pages and its current BBB profile. Dealers change minimums, fees and promotions without notice, so confirm current terms directly before you fund an account. This article is educational and is not tax, legal or investment advice.
