Birch Gold Group publishes almost everything a buyer wants to price an account: a $5,000 minimum, $50 setup, $30 wire fee and a flat $235 a year, plus five named depositories. Preserve Gold publishes none of the figures, so it may match Birch on minimum, but you will only find out by phone. If you want the costs on paper before you speak to anyone, Birch is the more predictable choice. Preserve Gold is worth a call for a smaller rollover only if the minimum, every fee and the custodian's name arrive in writing before you fund.
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 What Each Company Discloses
Birch states on its own IRA page that an account needs a $5,000 initial purchase. Some review sites report $10,000, and they are wrong: Birch's own page is the source that counts. Its fees are stated just as plainly. Setup is $50 once, wires cost $30, and the annual charge is $235 whatever the balance, made up of $110 for storage and insurance and $125 for management. On transfers over $50,000 Birch says it pays the first year's fees. Setup plus ten years of the annual fee comes to about $2,400. Our Birch Gold Group review covers the schedule in full.
Preserve Gold's website states no minimum and no fees. Its FAQ says fees vary with your chosen investments and the services you use. Third-party sites commonly report a $10,000 IRA minimum, and one account of a direct call cites $25,000, but neither figure comes from the company. Our Preserve Gold review sets out what it does and does not put in public, and the minimum comparison by company shows the wider field.
What this means for you: a flat $235 is the same on $5,000 as on $500,000, so Birch's fee weighs heavily on a small account (4.7 percent a year on $5,000) and lightly on a large one. Ask Preserve Gold for its schedule before you decide, so you can put the two on the same footing.
Depositories and Storage
Birch lists five approved depositories on its site: Delaware Depository, Brink's Global Services, International Depository Services, Texas Precious Metals Depository and Texas Bullion Depository. Preserve Gold names three on its own site: Delaware Depository, International Depository Services and Texas Precious Metals Depository. Both give you an in-state Texas option, which few dealers do. Birch offers more choice, and Preserve Gold does not publish its storage fee at all. Our comparison of Delaware Depository, Brink's and IDS shows how the facilities differ.
Neither dealer holds your metal. A custodian legally holds the IRA, and Preserve Gold does not name its custodian publicly, so ask for the name and check it appears on your paperwork.
Complaint Record Compared
Both hold an A+ from the Better Business Bureau. Birch has been accredited since November 2011 and showed 10 complaints in three years when we checked on 7 September 2026, seven Resolved and three Answered. The recurring themes were coin premiums and markups, buyback valuations that had fallen since purchase, and slow communication during liquidation. Birch's standard reply is that spreads are disclosed and signed in its transaction agreement and confirmed on a recorded line. In one 2024 case it admitted an error and paid the shipping.
Preserve Gold has been accredited since September 2022 and shows two complaints, one Resolved and one Answered, none closed in the last twelve months. That is a thinner file, and partly reflects a younger company with fewer orders. Its one published complaint, from February 2024, concerned a shipping charge, a price gap against a competitor and slow delivery. You may read that Preserve Gold has zero complaints. It has two.
The lesson from Birch's file is that the fee is not the main cost. Ask either company what it charges over spot for the exact coins you would hold, and what it would pay to buy them back today. Our note on what a BBB A+ actually measures explains why the grade alone settles little.
Buyback and Metals
Neither company publishes a buyback spread. Birch says a specialist can give a current buy-back quote and describes it as more detailed than the statements you receive from your custodian. Preserve Gold says it will help you sell and ensure you receive fair market value. Both promises are only as good as the quote on your specific products, so get one in writing before you buy.
Birch's IRA page lists gold, silver, platinum and palladium as IRA-eligible. Preserve Gold also maintains product pages for all four, under IRS purity rules.
Which Company Fits Your Rollover
Birch fits an investor who wants the minimum, every fee and the storage options written down before the sales call, from a $5,000 account upward. Preserve Gold fits a smaller rollover where you want to compare quotes, provided you get six things in writing before funding: the minimum, setup fee, annual administration fee, storage fee, the fee after any waiver ends, and the custodian's name. Our questions to ask a gold IRA company before you sign works as a call script, and the full comparison by minimum and fees shows the rest of the field.
On the commercial side: we have an affiliate relationship with Birch Gold Group and may earn a commission if you open an account through the links on this page. We have none with Preserve Gold and earn nothing if you choose it.
Common Questions
Is Birch Gold Group better than Preserve Gold?
On disclosure, yes: Birch publishes its minimum and fees and Preserve Gold does not. On complaint volume Preserve Gold's file is thinner, but it is also a younger, smaller company. Neither record points to a problem.
What is Preserve Gold's minimum investment?
Not published. Reviews commonly report $10,000, and one direct-call account says $25,000. Confirm it yourself.
Which depositories does Birch Gold Group use?
Delaware Depository, Brink's Global Services, International Depository Services, Texas Precious Metals Depository and Texas Bullion Depository, all named on Birch's own IRA page.
What BBB rating does Preserve Gold have?
A+, with accreditation since September 2022 and two complaints in the last three years.
Does Birch Gold Group have a buyback guarantee?
Birch offers current buy-back quotes from a specialist but publishes no spread and no lifetime guarantee, so ask for a quote on your exact products.
Figures were checked against each company's own pages and BBB profile, with Birch's BBB record dated 7 September 2026. Dealers change terms without notice, so confirm them before you fund an account. This article is educational and is not tax, legal or investment advice.
