Advantage Gold vs Lear Capital, fees, minimums and fit

Advantage Gold is the better fit for most first-time buyers and for any rollover between $5,000 and $7,500, because it opens an account at $5,000 and an account executive handles the paperwork with you. Its fees also come to $1,230 less than Lear Capital’s over ten years, which makes it the better fit above $7,500 as well.

Lear Capital suits a buyer with a balance of $10,000 or more who qualifies for its setup fee waiver and wants a low entry point. The rest of this page shows where the fee difference comes from.

Advantage Gold vs Lear Capital at a glance

	Advantage Gold	Lear Capital
Minimum investment	$5,000	$7,500
Setup fee	$50	$280 first year, waivable on $10,000+ deposits
Annual administration	$100	$200
Storage, commingled	$100 a year	$100 a year
Storage, segregated	$175 a year	$150 a year
Wire fee	$30	$30
Custodians	STRATA Trust Company and Equity Trust Company	See the Lear Capital review
Depositories	Brink’s Global Services USA and Delaware Depository	Delaware Depository
Fees checked	April 17, 2026	April 17, 2026

We count the flat fees in the ten-year comparison and leave the markup out, since it is set per order. The fee calculator takes the markup you are quoted and runs the arithmetic for your balance.

Minimum investment

Lear Capital’s $7,500 minimum is modest, and it sits only $2,500 above Advantage Gold’s $5,000. That makes these two closer on entry size than most pairs we compare, and it puts the fee table and the level of guidance in front of the minimum as the reasons to choose.

If your rollover is between $5,000 and $7,500, Advantage Gold is the only one of the two open to you. Our page on the Advantage Gold minimum investment covers how the $5,000 figure works in practice.

What each one costs over ten years

The table adds the setup fee and ten years of administration and commingled storage. It leaves out the price of the metal itself and any shipping and insurance on direct purchases outside an IRA.

Charge	Advantage Gold	Lear Capital
Setup fee	$50	$280
Yearly storage, commingled	$100	$100
10 years of administration and storage	$2,000	$3,000
10-year fees	$2,050	$3,280

Setup fee and 10 years of administration and storage, from published or third-party fee figures for each company. These are list fees before any waiver. The markup on the metal is quoted per order and sits outside these totals.

Advantage Gold comes out $1,230 lower on ten-year fees. The gap has two parts, a setup fee that is $230 lower and an administration fee that is $100 a year lower, which is $1,000 across 10 years. Commingled storage is $100 a year at both companies.

Lear Capital’s setup fee is waivable on deposits of $10,000 or more, and a buyer who has it waived closes $230 of the gap, leaving Advantage Gold $1,000 lower over 10 years. Our Advantage Gold ten-year cost page adds up the fees line by line.

What Lear Capital offers

Lear Capital keeps its entry point low at $7,500, stores metal at Delaware Depository, and gives buyers the choice between commingled storage at $100 a year and segregated storage at $150. A buyer who values a low entry point and a waivable setup fee will find a good option there. Our Lear Capital review covers its record and reviews in full.

Education and hand-holding

Advantage Gold is built around a guided first purchase. It offers a free one-on-one call, a free Ultimate Gold IRA Guide, a gold ira beginner's guide, 10 chapters, ten short FAQ videos, a podcast of about 20 minutes an episode, and calculators that compare gold against the S&P 500 and against physical and paper ETFs.

The company describes a full-service rollover in which its account executive completes the custodial application with you, the custodian contacts your old plan and the funds move without passing through your hands. It says the application takes about 30 minutes or less with an account executive on the line, and that the account is funded a few days after the statement is sent. Because the funds go straight from one custodian to the other, you avoid the 60-day window that applies to an indirect rollover.

What the metal choice looks like

Advantage Gold lists 39 products across gold, silver, platinum, palladium. It states the IRS purity floors on its FAQ page, 99.5% for gold and 99.9% for silver, and most of its catalogue meets them. Our page on IRA-eligible products sorts the catalogue into IRA-eligible items and direct-purchase items, which is worth having in hand before you buy.

Ratings and track record

Advantage Gold has operated since 2014 and holds a A+ grade from the Better Business Bureau, where it has been accredited since 2014, checked on September 29, 2026. The Business Consumer Alliance gives it AAA, the top level it awards. On review sites it shows 4.8 on Trustpilot across 1,920 reviews, 4.9 on TrustLink across 495, and 4.9 on Google across 987.

Our full Advantage Gold review covers the same ratings in more depth.

A worked example over ten years

Over 10 years Advantage Gold’s fees come to $2,050, which is $50 to open and $2,000 of administration and storage. Lear Capital’s fees come to $3,280 over the same period.

That $1,230 difference is at list fees, before any waiver, and it narrows when Lear Capital waives its setup fee.

Choose Advantage Gold if

• You are rolling over a first gold IRA and want a rep to walk you through it.
• Your balance is between $5,000 and $7,500.
• You want a free guide, videos and a one-on-one call before you commit.
• You want the lower ten-year fees, $1,230 less.
• You want a company with a A+ BBB grade and a AAA from the BCA.

Choose Lear Capital if

• Your deposit is $10,000 or more and you can have the setup fee waived.
• You want to work with a dealer whose entry minimum is $7,500.
• You want Delaware Depository storage with a choice of commingled or segregated.
• You already have a relationship with Lear Capital and want to keep your purchases there.

The three things to plan for with Advantage Gold

The company does not publish its fees online, which is why this page prints them, and it runs no live chat, so questions go by phone or through the contact form. Shipping and insurance are charged on direct purchases outside an IRA, which leaves metal bought inside the account unaffected. None of these changes the comparison above for a rollover into an IRA, and the $5,000 minimum is the one to check against your own balance first.

The verdict

For a first gold IRA, choose Advantage Gold. It opens at a lower minimum, charges $1,230 less in fees over ten years, and puts an account executive on the paperwork from the first call. Lear Capital is a solid choice for a buyer with $10,000 or more who wants a waived setup fee. To open an account or book the free first call, start at Advantage Gold's site.

If you would rather see more companies side by side first, browse the other gold IRA comparisons.

Common questions

Which is better for a first gold IRA, Advantage Gold or Lear Capital?

Advantage Gold fits most first-time buyers better because it opens an account at $5,000, below Lear Capital's $7,500 minimum, charges lower setup and administration fees, and has account executives walk you through the rollover.

What is the minimum for Advantage Gold and Lear Capital?

Advantage Gold's minimum is $5,000, while Lear Capital's minimum is $7,500, which is $2,500 more.

Which has lower fees over ten years, Advantage Gold or Lear Capital?

At list fees, before any waiver, Advantage Gold's fees come to $1,230 less over ten years. Its setup fee is $50 against $280 and its annual administration fee is $100 against $200, while the commingled storage fee is the same.

Does Lear Capital waive its setup fee?

Yes. Lear Capital's $280 first-year setup fee is waivable on deposits of $10,000 or more, and with the waiver Advantage Gold's fees still come to $1,000 less over ten years.

Can I move a 401(k) to either company?

Yes. Both work with 401(k) rollovers into a self-directed gold IRA, and Advantage Gold also accepts 403(b) and pension plan rollovers and names the Thrift Savings Plan as a rollover source.

Who holds the gold in an Advantage Gold IRA?

A trust company acts as custodian, and an insured depository stores the metal. Advantage Gold works with STRATA Trust Company and Equity Trust Company as custodians and names Brink's Global Services USA and Delaware Depository for storage.