Augusta Precious Metals vs United Gold Group

Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through links on this page. The commission has no effect on what you pay or on what we publish. We are not a financial or tax advisor; consult a licensed advisor for your situation. Last reviewed July 2026.

The head to head at a glance

Augusta Precious Metals and United Gold Group are both national precious metals dealers with a paired self directed IRA offer. Both handle Texas customers by phone. Both use an outside trust company to hold legal title to the IRA metal, per IRC 26 U.S.C. 408 rules on self directed retirement accounts.

The two differ on five material dimensions before you ever pick up the phone. First, Augusta prints a 50,000 dollar minimum on its Gold IRA page. United Gold Group does not print an account minimum on any public page we captured. Second, Augusta names Equity Trust Company as the paired custodian and Delaware Depository as the recommended vault. United Gold Group names neither the custodian nor the depository on its site.

Third, Augusta prints typical annual fee ranges on the custodian and storage lines. United Gold Group does not print a fee schedule. Fourth, Augusta runs a documented education first intake with a scheduled web conference led by Director of Education Devlyn Steele. United Gold Group directs prospects to phone conversations with sales staff whose credentials and compensation model are not published on the site.

Fifth, Augusta publishes BBB accreditation since 2014 and an A plus letter rating out of the Beverly Hills regional bureau, alongside a Joe Montana customer testimonial and a Money magazine Best Overall Gold IRA Company claim. United Gold Group self labels as BBB accredited and as a member of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets on its menu, both self claims that a reader must verify at the underlying registry.

Public fee disclosure, side by side

The single biggest gap between these two dealers is what each one prints on the public site before a reader ever calls. Augusta commits to a typical range on two annual lines and a specific dollar minimum on the account. United Gold Group commits to none of these numbers in public copy.

Read the printed Augusta ranges carefully. The 75 dollar to 150 dollar custodian range on the Gold IRA page sits below the retail Equity Trust tier for a 50,000 dollar or larger account. Equity Trust prints 425 dollars per year on the 50,000 to 99,999 dollar tier, per the Equity Trust Fee Schedule (Rev. 110625) at trustetc.com/fees/, checked July 2026. Ask which schedule applies to your account before you sign.

United Gold Group's silence is not proof of a hidden markup. It does mean the burden of verification lands entirely on you. A boutique dealer can quote a competitive fee stack on the intake call; the site does not tell you what that will be. Bring the four line fee framework to the first call and get every number in writing.

Account minimum and who each dealer fits

Augusta prints a 50,000 dollar minimum on the Gold IRA page and repeats the figure on How Gold IRA Companies Make Money (per augustapreciousmetals.com/gold-ira/ and augustapreciousmetals.com/how-gold-ira-companies-make-money/, both checked July 2026 via Wayback). That number is a real gate. A saver with less than 50,000 dollars in a rollover eligible retirement account is redirected at intake.

United Gold Group does not publish an account minimum on its site. Many small dealers set a soft floor in the 10,000 dollar to 50,000 dollar range, but the number matters only when it is in writing. Ask by phone or email and confirm the current figure before you fund anything.

The practical read for a Texas retiree in three balance bands. Below 20,000 dollars, neither dealer is likely the right choice, because fixed custodian and storage fees eat too high a share of the account. Between 20,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars, United Gold Group may be on the table if its unwritten minimum sits below the Augusta gate; ask for confirmation in email.

Above 50,000 dollars, both dealers are technically on the table. Augusta enrolls the account at its stated tier and routes to Delaware Depository by default. United Gold Group enrolls the account with a custodian and depository it does not name in public, so the account setup you actually receive depends on what the specialist confirms in writing on the intake call.

Custodian: one named, one not

The custodian is the IRS approved trust company that holds legal title to the metal on your behalf, under 26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2). No dealer can be the custodian. The custodian is a separate regulated entity that carries its own fee schedule and its own list of approved depositories.

Augusta names Equity Trust Company on its public Gold IRA page. Equity Trust is a South Dakota chartered non depository trust and one of the largest self directed IRA custodians in the US. Its retail fee schedule is public (Rev. 110625, linked at trustetc.com/fees/), which lets a prospective client compute the custodian portion of an account before the intake call.

United Gold Group's public copy says the firm helps clients set up a self directed IRA via a third party custodial administrator. It does not name the trust company. That structure is normal in the industry; the trust company is a partner on the back end, not the dealer itself. It also means a prospective client cannot cross reference the custodian's fee schedule until the specialist names the partner in writing.

Two practical asks before you sign at either dealer. First, get the exact legal name of the trust company on the paperwork. Second, confirm the trust company appears on the current IRS non bank trustee list (per IRS Publication 590-A rules on trustee eligibility). If a dealer will not put the custodian name in email, treat that as your answer on how it prices transparency.

Storage and depository choice in Texas

Both dealers use a separate depository to physically vault the metal. The depository is not the dealer and not the custodian. It is a third regulated entity that stores the coins or bars and reports holdings back to the custodian.

Augusta's FAQ lists eleven storage locations. The verbatim list: "Los Angeles, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Nampa, ID; Las Vegas, NV; Shiner, TX; Dallas, TX; South Fargo, ND; Wilmington, DE, Bridgewater, MA; New Castle, DE; and New York, NY." The FAQ closes with "Please ask us for a current list" (per augustapreciousmetals.com FAQ via Wayback capture, verified July 2026). Shiner is Texas Precious Metals Depository. Dallas is served by International Depository Services in Irving.

United Gold Group does not name a depository partner on its public site. The vault that will hold your IRA metal depends on which custodian United Gold Group uses for the account and which of that custodian's approved vaults the specialist selects. Ask for both names in writing.

Neither dealer names the state administered Texas Bullion Depository in Leander on its public IRA copy. The Texas Bullion Depository is the only state administered precious metals depository in the United States. It was authorized by House Bill 483, signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 12, 2015, and sits on a 10 acre campus in Leander (per texasbulliondepository.gov and comptroller.texas.gov/programs/depository/, both checked July 2026).

The depository operator, Lone Star Tangible Assets LP, received IRS approval as a non bank trustee in 2023. Equity Trust Company is named on the depository's own IRA Storage Services page as the first custodian to work with it. That pairing gives Augusta, which names Equity Trust, a clear path to route the metal to Leander on request. United Gold Group's unnamed custodian may or may not have that path. Ask before you commit.

Dealer spread: the fee neither dealer publishes

The dealer spread is the difference between the spot price of the metal and the price the dealer charges for the same coin or bar. It is paid twice on any physical metal IRA: once at buy, and again on the way out through the buyback channel. Neither Augusta nor United Gold Group prints a percent figure or a per coin price on any public page we captured in July 2026.

Spread ranges vary widely by product category. Common American Gold Eagle coins carry a lower typical spread than proof editions or exclusive coins. Non numismatic bars typically carry the tightest spread. Any dealer, either of these included, can quote a specific number for a specific product on a specific day; that is what the intake call produces.

Two rules keep the dealer spread honest at either dealer. First, ask the specialist for the per coin price and, in the same call, ask what the current spot price is. The gap is your spread. Second, ask for the same day buyback quote on the exact coin the specialist is offering. The round trip cost, buy price minus buyback, is your true dealer cost at that firm.

Spread is often the largest first year fee line, so treating it as a phone quote at both dealers is the right frame. A 5 percent spread on a 120,000 dollar buy is 6,000 dollars, larger than ten years of custodian and storage combined at the published Equity Trust retail tier. If a specialist at either dealer will not put the spread in email, that itself is data.

Buyback framing: what is on the page and what is not

Both dealers work with a resale channel. The framings differ. Augusta's Gold IRA page describes buyback support without printing a fee schedule or a legally guaranteed price. United Gold Group does not publish a written buyback policy on its site as of July 2026.

Neither framing means the sell side dealer spread is zero. The buyback price is what the dealer will pay for the coin, which is below the same day spot by whatever spread the dealer holds on that product on that day. The round trip cost, buy price minus buyback price, is the number that decides your exit economics.

The right comparison at the buy moment is the same at both dealers. Ask for the same day buyback quote on the coin you plan to buy, at the time of the buy call, and keep the emailed answer. The gap between the buy price and the buyback price is your round trip dealer cost, not the marketing framing on either dealer's public page.

Trust signals: BBB record and public identity

Both dealers reference BBB accreditation. The verification depth is different. Augusta Precious Metals is listed at the Beverly Hills regional bureau with an A plus letter rating and BBB accreditation since 2014. The profile is referenced on augustapreciousmetals.com and confirmed via bbb.org.

United Gold Group's own site menu labels the firm a BBB Accredited Business. That is a self claim on the vendor's site. Pull the underlying letter rating and complaint counts directly on bbb.org before you sign anything.

Confirm both BBB profiles yourself before signing anything. BBB data updates without notice, and a snapshot from a specific month can move in either direction by the time you read this. The letter rating, the accreditation date, and the ratio of reviews to complaints on file are the three fields worth checking side by side.

The two dealers use different public marketing signals. Augusta features Joe Montana as a customer testimonial. Its own copy describes Money magazine naming it Best Overall Gold IRA Company. Its founding year is 2012 per its home page; CEO is Isaac Nuriani and Director of Education is Devlyn Steele (per augustapreciousmetals.com/about/, checked July 2026).

United Gold Group's public identity signals are different. The site menu lists memberships in the Industry Council for Tangible Assets and the Sound Money Defense League. The firm runs a podcast called The Gold Show and a branded wildlife giving program. Its About page states plainly that the firm is not a licensed financial advisor and does not give financial advice (per unitedgoldgroup.com About page, checked July 2026). Its founding year is not publicly disclosed on the site.

An SEC EDGAR full text search returned zero filings under the exact phrase United Gold Group for the last ten years (per efts.sec.gov, checked July 2026). That absence is normal for a private physical bullion dealer, which is generally not required to file with the SEC. Augusta's SEC EDGAR footprint is similar for the same reason; both firms sell physical metal, not securities.

Texas taxes and why fee drag matters more here

Texas has no state personal income tax on wages or on retirement account distributions (per comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1010.php, checked July 2026). Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution prohibits imposing one without a statewide referendum. A California retiree taking a 30,000 dollar required minimum distribution pays California ordinary income tax on top of federal tax. A Texas retiree taking the same 30,000 dollar RMD pays federal only.

That state tax gap changes what matters inside the account. In a high tax state, the state income tax swamps almost every fee line. In Texas, there is no state income tax to swamp; the fee stack you sign at intake is a larger share of your net outcome over ten or twenty years. This is worth surfacing for a spouse or heir who will inherit the account long after the initial rollover paperwork is done.

Two identical rollovers, one in Houston and one in Sacramento, end up with different net balances after twenty years primarily because the state tax differential is zero in Texas. The practical effect for this comparison: fee transparency matters more in Texas than in California, New York, or Oregon.

Between the two dealers on this page, Augusta prints typical dollar ranges on two recurring lines and a hard minimum on the account. United Gold Group prints none of those numbers in public. A Texas retiree working from public pages alone has concrete numbers to hold on to at Augusta and only a promise of a specialist call at United Gold Group. Consult your tax advisor for your specific situation.

How to compare the two on your specific rollover

Comparison at the SERP level is limited by what each dealer publishes on its own site. Comparison at the intake call level is not. The four line fee stack (setup, annual custodian, annual storage, dealer spread on buy) is the same set of questions at both dealers. Ask each specialist the same eight questions and put the answers in a two column spreadsheet before you sign anything.

1. Confirm the account minimum at each dealer. Augusta will confirm 50,000 dollars. United Gold Group does not print a specific figure; ask for the current minimum in email and keep the reply. Get both in writing before any account paperwork is drafted.
2. Ask for the one time setup fee, split. Get the dealer intake fee and the custodian application fee at each dealer. Augusta names setup as a cost layer without a printed figure. United Gold Group does not publish a setup fee. Confirm which line is refundable if you cancel before the first purchase.
3. Ask for the annual custodian fee at your account tier. Augusta names Equity Trust Company; cross reference against the Equity Trust retail schedule (Rev. 110625) at trustetc.com/fees/. United Gold Group must first name the custodian in writing; then apply the same cross reference. If the number differs from the printed tier for your account value, ask why in writing.
4. Ask for the annual storage fee, by depository. Get a specific number for Delaware Depository at Augusta, and get a specific number for whatever vault United Gold Group's custodian will use for your account. Confirm whether the depository bills separately from the custodian and whether segregated storage adds an annual increment.
5. Ask for the per coin buy price and same day spot at each dealer. Do this on the exact coin the specialist proposes. The gap is your buy spread at that dealer. Get the same coin priced at both dealers for a true side by side.
6. Ask for the same day buyback quote on the same coin at each dealer. The gap between the buy price and the buyback price is your round trip dealer cost. Compare the round trip cost at each dealer, not just the buy leg.
7. Ask about Texas depository routing at each dealer. Ask Augusta in writing whether it will route the metal to the Shiner vault, the Dallas IDS vault, or the Leander state vault. Ask United Gold Group whether its unnamed custodian recognizes any of those three Texas venues. Confirm both answers in email.
8. Compute the ten year total at each dealer. Sum: setup once, plus ten years of custodian, plus ten years of storage, plus buy spread once. The lower ten year total on the same account tier and the same coin package is your fee cheaper dealer for a Texas rollover.

Worked example: 120,000 dollar Houston rollover, both sides

When Augusta is the better fit

Augusta is the better fit for a Texas retiree with 50,000 dollars or more in a rollover eligible account who values public transparency before the first call. The 50,000 dollar minimum is a real gate. It also filters out the smaller account tier where fee drag is hardest to justify.

Above that gate, the one on one educational web conference with Director of Education Devlyn Steele is a signature Augusta offering. It does not add a fee to the account. Augusta prints its typical annual custodian range and typical annual storage range on the public Gold IRA page, which gives a reader concrete numbers before the first specialist call.

Augusta is also the fit for a reader who wants a documented salaried education first intake, rather than a sales format whose compensation structure is not publicly disclosed. Readers who value structured education before writing a check tend to rank this format highly. Readers who want to skip the education and just get a quote may find it slow.

Augusta's public marketing leans on a Joe Montana customer testimonial and on being named Best Overall Gold IRA Company by Money magazine. Neither claim changes the fee stack, the custodian, or the metal you actually receive. They function as brand comfort signals at the top of the funnel. Weigh them accordingly.

When United Gold Group could work

United Gold Group is a boutique dealer, not a call center. That has a real upside for a specific kind of reader. A small California office with a documented head office address and two toll free lines can offer a longer phone call, a slower sales cadence, and a single point of contact through the entire rollover.

United Gold Group could work for a reader whose rollover balance sits below the Augusta 50,000 dollar gate, provided the specialist confirms the working minimum in email. Ask for the number before you assume it. The site's Industry Council for Tangible Assets membership is a small positive signal on the trade body side; verify current membership at the ICTA member directory, since the site menu is a self claim.

United Gold Group could also work for a reader who prefers a specialist call intake to a scheduled educational web conference. The two intake styles are different products at the top of the funnel; readers who want to move quickly through the buy decision may prefer the smaller shop format. That preference should not replace the four line fee stack, which is still the deciding number.

Two prerequisites apply either way. First, get the custodian name in writing before you sign the account application. Second, get the depository name and the storage cost in writing before the first purchase is executed. A boutique dealer that will confirm both is fully in scope; a boutique dealer that will not is not.

When neither is right for you

Frequently asked questions

Reviewed by Harry's Coins Editorial. Last reviewed July 2026.