Augusta vs Birch vs Noble $250k fee math

Updated: July 28, 2026

OPRS may receive compensation when readers open an account through partner links on this page. Our analysis is based on independent research, BBB data, and IRS publications.

A $250,000 rollover is the single largest transaction many federal contractors and military retirees execute before age 65, and the fee math is rarely as advertised. The custodian line on the application is small. The annual storage fee is small. The bullion spread on the order ticket is not, and that is where the all-in cost lives.

This page works through what each of the three current OPRS-tracked dealers actually charges at that balance, what the public disclosures say versus what the consultation usually surfaces, and which profile each dealer fits.

Before any dealer call on a six-figure balance, see our running list of the gold IRA dealers we currently warn rollover savers against. The high-balance accounts attract the most aggressive sales scripts.

The three dealers at a glance

The table below shows the public-facing facts for the three OPRS-tracked gold IRA dealers at the $250,000 rollover band. Every minimum-investment figure carries an “industry-reported around” qualifier because none of the three publishes a minimum on their home or about pages. The figures come from Investopedia and Money.com cross-references rather than the dealer disclosures themselves.

Sources: dealer home and about pages crawled by OPRS, Investopedia, Money.com, and Business Consumer Alliance. The custodial, setup, and storage figures are industry-reported ranges and not publicly listed on the dealer home pages; confirm at consultation.

Augusta Precious Metals at $250,000

Augusta Precious Metals operates out of Beverly Hills, California, with a secondary office in Casper, Wyoming. The dealer runs an Education-First Process described on its home page as “Learn, Talk, Decide.” Its educators are publicly stated to be “salaried, non-commissioned,” which removes the standard sales-incentive problem. On a $250,000 ticket, that is the single line item we weight heaviest.

On a balance that size, a one-percent shift in the bullion spread is $2,500 of after-tax retirement capital; a non-commissioned educator structure reduces the pressure to upsell the highest-margin coin.

What this means at $250k: Augusta’s fee waiver promotion is the most consequential variable. The home page describes a “multi-year fee waiver for qualifying rollover accounts,” with current terms reviewed during the free consultation.

We do not publish the specific term length because the disclosed offer can change; the consultation is where the qualifying balance and waiver duration are documented in writing.

At a $250,000 rollover the cumulative custodian and storage line over five years runs roughly $1,150 to $1,500 in the industry-reported range, so a multi-year waiver materially shifts the year-one and lifetime cost of ownership.

The accreditation stack is the deepest of the three. Augusta holds Money Magazine’s Best Overall Gold IRA Company award from 2022 to present and Investopedia’s Most Transparent Gold IRA Company award from 2022 to present. It carries a BBB A+ rating with zero complaints dating to accreditation in 2014, and 4,000+ 5-star ratings across Trustpilot, Google, and Consumer Affairs. The industry-reported minimum sits around $50,000, well inside the $250,000 target.

The trade-off: the depository name is not disclosed publicly and is shared during the consultation. Readers who want to vet the depository before the first call should ask Augusta to name it in writing before scheduling the account-opening session. This is a reasonable request and one the OPRS desk has seen honored without friction.

Birch Gold Group at $250,000

Birch Gold Group has been operating since 2011 and reports more than 40,000 customers on its home page. The company is headquartered in Iowa and publicly partners with five named depositories: Delaware Depository, Brink’s Global Services, Texas Precious Metals Depository, International Depository Services, and the Texas Bullion Depository.

That depository optionality is the strongest differentiator for a $250,000 rollover. Segregated storage at a named depository like Delaware Depository or Brink’s physically separates the metals from other clients’ holdings, rather than commingling them.

What this means at $250k: the industry-reported minimum sits around $10,000, so Birch is the easiest of the three to enter at a partial rollover. For a saver consolidating a TSP balance plus a contractor 401(k), Birch can accept the smaller leg of the consolidation first and the second leg later.

The dealer does not advertise a multi-year fee waiver, so the custodian and storage line in years one and two run at the industry-reported standard: roughly $80 to $200 annual custodial plus $150 to $200 annual segregated storage.

Over five years at the higher end of the range, that is approximately $1,750 in administrative cost on top of the bullion spread.

The Birch process pairs a single Birch Gold Specialist with an in-house IRA Department that handles the rollover paperwork. The BBB record is A+ and the dealer is also accredited AAA by the Business Consumer Alliance per its about page. The endorsement stack on the Birch home page features various media personalities; OPRS does not weight celebrity endorsements as a positive factor and treats them as neutral for the fee-math purpose of this comparison.

The trade-off: no multi-year waiver means the five-year administrative cost is fully borne by the account on day one, which at $250,000 is real money over the holding period. The depository optionality compensates for readers who want to choose between segregated and commingled storage by name before signing.

Noble Gold Investments at $250,000

Noble Gold Investments is headquartered in Encino, California, with marketing that references industry experience going back to 2003 and customer reach of 16,000+ investors with $2.5 billion in metals safeguarded according to the home page. The corporate entity Noble Gold Investments is more recent than the 2003 marketing reference, so the “founded” year is best stated as “marketing references 2003 industry experience” rather than a confirmed corporate founding date. Noble’s stated differentiator is its Texas Depository position.

What this means at $250k: the industry-reported minimum sits around $20,000, so Noble accepts a $250,000 rollover comfortably and at the low end accepts a smaller starter position.

The dealer does not advertise a multi-year fee waiver, so the custodian and storage line at $250,000 runs at the industry-reported standard, roughly $80 to $225 annual custodial plus $150 to $250 annual segregated storage.

Noble also publicly offers a non-IRA home delivery option for direct precious metals purchases. This is not eligible for IRA tax treatment, but it can sit alongside the gold IRA for savers who want a portion of their metals outside the custodian relationship.

The intake is a four-step sequence: simple application, then connection with a trusted custodian, then a Gold and Silver specialist call, then metals selection. The BBB record is reported as A+ in industry sources, although OPRS treats that figure as industry-reported until verified directly on the BBB profile during the next audit cycle. Noble does not currently appear on the OPRS landing-page roster, which reflects a quieter affiliate footprint rather than a quality concern.

The trade-off: the public-facing accreditation stack is narrower than Augusta’s and the depository network is narrower than Birch’s. That said, the Texas Depository position is unique among the three and matters to savers who prioritize a Texas-jurisdiction storage stance.

Where the real fee math lives: the bullion spread

The three custodial fee lines look almost identical across the three dealers. At $250,000, the annual custodial and storage fees aggregate to approximately $230 to $475 a year depending on the dealer and the storage tier. Five years of administrative cost on the higher end is roughly $2,375; on the lower end it is roughly $1,150. That is the public-facing fee line, and it is not where the real cost lives at this account size.

The variable that dominates the year-one all-in cost is the bullion spread: the difference between the dealer’s price for the same gold or silver coin and the prevailing spot price on the order day. FINRA’s investor insight on investing in precious metals notes that markups on coin and bar transactions vary widely and that retail dealer pricing is rarely transparent.

On a $250,000 ticket, a spread differential of three percent versus eight percent is $12,500 of capital, dwarfing any reasonable custodial or storage line over the holding period.

In practice: the cheapest published custodial schedule does not produce the cheapest all-in cost. The dealer who is most willing to quote the spread in writing on the same bullion line before the order is placed produces the cheapest all-in cost. That single document, requested before signing, is the most decisive step in the entire process.

How to compare the fee structures at $250,000

The procedural sequence below is the one the OPRS desk recommends for any six-figure rollover, regardless of which of the three dealers is being evaluated. It separates the four fee buckets so each can be priced independently before the order ticket commits the capital.

Verdict by reader profile

Federal employee or military retiree consolidating TSP plus a contractor 401(k) at $250,000: Augusta. The multi-year fee waiver for qualifying rollover accounts plus the salaried, non-commissioned educator structure remove two distinct cost lines on a six-figure transfer. The lower-friction outcome on a balance this size more than offsets the higher industry-reported minimum.

Pre-retiree splitting $250,000 across a TSP-roll plus an annual contribution stream with depository optionality in mind: Birch. The named five-depository roster lets the saver pick segregated storage at Delaware Depository or Brink’s before the order is placed. Worth knowing: the absence of a fee waiver means the administrative cost is borne in full each year.

Investor at $250,000 who wants a Texas-jurisdiction storage stance and a portion of metals outside the IRA via home delivery: Noble. The Texas Depository position is the only one of the three with that specific framing. The non-IRA home delivery option, which is not eligible for IRA tax treatment, sits alongside the gold IRA for the portion the saver wants outside the custodian.

First-time rollover saver, $20,000 to $50,000, planning to grow to $250,000 over three to five years: Birch is the only one of the three with an industry-reported minimum that comfortably accepts a starter rollover. The same account can scale to $250,000 over time. A second leg from a TSP plus contractor 401(k) consolidation can layer in later.

When none of these three fits the $250,000 profile

Three situations rule out all three dealers on this comparison. First, if the rollover origin is an active TSP balance and the saver intends a partial in-service transfer before separating from federal service, TSP eligibility rules dominate the dealer choice. See our breakdown of the TSP-75 age-based in-service withdrawal sequence before sequencing any of the three dealers.

Second, if the $250,000 source is a combat-zone tax-exempt basis pool inside the TSP, the basis tracking on the rollover paperwork matters more than the dealer fee structure. The combat-zone basis rollover rules drive the destination IRA architecture.

Third, if the saver is over age 73 and already taking required minimum distributions, the dealer choice is downstream of the RMD coordination sequence. See military pension and RMD tax stacking for the order-of-operations at that stage. In each of these three situations, the underlying tax mechanics dictate the rollover sequence first, and the dealer comparison layers on top.

If none of the three dealers fits because the prior-year custodian relationship is already in place, a like-for-like transfer between trustees under IRS Publication 590-A can preserve the existing custodial relationship with a new dealer. The trustee-to-trustee transfer route does not require a dealer change.

FAQ

Does a $250,000 gold IRA rollover trigger any tax on the transfer itself?

A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer between the prior custodian and the new gold IRA custodian is not a taxable event and is reported on Form 1099-R with code G. IRS Publication 590-A describes the direct rollover mechanics. The 60-day indirect rollover route works but exposes the saver to the once-per-12-month rule and the withholding requirement; on a $250,000 balance, the direct trustee-to-trustee path is the standard recommendation.

Can the spread on the bullion order be negotiated at $250,000?

The published spread is typically a starting position rather than a fixed price at the six-figure band. Requesting the spread in writing on the same bullion line before signing the order ticket is the procedural lever that reveals room to move. The SEC investor alerts on retail precious metals pricing recommend independent verification of the price quoted against the prevailing spot reference on the order day.

Which of the three dealers has the longest BBB record?

, the longest of the three at the time of the most recent OPRS verification. Birch Gold Group also carries an A+ rating per its about page. Noble Gold is industry-reported as A+, which OPRS treats as pending direct verification on the BBB profile. The BBB record is one of many trust signals; on a $250,000 rollover, the depth of the published accreditation and complaint record matters more than the headline letter grade.

Is the multi-year fee waiver guaranteed for every $250,000 rollover at Augusta?

The multi-year fee waiver applies to “qualifying rollover accounts,” with the qualifying threshold and waiver duration documented during the free consultation. The publicly advertised offer carries the qualifier that “current terms are reviewed during the free consultation.” We do not publish a specific waiver length because the offered terms can change. The consultation paperwork is the binding document.

Does the dealer choice affect the IRS-approved metals list at $250,000?

The IRS-approved metals list is set by the Internal Revenue Code and is the same regardless of the dealer. IRS guidance on IRA contributions and Publication 590-A define the eligible asset classes. The dealer’s coin and bar inventory is what differs. Each of the three carries American Gold Eagle and other IRS-approved bullion lines, but the specific premium on each line varies by dealer and by order day.

The procedural lever that decides the all-in cost on a $250,000 rollover is the bullion-spread quote in writing on the same order line, regardless of which of the three dealers is selected.

Of the three OPRS-tracked dealers, Augusta Precious Metals carries the multi-year fee waiver for qualifying rollover accounts and the salaried, non-commissioned educator structure, which is the lower-friction starting position for a six-figure transfer. The consultation surfaces the qualifying balance, the waiver duration, and the depository name in writing before any order commits the capital.

Affiliate disclosure: OPRS may receive compensation when readers open an account through partner links on this page. Our comparison ranking, accreditation summary, and verdict are based on publicly verified facts, BBB records, FINRA and SEC investor alerts, and IRS publications, not on the partner relationship.

Sources cited

1. IRS Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements
2. FINRA, Investing in Precious Metals (Investor Insight)
3. SEC, Investor Alerts on Retail Precious Metals Pricing
4. Investopedia, Best Gold IRA Companies (industry-reported minimums and fee ranges)
5. Augusta Precious Metals official website (most recent OPRS verification cycle)
6. Birch Gold Group official website (most recent OPRS verification cycle)
7. Noble Gold Investments official website (most recent OPRS verification cycle)
8. Better Business Bureau profiles for each dealer

More on OPRS

• Gold IRA dealers we currently warn rollover savers against
• Contractor 401(k) and TSP consolidation sequence
• Combat-zone tax-exempt basis on a TSP rollover to gold IRA
• TSP-75 age-based in-service withdrawal mechanics
• Military pension and RMD tax stacking