Updated: August 28, 2026

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You have a scheduling link for a one-on-one web conference with Augusta’s education team. You want the hour to be useful. That means walking in with the right questions rather than letting a shared-screen slide deck set the pace.

This page lists the twelve questions that surface the information a retiree actually needs before funding a gold IRA. Each one is followed by the reason it matters and the type of answer that should raise or ease your concern. Take this list to the call. Nothing here obligates you to anything.

Table of contents show

Question 1: What is the exact account minimum for me today?

Augusta’s minimum is not printed on the home page. Third-party outlets like Money and Investopedia consistently cite around fifty thousand dollars in eligible retirement funds. The right answer on the call is a specific dollar figure tied to your rollover-eligible balance, not a vague reference to policy.

If the answer is a range or a soft floor, ask what the actual cutoff is for opening the account. A dealer that will not commit to a number on a live call is one that may push you into a product that does not fit.

Question 2: Which qualified self-directed IRA custodian do you introduce me to?

The dealer is not the custodian. A separate IRS-approved custodian holds the account. Ask for the specific custodian’s legal name, so you can cross-check it against public records and the custodian’s own fee schedule.

Any dealer that refuses to name the custodian before you commit is asking you to sign into a black box. That is a fail.

Question 3: What is your dealer markup on standard IRS-approved bullion?

The dealer earns its spread on the difference between the metal’s spot price and the price you pay. On standard bullion products, industry-range markups sit between four and eight percent. Premium coins carry higher markups.

Ask for the number as a percentage over spot on the specific product you would buy. A clear percentage, delivered without deflection, is a good sign. A refusal to state a percentage is a red flag.

Question 4: What is the annual custodian and storage cost?

Storage and custodian administration are usually annual flat fees. The typical range in 2026 is one hundred to three hundred dollars per year for storage, and one hundred to three hundred twenty-five dollars per year for custodian administration.

Ask for both numbers by dollar amount. Ask whether either fee scales with account size. A flat structure is easier to model over a ten-year hold than a basis-point structure that grows with the balance.

Question 5: Segregated or commingled storage, and what does each cost?

Commingled storage pools your metals with those of other clients in a shared vault compartment. Segregated storage assigns you a specific compartment or set of bars identified by serial number. Segregated storage typically carries an upcharge.

Ask what the segregated upcharge is, and whether both options exist at the same depository. If only commingled storage is offered, know that going in.

Question 6: What are the exact terms of any current fee promotion?

Augusta publicly advertises a multi-year fee waiver for qualifying rollover accounts. The specifics are reviewed during the free consultation. Ask for the terms in writing before you accept a custodian introduction.

Get the answer as an email or a signed addendum. Terms discussed only on a call do not survive a personnel change. A dealer willing to put the terms in writing is treating the promotion as a real offer, not a lure.

Question 7: What happens if I decide not to move forward?

Augusta publicly frames its team as salaried and non-commissioned. That framing is worth testing. The answer to this question surfaces the truth about the compensation model.

A calm answer confirms the model: they take a note, close the file, and follow up occasionally. A pushback that asks you to schedule another call to reconsider suggests a quota model dressed up as consultation.

Question 8: How long does funding take, and what can slow it down?

Ask for the realistic calendar in your situation. A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer typically clears in seven to fourteen business days on the receiving side. Employer plan rollovers add administrator time. TSP transfers historically run six to eight weeks.

The dealer should identify the two or three most common slowdowns for your specific plan type. Vague answers here signal a call center that has never handled your plan family before.

Question 9: What is your buyback pricing structure?

Eventually you will sell, either to fund a required minimum distribution, to rebalance, or because your plan changed. A dealer that sells you metals but has no clear buyback commitment is only half a dealer.

Ask whether the dealer offers a buyback, at what discount to spot, and whether the offer is committed or subject to market conditions. Get the buyback policy in writing. This one question separates transparent operators from firms that will disappear the day you dial to sell.

Question 10: How are my specific metals identified inside the depository?

If storage is segregated, ask for the serial numbers or the specific compartment identifier attached to your account. If storage is commingled, ask how the depository records ownership shares by weight and purity.

Documentation is your only proof of ownership if a dispute ever arises. Do not accept a general statement that your metals are safely stored. Ask for the specific paperwork.

Question 11: Who reports what to the IRS, and when?

The custodian, not the dealer, files IRS Form 5498 to report the account’s fair market value annually. Contributions and rollovers appear on that form. Distributions later trigger IRS Form 1099-R from the custodian.

Ask the dealer to confirm which forms come from the custodian and which, if any, come from the dealer directly. Confusion here means confusion at tax time. Consult your tax advisor for how the forms flow into your return.

Question 12: How does the account handle required minimum distributions later?

Required minimum distributions start at age seventy-three for account holders born between 1951 and 1959, and at seventy-five for those born in 1960 or later, under SECURE 2.0. The IRA holder must take RMDs even from a self-directed precious metals IRA.

Two paths handle the RMD: sell metals inside the account for cash and distribute the cash, or take an in-kind distribution of physical metals and pay tax on the fair market value. Ask the dealer to explain both mechanics, so you know how the exit works before the entrance.

Red flags that mean the call was not worth the hour

Any of the following on a first call should end the conversation:

A specific gold price prediction for a specific future date.
Refusal to name the custodian or the depository before you commit.
Language about a deadline that expires today.
Any push toward numismatic or semi-numismatic coins framed as a better investment than standard bullion.
A promise to send bullion to your home for storage, which the IRS treats as a taxable distribution.
Refusal to state the dealer markup as a percentage.

Any dealer displaying two or more of the above is not a fit, regardless of brand.

How Augusta’s public posture stacks up on the twelve questions

Augusta’s public copy signals clean answers on questions two, six, seven, and eight. Custodian introduction is stated, the fee-waiver posture is public, the salaried non-commissioned framing is on the home page, and the education-first process defers signing until after your review.

Questions one, three, four, five, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve are answered on the call itself, not on the marketing site. That is normal across the industry. What matters is whether the answers come out clean when you ask.

Our full Augusta Precious Metals review walks through pricing structure and awards. For a broader lens, see the 2026 dealers OPRS clears and the ones we warn against. Our Augusta versus Birch versus Noble fee math models the full ten-year cost so you can bring numeric context to your call.

Twelve Questions to Ask Augusta on Your One-on-One Web Conference