With an AAA Business Consumer Alliance rating and roster of more than 90,000 customers, Los Angeles-based Lear Capital has facilitated dozens of bullion and rare coin purchases — and helped investors add gold and silver assets to self-directed IRA accounts — since Chairman Kevin DeMeritt founded the precious metals firm in 1997.
“If you had a 401(k) or an IRA, and you’d like to take a portion of that and move it over to a self-directed gold-backed IRA, you can do that,” Kevin DeMeritt says.
In addition to precious metal diversification services, the company offers a number of beneficial resources to help educate people about investing in precious metals — which range from real-time precious metals pricing updates to customized asset estimates and the latest industry news.
The materials have been created to inform current and potential investors about physical precious metal investing that they may not be familiar with — such as the following three aspects that some Lear Capital customers didn’t expect.
- Physical Precious Metal Assets Can Be a Visually Stunning Portfolio Addition
The growing value of the precious metal content in platinum, gold, and silver coins has helped stabilize or increase their price in recent decades during economically challenging periods. Only a limited amount of some coins was produced, which can give those items additional appeal.
Coins can be purchased from authorized precious metals dealers like Lear Capital. In a consumeraffairs.com review, Miah, an investor from Delaware, Ohio, noted the impressive “quality and availability” of Lear Capital’s rare coin selection. “I am happy with my investment,” Miah said.
Coins with a limited mintage that have been made with a coveted precious metal, such as silver — for which the demand has increased globally in the past five years — can potentially provide robust returns, according to Kevin DeMeritt.
“You get the price of silver moving up [and] you can get the premium on that coin moving up because there’s just not enough of the coins out there,” DeMeritt says. “If you go to the U.S. Mint as a dealer and purchase a silver 1-ounce American Eagle, usually you would pay $2.50 over the spot price for that coin. During the [COVID] pandemic, they couldn’t run the mint as much as they wanted to. That $2.50 premium over the spot price of silver skyrocketed to $14 and $15.”
Dan Damron, who purchased coins from Lear Capital in mid-2023, was impressed by their appearance upon arrival.
“The coins showed up in a heavy package,” Damron said. “[They were] beautiful — so much more than expected.”
“The coins are so shiny and elegant and larger than I expected,” Kenneth, from Aline, Texas, told consumeraffairs.com.
Some investors may feel more comfortable investing via a tangible asset like coins, which offer some protection against certain external risk factors that investments like stocks can be subject to. The value of rare coins, according to Kevin DeMeritt, doesn’t rely on a CEO’s business decisions, for instance, or the organization’s overall performance like other asset classes.
A Lear Capital representative helped familiarize Larry, in Missoula, Montana, with what to expect during his first gold and silver purchase over the course of several months. Larry said they discussed market fluctuations’ possible effect on the investment, as well as aspects like the involved storage needs.
“My experience with the ordering and receiving process of our shipments of gold and silver was extraordinary!” Larry said. “My only surprise was the weight and bulk of the shipment.”
- Setting Up a Precious Metals IRA May Not Take Too Long
Establishing a new individual retirement account or rolling over existing retirement funds — such as Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs, or 401(k)s — to a self-directed IRA that can hold physical metals can be a fairly quick process.
The initial application portion takes about 10 minutes, according to Lear Capital. A new IRA account will then be set up within 24 hours. Depending on your current IRA’s custodian, the tax-free rollover of funds, typically through a transfer via bank wire, may take up to five business days.
“It’s a pretty easy process,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “Simply give us a phone call [and] talk with one of the representatives. You can purchase, sell, or liquidate those precious metals at any time.”
In some cases, precious metal purchases and IRA inceptions take even less time than investors anticipated.
“This is my first time investing in any precious metal,” Birmingham, Alabama-based investor Kevin said in a consumeraffairs.com review. “Things were explained clearly to me. The transaction occurred precisely as expected. I even received my investment a day earlier than anticipated.”
Kyle, a coin collector from Tucson, Arizona, was also impressed by Lear Capital’s delivery time.
“When I saw that Lear had an exclusive deal with the Royal Canadian Mint for a Killer Whale coin, I knew I had to have it,” the investor said in a review. “I called and their account representative was helpful and walked me through the process. The coin arrived very soon, and the quality met the expectations we’ve come to know from the RCM.”
Casey, an investor from North Las Vegas, Nevada, also described the investment process as swift.
“Signing up and transferring my 401(k) was easier than I expected and was greatly facilitated by [Lear Capital’s] employees,” Casey said. “When I had questions, the workers were quick to answer.”
- Investors Can Access Valuable Know-How About the Investment Process
Much like a traditional IRA or other investment item, physical precious metal asset-based investing involves a number of steps, which can be easier to navigate with help from a trained professional like the dedicated account representatives with whom Lear Capital pairs investors.
Numerous clients have expressed praise for the assistance they received throughout the investment process.
Sheryl from Belton, Texas, said in a review posted on consumeraffairs.com that she was “pleasantly surprised” by the assistance and information the Lear Capital representative she talked to provided.
Other investors agreed — including one who recently posted a review on Trustpilot, a consumer review platform where Lear Capital has received a five-star Excellent-level assessment.
“With all the questions I had, he sent me all the documentation to back it up,” Wilhelm said. “With that information in hand, I was able to make a sound and solid decision on my investment.”
Some customers described receiving support from a number of representatives.
“Any person we spoke with at Lear Capital [was] both helpful and professional,” Valicia Law said in a review written in June. “We enjoyed our experience with this company.”
