Lear Capital vs Birch Gold Group: Head-to-Head Comparison

Equal recurring examples, unequal threshold and option conditions

Lear’s lower FAQ totals require electronic statements and non-segregated storage. Birch’s example names its custodian and depository but does not establish every possible selected arrangement. Request those choices on the same quote worksheet before treating $235 as a matched price.

A proposed purchase between the disclosed thresholds may obtain a Birch quote but not meet Lear’s stated IRA minimum. For a purchase meeting both, compare the same exact bullion item and same-day dealer bid. The $315 first-year examples include $50 setup/application, $30 wire and $235 recurring; promotional credits are excluded unless documented.

Lear December 17, 2025 fee disclosure · Lear account-option FAQ · Birch named fee example · Birch current minimum FAQ

What the selected custody and exit documents must resolve

Lear’s segregated example changes annual storage from $110 to $160 and recurring total from $235 to $285. Birch needs a written quote for any alternative storage choice rather than an invented fixed surcharge. Seek inventory/delivery terms as well as the dollar amount; allocated and segregated are not identical labels.

Use a three-party document check: the dealer’s invoice establishes the item, quantity and purchase price; the custodian’s agreement establishes account administration and reporting; the depository arrangement establishes inventory, storage and delivery. The SEC warns that self-directed IRA custody does not itself evaluate an investment’s quality or legitimacy. These checks cannot be replaced by a provider rating or the fact that an account administrator accepts the asset.

A useful follow-up is a quote for the same product under the actual storage option each buyer selects, rather than asking a salesperson to match the other provider’s headline total. Lear’s statement choice and Birch’s named custodian example may remain different. The comparison can still be useful if those differences are explicitly priced and described; it becomes misleading when one side silently changes products or storage to appear cheaper.

SEC self-directed IRA alert (reviewed October 12, 2026)

A same-product comparison you can reproduce

Ask Lear Capital and Birch Gold Group for the same eligible coin or bar, quantity, reference-price time and quote expiry. Request an executable same-day repurchase bid separately. Record each purchase price, bid, opening charges, yearly custody/storage and the single exit you intend to compare. Do not add every possible exit fee to one scenario, and do not subtract a sale deduction twice if it is already included in the bid.

For an illustration only, a $10,500 purchase quote and $9,800 same-day bid produce a $700 purchase-to-bid gap. Dividing $700 by the $10,500 purchase price gives 6.67%, rounded; it is not 7% of the purchase price. These invented quotes are not either company’s prices, a typical spread or a forecast. The gap tells you what the quoted transaction would cost immediately, not what gold will return over a holding period.

CFTC/FINRA precious-metals buyer guidance (reviewed October 12, 2026) · IRS IRA investment FAQs (reviewed October 12, 2026)

• For Lear Capital: Lower FAQ total is conditional on electronic statements and non-segregated storage.
• For Birch Gold Group: Other custodian/storage arrangements can differ.
• Put the named billing party and charge-change provision beside every account line.
• Obtain the exact product’s written IRA eligibility confirmation before ordering.