Delaware Depository Review: Best Gold IRA Storage?

Understandably so, bullion owners can get a bit overwhelmed when it comes to storage options. Those who collect precious metals coins may choose to self-store precious metals in a vault or other secure home safe. When it comes to precious metals bullion custody in a self-directed retirement account, you're essentially forced to go with a third-party gold IRA depository.

Depending on the gold IRA company you're working with, they may let you choose between a few different competitively priced IRS-approved depositories.

In our Delaware Depository Review, we'll try and go over why this facility has emerged as one of, if not the main choices for bullion within IRAs.

About the facility

As the Delaware Depository website is quick to point out, they view having facilities away from cities like New York or Washington as a good thing, as it protects them from the threats these financial hubs can come under. The company also notes that Delaware rarely experiences natural disasters.

They've been in business for over 20 years and have maintained an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.  With a main depository located in Delaware, the company has expanded with an additional Nevada facility called Silver State.

Despite what the name might have you believe, the second facility stores all four precious metals and, by all accounts, isn't lagging behind the main one in the slightest.

If you've read anything about gold IRAs, you might have gotten the idea that the Delaware Depository maintains a purpose-built facility to store IRA assets. In reality, they're a major vault that works with practically every financial firm in need of bullion.

These can range from investment banks to brokerage firms to retailers of all sizes. Besides, if it's good for the New York Stock Exchange, it can't be too shabby, right?

The Gold IRA Storage Process

One thing that concerns many bullion customers, whether those with a gold IRA or otherwise, is segregated storage. In the simplest of terms, segregated storage gives you a safe-deposit box of your own within the vault. The exact items in your belonging will be stored separately from other assets. Non-segregated storage mixes similar kinds of bullion, so the assets you retrieve might not be the exact ones you've placed in.

Read more about segregated vault storage here.

When it comes to IRA accounts, Delaware Depository mostly circumvents this issue by allocating the bullion to the owner of the account. Delaware Depository partners with gold IRA companies and IRA custodians to greatly lower storage fees that the owner of the bullion incurs.

Highest Level of Security

The Depository's description of how they transport and store the metals definitely has a bit of a Big Brother feel to it. But, if you're a customer, that's a good thing. They record all precious metals deliveries, keep a watchful eye on all Delaware Depository employees and inspect the package before it even enters the vault.

Once there, another team of specialists takes on the load with the duty of inspecting and cataloguing your bullion. They even go a step further by utilizing multiple teams just for this process to minimize the chance of malpractice, intended or otherwise. When finished, this process only places the physical precious metals in a temporary vault.

The bullion is then checked on both the paperwork and quality side the next day by yet another team. The kinds of machinery the Delaware Depository uses to authenticate bullion is as high-tech as it gets. Precision scales, X-rays, ultrasounds and many more.

Yet this isn't really such an important part to the gold IRA owner, as most reputable gold IRA companies will all but guarantee that the bullion they're selling is as-advertised. Of course, errors can happen, so no reason not to go the extra mile.

Related: Best Gold IRA Companies in the US (Ranked and Rated)

Security of Vaults in the Delaware Depository

The aforementioned process applies to all bullion arriving to the Delaware Depository's vaults. Whether you're an everyday IRA owner or a large exchange, your assets are getting the same treatment. And once the bullion reaches the inside of the vault, the company's reputation comes through all the more.

For starters, it's important to note that the Delaware Depository performs frequent random internal audits. That means the bullion is often double-checked, in a sense, to ensure nothing has gone awry. In the meantime, it's protected by the kind of physical and electronic security investors can depend on.

Personnel monitors and guards the vaults 24/7, year-round. It's not just bullion being monitored, but the personnel's activity as well, hence our Big Brother comment above. The vaults themselves comply with the Bank Protection Act and UL standards. Access to the vault generally involves multiple steps, as they are protected by time locks, automated re-locking, alarms, metal detectors and plenty more.

While everyone likes to envision armed personnel and large metal gates guarding their bullion, true storage safety often comes from details that can be overlooked. And this is where the Delaware Depository stands out among most other facilities of this type.

Related: How to Buy Physical Gold and Silver (Tax-Free) with Your 401(k) or IRA

How Safe is Delaware Depository Storage?

The bullion held in the Delaware Depository isn't part of the company's balance sheet, which should be a primary concern when picking a vault. Right up there among concerns is insurance, and the company likewise excels in this regard. It points out that its $1 billion Lloyd's of London policy gives it insurance that is independent of the U.S. government and any calamity that might strike it.

The insurance policy itself is "all-risk", as the Depository calls it. There is close to no scenario you can come up with where the bullion in the facility gets damaged or misplaced and you aren't fully compensated.

This includes unexplained disappearances, outside and inside theft, natural and mechanical disasters and so on. Interestingly enough, the insurance policy does exclude a few things like cyber attacks and acts of war.

How much this concerns you is something you'll have to decide for yourself. And while this isn't a standard method of transporting bullion, physical precious metals that arrive to Delaware by express carrier or mail have a $100,000 insurance policy on every package.

Visit Delaware Depository's website for more information.

What Gold IRA Companies Recommend Delaware Depository?

If you've already begun setting up your gold IRA account with a reputable precious metals IRA dealer, there's a good chance your firm has suggested storage with Delaware Depository as a viable option. 

Some of the largest gold IRA companies work closely with Delaware Depository. This includes companies like:

• American Bullion
• American Hartford Gold
• Augusta Precious Metals
• Birch Gold Group
• Goldco 
• Noble Gold

Verdict: Best Storage Option?

While some will indeed lament the lack of additional facilities, the deeper one looks into the Delaware depository, the more we see how it has been purpose-built for convenient storage of precious metals. As a state, Delaware has done away with sales tax on the purchase, administration or storage of precious metals.

This means you'll have a much easier time moving the metals in your IRA around than you might expect. So long as you've consulted with your custodian, you won't incur penalties or fees. There is a a high degree of focus on individual investors, despite the Depository acting as a licensed vault for both the CME Group and ICE Futures US.

To top it off, the facility has its own customer line where you can talk to a representative and ask anything you'd like. For such a large and reputable facility that handles a truly immense amount of bullion, that's pretty admirable.

The Depository accepts and manages shipments from around the world, and once they're allocated to you, it's the next best thing to you yourself being the vault manager.