The last several years of market volatility have given investors a healthy awareness of the level of risk in the marketplace. After seeing investment portfolios devastated, investors are working harder than ever to protect their assets. This search for safety and stability has led many investors to gold and precious metals. Lear Capital, a heavily advertised gold dealer, is billed as a market leader in gold investments. However, a survey of Lear Capital reviews calls into question the accuracy of this image.

Lear Capital Overview

Lear has been in the precious metals business since 1997. They provide several basic services. They sell gold and silver coins; they help investors set up and will act as custodians of precious metals IRAs; and they arrange safe storage of the coins. Additionally, they act as an information source for customers by providing a number of reports about gold and precious metals .

They offer their customers a buyback program. They promise to purchase coins back allowing an investor to withdraw cash from an IRA at the same place the investment was made. They also offer a Price Advantage Guarantee. The company supports the Industry Council for Tangible Assets issues on taxation and follows IRS (Internal Revenue Service) regulations as they relate to tangible assets.

Lear specializes in gold and silver coins. The gold coins they highlight are the Gold Polar Bear, Proof American Eagles, American Eagles, the Gold Canadian Maple Leaf and the Austrian Philharmonic. The silver coins highlighted include the Silver Arctic Fox, Proof American Eagles, American Eagles, the Silver Canadian Maple Leaf and the Silver Polar Bear.

Lear offers its customers several Investor Resources. The online investor Resources section offers Market Insights, a Coin Search function, a Historical Chart Center and a Portfolio Comparison Tool. They also offer an Email Price Notification application that sends private alerts based upon custom price points.

Investors can choose to purchase gold or silver from Lear directly through the companys website. They offer free shipping for online orders over $10,000. When investors chose to sell metals directly to the company, the website lists real time prices for each type of metal that the company purchases. Investors can also view historical and custom charts on the website.

IRA Rollover Overview

Lear focuses on IRA Rollovers. IRA rollovers and 401(k) rollovers are typically used when an investor has retired or changed jobs. IRA rollovers can also when investor wishes to make changes in his or her IRA account. Rollover IRAs have the benefit of keeping the tax-deferred status of the original IRA. An IRA is a retirement savings plan set by an individual investor, while a 401k plan is, instead, a savings plan for retirement that is sponsored by the investors employer. Each of these are subject to the same rules regarding rollovers.

Direct and Indirect IRA Rollovers

When the custodian transfers assets directly to the new plan, a direct rollover occurs. By using a direct rollover, an investor can avoid the IRS 20% withholding requirement of transferred assets.

When the investor takes possession of the plan assets, an indirect rollover occurs. An investor must then place the assets into a new eligible plan before 60 days have passed. If an indirect rollover occurs, the IRS can withhold 20% of the transferred assets. The assets may be released upon the filing of an annual tax return.

Lear Complaints

The Better Business Bureau has recorded 23 complaints since March 10, 2013. According to Better Business Bureau records, Lear has amassed more complaints in the past 12 months than 95% of other gold and silver dealers received in the past 36 months. Nearly one-half (10) of the complaints involved problems with the product or service.

Consumer complaints at Trustlink about Lear also focus on the product or service. Many consumers received the incorrect number or type of coins. Lear has a Trustlink rating of 4 stars out of 5, based upon 195 reviews. While this is arguably a very good rating, it should be noted that other similar companies have a Trustlink rating of 5 stars out 5, based upon a larger number of reviews.

The Business Consumer Alliance (BCA) changed its name in 2013 from the Better Business Bureau of the Southland. Like the Better Business Bureau, the Business Consumer Alliance handles complaints and rates businesses. Lear has a very high rating of AAA from the BCA. The number of complaints over the last 36 months for Lear is 42. This number is relatively high when compared to other similar businesses rated by the BCA.

Slow shipping times may account for the majority of complaints filed with BCA. Often clients place an order and make payment only to find that their coins are shipped an inordinate amount of time later. Even those investors seeking a 401k to gold IRA rollover or a precious metals IRA do not want to experience long shipping delays.

The positive reviewers pointed out that Lear provided excellent service and attention when setting up their IRAs. The website was also cited as a great resource. The website was noted for how easy it is to use and the clear instructions it provided. Reviewers praised the website for making it simple to get started with Lear. These investors highly recommended Lear Capital to anyone that wanted to start a precious metals IRA.

While the records from the three agencies named above show that Lear has attempted to resolve the majority of the complaints, the relatively high number of complaints is worth noting. Filing a complaint takes some effort, so it is unlikely that these records reflect minor dissatisfaction or spurious claims. Even though the majority of Lear customers are satisfied, the number of complaints filed may be indicative of a disturbing level of disappointed customers.

This examination of Lear Capital reviews has indicated that even though the company has many satisfied customers, they have also disappointed a relatively high number of customers. Choosing a custodian for handling IRAs backed by gold or other precious metals is a serious undertaking. The number of dissatisfied customers associated with Lear is an indication that investors might look elsewhere for a more qualified custodian.

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