Anyone else deal with Equity Trust for their Silver IRA?

• •Okay, so I'm a few years into my Silver IRA with Equity Trust, and honestly, I'm starting to feel a little antsy about their fees.
• •You can't eat a stock certificate, but you can always melt down silver if things really go sideways, right?
• •My concern is the annual admin fee.

Okay, so I'm a few years into my Silver IRA with Equity Trust, and honestly, I'm starting to feel a little antsy about their fees. When I first started this whole thing in 2021, my husband and I decided to put about $60,000 into physical silver because, as a farmer's wife here in Cass County, I just get tangible assets. You can't eat a stock certificate, but you can always melt down silver if things really go sideways, right?

My concern is the annual admin fee. It feels like it keeps inching up. I think it was around $175 when I first signed up, and now it's pushing $225-$250, plus the storage fees on top of that. For a portfolio that's currently sitting around $70k (with the way silver's been doing lately, thank goodness!), that just seems a little steep. It makes me wonder if I made the right choice going with them, or if there's a better option out there.

I'm looking for custodians that folks here have had a good experience with for their precious metals IRAs, specifically for silver. Has anyone switched from a custodian like Equity Trust and found something more competitive with fees, but still reliable and good with customer service? I really value being able to speak to a real person when I call, not just get stuck in an automated loop.

Are there any custodians that stand out for lower fees, especially for accounts in my size range? Or is this just the going rate for storing physical silver in an IRA, and I just need to suck it up? Any advice or personal experiences would be super helpful. We're thinking about adding more to our account next year, and I want to make sure I'm not throwing money away on unnecessary fees.