Gold IRA noob here - feeling a bit overwhelmed, need some guidance from you pros!

• •Okay, so I've been lurking for a while, soaking in all the incredible knowledge here.
• •My financial advisor in Salt Lake finally convinced me to pull the trigger on a gold IRA, especially with all the market volatility lately.
• •I've got around $350k in my portfolio right now, and we're looking to allocate about 10-15% into precious metals.

Okay, so I've been lurking for a while, soaking in all the incredible knowledge here. My financial advisor in Salt Lake finally convinced me to pull the trigger on a gold IRA, especially with all the market volatility lately. I've got around $350k in my portfolio right now, and we're looking to allocate about 10-15% into precious metals. It's my first significant dive into this, beyond a few numismatic coins I picked up years ago, and honestly, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all the choices and logistics.

My advisor has given me a few names for custodians and dealers, and I've done some initial research, but I'm still trying to figure out the best approach. What were your biggest surprises when you first set up your gold IRA? Any common pitfalls I should absolutely avoid? I'm particularly interested in hearing about people's experiences with specific custodians or dealers – good or bad. I'm leaning towards physical gold, but also open to some silver as a diversification play.

I've been playing around with some of the tools out there, like the "Silver vs Stocks" comparison at https://silvervsstocks.goldirablueprint.com/?period=10Y, and it's definitely making me rethink how much silver I might want to include. It's fascinating to see the performance differences over various periods. Anyway, any firsthand advice, things you wish you knew then that you know now, or even just general encouragement would be huge. Thanks in advance, you guys are an amazing resource!