Our Story

I spent eight years covering financial products as a journalist. During that time, I watched the Gold IRA industry grow from a niche retirement option into a billion-dollar market — with marketing budgets to match. The problem was that most of the information available to consumers came from the companies selling the product.

My name is James Hartley. I hold a Series 65 license, and I started PrizeMining because I believed retirees deserved better than advertorials dressed up as research.

The Problem I Saw

Most Gold IRA content online is written by or for dealers. The "reviews" rank companies by commission size, not by the quality of their service, fee transparency, or regulatory record. The "education" skips the risks and jumps straight to "protect your retirement."

Pre-retirees making six-figure decisions were relying on marketing dressed as research. I saw people rolling over their entire 401(k) into physical gold based on a blog post that existed solely to generate leads for a single dealer. No mention of the real risks. No mention of fees. No mention that a Gold IRA might not be appropriate for their situation at all.

That bothered me. Not because Gold IRAs are inherently bad — they can serve a role in a diversified retirement portfolio — but because people were making major financial decisions without the full picture.

What I Decided to Do

I decided to start a resource that does what journalists do: verify claims, cite sources, and ask uncomfortable questions. PrizeMining exists because I believed someone should cover this industry the way it deserves — with skepticism, transparency, and respect for the reader.

The goal was simple. Build a site where every claim is traceable, every rating is explainable, and the reader always comes before the advertiser. Not a marketing funnel. Not a lead generation site. An actual research resource.

How We Work

Every article starts with primary sources: IRS publications, SEC filings, court cases, BBB records. We do not repeat what a company's marketing page says and call it a review.

We built a 100-point scoring methodology and published it so anyone can see exactly how we evaluate providers. The criteria, the weights, the scoring rules — all of it is public and auditable.

I brought on Sarah Chen, a CFP with 12 years of financial planning experience, to review everything for accuracy. Her job is to catch what I might miss: misleading implications, missing caveats, oversimplifications that could cost someone money. You can read more about our team on the Authors and Reviewers pages.

We start every topic with "Is this right for you?" — not "Here's why you should buy." That distinction matters more than anything else we do.

What Drives Us

The best outcome is not always a Gold IRA. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is help someone realize that a Gold IRA is not the right choice for their situation. That conclusion is just as valuable as a well-researched recommendation.

Our goal is informed decisions, not transactions. If you read our Gold IRA content and decide that physical gold in a retirement account is not for you, we consider that a success. You made a decision based on evidence, not on a sales pitch.

That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the reason we publish content about risks and downsides with the same rigor we apply to benefits and opportunities.

A Note on Independence

PrizeMining's editorial team operates independently. No provider has editorial input. No advertiser approves or reviews our content before publication.

Our methodology is public and auditable. Our editorial policy explains how we research, fact-check, and update our content. We believe transparency is the foundation of trust in a YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) space — and we treat that responsibility seriously.

If you have questions about how we work, or if you believe any of our content does not meet the standards described here, I want to hear from you. Reach out at editorial@prizemining.com.