coin guide

Gold IRA vs Physical Gold

A gold IRA holds gold inside a retirement account: nothing is taxed while the IRA holds the metal, a custodian has to keep it, and withdrawals follow IRA rules. Gold you buy outright is yours to store anywhere and sell any day, with a long-term gain taxed as a collectible at a maximum 28% rate. The choice turns on which money you're spending and whether you want possession.

Two Sets of Rules for the Same Metal

Both routes end in physical gold. A gold IRA isn't a separate kind of account. It's a traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA at a custodian that will hold IRA-eligible gold, and the IRS says the investment restrictions apply equally to all types of IRAs. You don't have to pick one route, either. IRA rules reach only the gold the IRA buys, so the same person can hold American Gold Eagles in an IRA and keep Krugerrands at home.

Taxes: A 28% Ceiling Outside an IRA, Ordinary Income or Nothing Inside

An IRA doesn't lower the tax on gold so much as swap it for another. You buy gold outright with money that's already been taxed, and you owe tax only on the gain when you sell. IRS Topic 409 caps the rate on a net gain from collectibles, coins included, at 28% when you've held the gold more than one year. Sell sooner and the gain counts as short-term, taxed as ordinary income.

A traditional IRA runs the other way. IRS Publication 590-A says amounts in an IRA, including earnings and gains, generally aren't taxed until distributed, and the contribution may be deductible. At withdrawal, Publication 590-B taxes distributions as ordinary income, original money and gain alike. A Roth IRA gives no deduction going in and charges no tax on a qualified distribution, which IRS Publication 590-B defines by a 5-year period plus a condition such as reaching age 59 1/2.

So the better result depends on your bracket. The 28% figure is a ceiling on the gain alone, and a traditional IRA has none. If your ordinary rate at withdrawal is above that ceiling, the IRA taxes the gold's gain more heavily than a sale outside it would have, in exchange for the possible deduction going in and the untaxed years between.

Losses differ too. The IRS tells owners not to take IRA losses or gains into account on a tax return while the IRA is still open, so gold sold at a loss inside an IRA earns no deduction. Our post on the tax implications of buying and selling bullion covers the taxable side.

Access: Sell Any Day Outside an IRA, Age Rules Inside

You can sell gold you own outright the day you decide, at any age. An IRA isn't locked either: the IRS says you can take distributions from your IRA at any time. A traditional IRA distribution is ordinary income, and before age 59 1/2 IRS Publication 590-B says a 10% additional tax generally applies, whether the IRA pays out money or metal.

At 73 the choice ends for a traditional IRA. Required minimum distributions must begin by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 73. Gold pays no cash, so you meet the amount by selling metal or taking metal out, unless another IRA covers it. IRS Publication 590-B lets the owner of more than one traditional IRA total the minimums and take them from any one or more of those IRAs. The original owner of a Roth IRA never has to take distributions.

Storage: A Trustee Holds IRA Gold, You Hold Your Own

IRA gold can't come home with you. Asked about home storage, the IRS answers that bullion qualifies only if it's "in the physical possession of a bank or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee." That's also why IRA gold and your own gold can't share a safe. In McNulty v. Commissioner, decided in 2021, the U.S. Tax Court held that an owner whose IRA-owned LLC bought American Eagle coins, which she kept herself, had received taxable distributions equal to the coins' cost.

Gold you own carries no storage rule. A home safe, a bank safe deposit box and a third-party depository are all open to you, and our post on how to store precious metals properly goes through them.

Fees: IRA Charges on Top of Costs Both Routes Share

Either way, you pay the costs carried by the metal. A premium is the amount charged over the spot price, which the CFTC notes is quoted in troy ounces, or about 31.1 grams. The spread, as the CFTC and FINRA define it, is the difference between a seller's buy and sell price, and their bulletin says to ask, before you buy, how much you'd receive if you had to sell the metal tomorrow.

An IRA adds a layer. The SEC says fees for self-directed IRAs may be significantly higher than those for other types of investment accounts and names transaction, account opening, annual account, administrative and asset-specific fees. The CFTC and FINRA add storage and insurance. Schedules differ by custodian, so we don't quote dollar figures. Get every fee in writing. Outside an IRA, storage and insurance cost whatever your own arrangement costs.

The CFTC and FINRA bulletin also says an IRA statement shows the "melt" value of the metals, the total bullion weight times the spot price. The premium isn't in that number, so the IRA reads below what it paid on the day of purchase.

What Each Route Lets You Buy and How Much Money Can Go In

An IRA can buy only what the tax rules allow. Publication 590-A lists 1, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/10 ounce U.S. gold coins and certain gold bullion. The Krugerrand is the classic near miss. Rand Refinery describes it as 22 karat gold, under the fineness section 408 of the tax code requires of bullion, and it isn't one of the U.S. coins the code names, so an IRA can't hold it. The American Gold Eagle falls short of that fineness too, and it qualifies only because the code names it. Outside an IRA there's no eligibility test. You can buy any gold coins, Krugerrands and collectible pieces included, and gold bars of any size.

An IRA also limits the money. For 2026, total contributions to all of your traditional and Roth IRAs can't be more than $7,500, or $8,600 if you're age 50 or older, or your taxable compensation if that's less. A gold IRA shares that limit with every other IRA you have, though rollover contributions don't count against it. Gold bought outside an IRA has no limit.

Gold Can Leave an IRA, but Gold You Own Can't Go In

Coins and bars you already own can't go into an IRA, for two separate reasons. IRS Publication 590-A says contributions must be in the form of money and property can't be contributed. Selling them to the IRA fails too, because the IRS lists selling property to an IRA among prohibited transactions.

The other direction works. An IRA can pay out the gold itself instead of cash, a distribution in kind. The custodian reports the metal's fair market value on the date of distribution in box 1 of Form 1099-R, and from a traditional IRA that value is ordinary income. Under IRS Publication 590-B, no 10% additional tax applies after 59 1/2 and nothing has to come out until 73, so those years are the window for taking metal on your own schedule.

What Each Route Reports to the IRS

Every year, even if the IRA bought or sold nothing, the custodian files Form 5498 with the IRA's fair market value on December 31, plus Form 1099-R for any distribution.

Gold you own has no annual filing, only reports on particular transactions. A business that receives more than $10,000 in cash must file Form 8300. On a sale, a broker files Form 1099-B only when the metal is in a form approved for regulated futures trading and the quantity meets the contract minimum. The IRS gives the example of a single gold coin, which isn't reportable where contracts call for at least 25 coins. Neither form changes what you owe: a gain is taxable whether or not anyone reports the sale.

How to Choose Between a Gold IRA and Physical Gold

Four questions settle most of it.

• Which money are you using? Money already in an IRA, or rolled over from a 401(k), can generally buy gold without a tax bill only inside an IRA. Ordinary savings can go either way.
• Do you want the gold in your hands? Only gold you own outright can stay at home. IRA gold stays with the trustee.
• What will your tax rate be at withdrawal? Set it against the 28% ceiling on collectibles, and count any deduction going in.
• When might you need the money? A traditional IRA generally adds a 10% tax before 59 1/2 and requires withdrawals from 73.

An IRA alters the tax and the custody, not the metal. The CFTC's page on precious metal frauds warns that metals prices are as volatile as those of other assets and that metals pay no dividends.

We're not a registered investment advisor and can't give individual investment or tax advice, so speak with a tax professional or financial advisor.

Gold for an IRA or Your Own Safe on Our Marketplace

Either route can start in our catalog. For a precious metals IRA, we can help you pick a custodian and a storage option, and many of our products qualify when they meet IRS requirements. We support both buying and selling on the same platform, so an American Gold Eagle or a gold bar shows its price to sell beside its price to buy, and you know the spread before choosing a route.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the downside of a gold IRA?

Set against gold you own yourself, a gold IRA adds custodian, storage and insurance fees, keeps the metal out of your hands and taxes traditional IRA withdrawals as ordinary income. One downside doesn't show in a side-by-side table: the SEC says self-directed IRA custodians don't evaluate the quality or legitimacy of any investment in the IRA, so checking the price you pay falls to you.

Can I convert my IRA to physical gold?

Yes, in two senses. To hold gold inside the IRA, move it to a custodian that accepts metal. IRS Publication 590-A says a trustee-to-trustee transfer between IRAs isn't a rollover and is tax free. To hold the gold yourself, the IRA has to distribute it, and a distribution of metal follows the same tax rules as one of cash.

Is it better to have physical gold or a gold ETF?

Neither is better for everyone. Coins and bars are metal you can hold. With a fund, you own shares. The CFTC and FINRA note that exchange-traded products offer exposure to metal prices and that you might be able to add them to an existing IRA, though they carry their own fees.