coin guide

What Is a Gold IRA?

A gold IRA is an ordinary individual retirement account, traditional or Roth, whose custodian lets it hold physical gold. The tax code admits American Gold Eagles by name and other gold only as bullion that meets the futures exchange minimum of 995 fineness, or 99.5%. The IRS says the metal must stay in the physical possession of a bank or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee, not in your home.

A Gold IRA Is a Label, Not an Account Type

The tax code has no account by this name. What you open is a traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA, and the IRS says the investment restrictions apply equally to all types of IRAs. Gold doesn't bring a contribution limit or a tax rate of its own.

What differs is the custodian. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines a self-directed IRA as an IRA held by a custodian that allows investment in a broader set of assets than most IRA custodians permit, and precious metals are among those assets. "Self-directed" describes that custodian's menu. The phrase isn't in the tax code either.

An investor bulletin from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and FINRA describes "gold IRA" as a label sellers use for self-directed IRAs. The IRA is lawful. Its name is marketing.

The Two Exceptions That Let Gold Into an IRA

Only IRA-eligible gold can go into an IRA, because the law starts from a ban. Section 408(m) of the tax code lists "any metal or gem" and "any stamp or coin" as collectibles. When an IRA buys a collectible, the purchase is treated as a distribution equal to what the IRA paid. Gold gets in through two exceptions written into Section 408(m)(3).

One exception is a coin the law names. Section 408(m) points to four gold coins by paragraph number, and those are the 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz American Gold Eagles. Purity isn't what qualifies them. The coinage law sets the 1 oz Eagle at 33.931 grams with one troy ounce of fine gold, and NGC lists the coin as 91.67% gold, short of the 99.5% that bullion has to meet.

The other exception is bullion that passes a fineness test, and the law prints no percentage. Section 408(m) admits gold "of a fineness equal to or exceeding the minimum fineness" that a regulated futures exchange requires for delivery, provided the bullion is in the IRA trustee's physical possession. The 995 figure belongs to the exchange, not to the IRS: COMEX rules require delivered gold to assay to a minimum of 995 fineness. Any coin the law doesn't name, and any of the gold bars an IRA might buy, has to clear that line.

The rule was built in three steps. Congress banned collectibles from IRAs in 1981, for property acquired after December 31, 1981, with no exception for any coin or bar. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 made an exception for American Gold and Silver Eagles. The U.S. Tax Court's McNulty v. Commissioner opinion notes that the change coincided with the Mint's launch of the American Eagle coin program. Bullion by fineness followed in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

How a Gold IRA Works From Purchase to Storage

Every purchase runs through the custodian. A qualifying trustee has to hold the IRA, and IRS Publication 590-A says the trustee or custodian must be a bank, a federally insured credit union, a savings and loan association or an entity approved by the IRS. Money then goes in as cash, either as a regular contribution or as a transfer or rollover from an existing IRA or a 401(k).

From there you direct and the custodian acts. You choose the eligible coins or bars and tell the custodian what to buy, and the custodian pays the seller from the IRA. A custodian can also refuse a product the law allows, because the IRS notes that IRA trustees are permitted to impose additional restrictions on investments.

Delivery goes to the trustee or custodian, never to you. An IRA-owned company doesn't change that: the IRS says the possession rule also applies to an indirect acquisition, such as having an IRA-owned LLC buy the bullion. Storage arrangements and their fees vary, so get yours confirmed in writing.

An early statement can look worse than the purchase was. The CFTC and FINRA bulletin says the custodian's statement shows the "melt" value of the metals, meaning total bullion weight times the spot price. Spot is the cash price for immediate delivery, quoted in dollars per troy ounce. A premium, the amount charged over spot, doesn't appear there, so an IRA can show less than you paid on day one with no metal missing.

To check a custodian that isn't a bank, use the IRS's list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians, which it maintains under Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e). Banks don't appear on that list, so a missing name isn't proof of a problem.

The IRA Rules That Apply to Gold

Contributions and Rollovers

Contributions have to be money, and the annual limit is shared. For 2026 the IRS caps total contributions to all of your traditional and Roth IRAs at $7,500, or $8,600 if you're age 50 or older. Opening a second IRA for gold adds no room. Rollover contributions don't count against that limit, so a transfer or rollover from an existing IRA or 401(k) is the route for any sum above one year's contribution.

Withdrawals and Required Distributions

Money comes out under the ordinary IRA rules, whatever the gold price did. IRS Publication 590-B says distributions from a traditional IRA are taxed as ordinary income, and a distribution before age 59 1/2 generally carries a 10% additional tax. A qualified distribution from a Roth IRA is tax free. Traditional IRA owners must begin required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73, while the original owner of a Roth IRA never has to take them.

Fees and Costs by Type

No standard fee schedule exists for gold IRAs, so learn the fee types and get each one in writing. The SEC says fees for self-directed IRAs may be significantly higher than those for other investment accounts. It names transaction fees, account opening fees, annual account fees, administrative fees and asset-specific fees. The CFTC and FINRA bulletin adds storage and insurance for the metal.

Gold carries two costs of its own, inside an IRA or outside one. The premium is paid once, at purchase. The spread is the gap between what a seller charges for metal and what it pays to take that metal back. The CFTC and FINRA bulletin says to ask how much you'd receive if you had to sell the metal back tomorrow, and to ask before you buy. Its check on any quote is one multiplication: weight times the current spot price, compared with the price you're being charged.

Who a Gold IRA Suits

Start with the size of the IRA. A flat custodian or storage fee weighs more on a small balance than on a large one. Ask which fees are flat and which scale with the value of the metal.

Age comes next. From 73, a traditional IRA owner has to take RMDs. Gold pays no cash, so each RMD means selling metal or taking metal out of the IRA. The SEC cautions that alternative assets in a self-directed IRA can be difficult to sell when you have to take required minimum distributions. A Roth IRA owner never faces that.

Gold also earns nothing while it sits. The CFTC points out that precious metals don't pay dividends or compound, and that buying, storage and insurance costs can mean a holding has to beat inflation by a wide margin just to break even. The CFTC adds that metals prices are just as volatile as those of other assets.

Last is comfort deciding alone. Once money is in a self-directed IRA, the CFTC and FINRA bulletin says, you no longer have fiduciaries or advisors there to help you guard against bad investments. No one can promise a result, either. The SEC calls claims such as "risk-free" and "guaranteed profit" hallmarks of fraud.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the downsides of a gold IRA?

Beyond the fees and the rule against holding the metal yourself, the tax treatment can cut either way. Outside an IRA, the IRS taxes net long-term gains on collectibles such as coins at a maximum 28% rate. Inside a traditional IRA, every withdrawal is ordinary income, and your rate on ordinary income may be higher or lower than 28%. A Roth IRA avoids the question when the distribution is qualified.

Can I put gold I already own into a gold IRA?

No. IRS Publication 590-A says contributions must be in the form of money and property can't be contributed, so coins or bars you already own can't be deposited. Selling them to your own IRA doesn't work either. The IRS lists selling property to an IRA among prohibited transactions. An IRA has to buy its metal with cash that's already inside it.

Can a gold IRA hold silver, platinum or palladium?

Yes. It's an IRA, not a gold-only product. IRS Publication 590-A says an IRA can also invest in 1 oz U.S. silver coins, certain platinum coins and certain silver, palladium and platinum bullion. The fineness test works the same way for each metal, with the exchange minimum set metal by metal, so IRA-eligible silver can sit in the same IRA as gold.

Buying IRA-Eligible Gold on Our Marketplace

We don't open IRAs, serve as a custodian or store IRA metal. What we supply is the gold itself. Many coins and bars in our catalog qualify once they meet the IRS requirements covered above, and if you haven't picked a custodian or a storage option yet, we can help you choose. Details are on our Precious Metals IRA page.

Buying and selling both happen on our marketplace, and each product page lists a price to sell beside the price to buy. You can read the spread on an IRA-eligible coin or bar before your custodian orders it. For questions, email support@bullionstandard.com or call (833) BST-GOLD (278-4653).