Gold IRAs
Gold IRA Fees, Line by Line
A gold IRA costs more to run than a typical IRA, and a few of those costs are easy to miss. We'll take each fee in turn, add them up on a $100,000 account, and finish with the questions you should get answered in writing.
Where the money goes
- There are two kinds of cost: yearly account fees, and the price spread when you buy and sell metal.
- Custodian and storage fees together usually come to a few hundred dollars a year, and no two companies charge quite the same.
- The dealer's markup over the market price is frequently the biggest single cost, and it's the one least likely to appear on a fee schedule.
- When you sell, you'll usually get less than the market price, so gold has to rise just for you to break even.
- Get every fee and spread in writing before you sign anything.
Why are gold IRA fees different?
At a brokerage, a regular IRA can cost next to nothing in account fees. You pay the yearly expense ratio on your funds and that's about it.
Gold is physical. Someone has to sell it to you, someone has to store it and insure it, and someone has to keep the account records and report to the IRS, and every one of those businesses charges for the work. (Our guide on how a gold IRA works introduces the players.)
The dollar figures below are ranges, and they change by company, by account size, and over time. Use them to shape your questions, then get the real numbers from the companies themselves.
The fees, one by one
1. Account setup fee
Plenty of custodians charge a one-time fee to open a self-directed IRA, somewhere around $50 to $150, though a few charge more. Some waive it.
2. Annual custodian or administration fee
This pays the custodian to hold the account, keep records, send statements, and handle IRS reporting. Expect roughly $75 to $300 a year.
There are two ways it's billed. A flat fee stays put, while a sliding scale tied to your account value climbs as your balance grows. Ask which one you're getting.
Bigger accounts don't always pay less. A flat fee shrinks as a share of a larger balance, but a percentage-based fee grows right along with it. Some companies waive fees above a certain account size, so ask.
3. Storage and insurance fee
The depository charges you to store and insure your metal. A year of that runs about $100 to $300, depending on the depository and how much your metal is worth, and on the type of storage, which comes next.
- Commingled storage keeps your metal alongside other customers' metal of the same type. It's usually the cheaper option.
- Segregated storage keeps your exact coins and bars separate and labeled, and you'll usually pay more for it.
Watch how storage is priced: a flat amount stays the same, while a percentage of your metal's value goes up whenever gold does.
4. The dealer spread or markup
This is the one people don't see.
Gold has a market price, called the spot price, and dealers sell above it. The difference is their markup, which you'll also hear called the premium or spread. On common bullion coins and bars it tends to be a few percent over spot. Proof coins and so-called "premium" or collectible coins can carry far more. Since the markup is baked into the price of the metal, it usually won't show up on a fee schedule, and you'll only learn it by asking. Our guide to coins vs. bullion explains why markups swing so widely.
5. The selling or buyback spread
When you sell metal out of your IRA, the buyer usually pays you less than spot. That gap is the buyback spread. It's often small on common bullion and can be large on premium coins, where the distance between what you paid and what you'll get back really hurts.
Lots of dealers offer to buy back what they sold you, so ask exactly how they calculate that price.
6. Wire, transaction, and other fees
Small charges add up:
- Wire fees for moving money in or out, frequently about $25 to $50 per wire
- Transaction fees the custodian charges each time you buy or sell
- Shipping and handling if you take metal out of the IRA and have it sent to you
- Account closing or transfer-out fees if you move to a different custodian or close the account
All the costs on one page
| Cost | How often | Rough range (differs by company) |
|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | Once | About $50 to $150, and some custodians waive it |
| Custodian or admin fee | Yearly | About $75 to $300, flat or tied to account value |
| Storage and insurance | Yearly | About $100 to $300, depending on storage type and metal value |
| Dealer markup on purchase | Each purchase | A few percent for common bullion; often far more for premium coins |
| Buyback spread on sale | Each sale | Often small for bullion; can be large for premium coins |
| Wire and transaction fees | As used | $25 to $50 per wire is common; transaction fees vary |
A worked example: a $100,000 gold IRA
Say you're rolling over $100,000 into a gold IRA. The figures below are made up to show the math, and your own costs will depend on the companies and products you pick.
Assume:
- Setup fee: $100
- Annual custodian fee: $150
- Annual storage fee: $200
- One incoming wire: $30
- Dealer markup: 5% over spot
- Buyback price when you sell: 2% under spot
Year one
You roll over $100,000 and buy metal. At a 5% markup, you've paid $100,000 for metal worth about $95,240 at spot, which means roughly $4,760 went to the markup on day one.
Now the account fees. Setup, the first year's custodian and storage fees, and the wire: $100 + $150 + $200 + $30 = $480.
First-year total: about $5,240. That's a little over 5% of your money, gone.
Over five years
Years two through five cost $350 a year in custodian and storage fees, or $1,400 more, which brings your total to about $6,640 before you've sold a single coin.
When you sell
Selling at 2% under spot costs you another 2% of the metal's value at that point. On metal worth $100,000 at spot, that's about $2,000.
So where's break-even?
Gold would have to climb roughly 7% from your purchase date just for a sale to hand back your original $100,000, and that's before five years of account fees. Count those and it's closer to 9%. Flat or falling prices leave you with less than you started with.
We're not showing you this to scare you off. A lower markup on plain bullion changes the math a lot, and a high markup on premium coins makes it much worse, so the markup is the number we'd fight over first.
Want to try your own amounts? Use our cost calculator.
How do gold IRA costs compare with other options?
A gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) inside a regular IRA is the obvious alternative if you just want gold exposure in a retirement account. You'd pay the fund's yearly expense ratio, little or nothing in account fees, and you could sell at market prices on any trading day. What you wouldn't have is physical metal you could take out of the account. Our guide on gold IRAs vs. gold ETFs puts the two side by side.
Questions to get answered in writing
Before you sign, ask the dealer and custodian to answer these in writing. Email's fine, and a good company won't dodge them.
- What's the one-time setup fee?
- What's the yearly custodian fee? Is it flat, or does it change with my account value?
- What's the yearly storage fee, is it flat or a percentage, and which type of storage does it cover?
- For each product you're recommending, what's the price, and what's the spot price of that metal at the same moment?
- What's your markup on that product, as a percentage over spot?
- If I sold this product back to you today, what would you pay me?
- How is your buyback price calculated, and is the buyback guaranteed?
- What are the wire, transaction, shipping, and closing fees?
- Are any fees being waived? For how long, and what will they be after that?
- Is any "free" metal or bonus included, and how is its cost covered?
Question 6 is the one we'd push hardest on. The gap between what you pay today and what they'd pay you back today is your true round-trip cost. Our guide on choosing a gold IRA company has more questions.
Common questions
Are gold IRA fees tax-deductible?
Rules on deducting investment expenses have changed in recent years, and many individuals currently can't deduct them. Ask a tax professional about your situation. You can also ask your custodian whether fees can be paid from inside the IRA or have to be paid separately.
Can I pay the yearly fees from the IRA itself?
Frequently, yes. Many custodians take fees from cash in the account. If your IRA holds only metal, the custodian might have to sell a small amount to cover them, so ask how yours handles it.
Why doesn't the markup show up on my statement?
It's built into the price you paid for the metal. Your statement shows what you own and its estimated value, not what the dealer earned. That's why you have to ask for it directly.
Is segregated storage worth the extra cost?
That's your call. Both types keep your metal insured and accounted for. Segregated storage gets you your exact items back; some people care about that, and others are happy to receive equivalent metal and pay less.
We base our guides on primary sources such as the IRS, the Department of Labor, and federal regulators. Read our editorial policy. Spot an error? Tell us.
