Precious Metals IRA: What It Is, Which Metals Qualify, and What It Costs

A precious metals IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds physical gold, silver, platinum or palladium instead of funds. The metal has to meet a purity test written into the tax code, and the account's trustee keeps it in a depository for you.

What is a precious metals IRA?

It's the industry's name for an IRA whose custodian accepts physical metal. People say "gold IRA" and "gold and silver IRA" for the same account, and one account can hold all four metals.

Most banks and brokerages won't hold coins or bars, which is why the account has to be a self-directed IRA. "Self-directed" means you choose what the account buys. The custodian keeps the records and files the tax forms. It doesn't check whether the price you paid was fair.

On taxes, nothing is special. A traditional precious metals IRA is taxed the way any traditional IRA is, and a Roth one follows the Roth rules. IRS Publication 590-A and Publication 590-B set those rules out. For how they apply to you, see a tax professional.

Which metals can a gold and silver IRA hold?

The starting point is a ban. Section 408(m) of the Internal Revenue Code treats metals and coins as collectibles, and an IRA that buys a collectible is treated as having paid that money out to you.

Then comes the exception, in section 408(m)(3). It lets in two groups: certain U.S. Mint coins named by statute, and gold, silver, platinum or palladium bullion at least as fine as the metal a regulated futures exchange accepts for delivery. So the law never prints a purity number. It points to the exchange rulebooks, and the numbers in this table come from those.

The named coins skip the fineness test. That matters for exactly one of them: the American Gold Eagle is 91.67% gold, well under .995, and it's allowed because the statute lists it.

Our guide to IRA-approved gold coins and bars goes product by product, including the well-known coins that fail. If you're weighing the less common metals, platinum vs. gold compares supply, uses and price history.

What isn't allowed?

Collectibles

Rare coins, old coins valued for their history or condition, jewelry and gems all stay on the banned list. So do bullion coins that miss the fineness test and aren't named in the law.

The IRS page on collectibles in retirement accounts gives the consequence. The account's cost for the item is treated as a distribution in the year it was bought, reported on Form 1099-R. In a traditional IRA that's ordinary income, and the 10% additional tax can apply if you're under 59½.

Home storage

The bullion exception carries a condition in the same sentence: the metal has to be "in the physical possession of a trustee." A trustee here means a bank or another company the IRS has approved. In practice the custodian uses a depository to do the holding.

Coins get no pass. In McNulty v. Commissioner, decided in 2021, the U.S. Tax Court looked at a taxpayer whose IRA owned a company that bought American Eagle coins, which she kept in a safe at home. The court held she had received taxable distributions equal to what the coins cost.

Precious metals IRA companies: who are the three?

The first company you speak to will usually be a dealer. It's one of three businesses that make the account work, and each does a different job.

We don't rank companies. We'd get quotes from two or three dealers on the same day, for the same products, and line up the numbers. Ask each one which custodians and depositories it works with and whether you can pick a different one.

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 the IRS has approved. Our guide on who does what in a gold IRA shows what each company's paperwork does and doesn't tell you.

How does money get in?

Three doors.

1. A transfer from another IRA. Your current custodian sends the money straight to the new one. Nothing is paid to you, so there's nothing to withhold and no deadline to meet.
2. A rollover from a workplace plan. A 401(k), 403(b) or similar plan pays the new custodian directly. This is the usual 401(k) to gold IRA route.
3. A yearly contribution. The same annual limits apply as for any IRA. The IRS contribution limits page has the current figures.

Whatever arrives is cash. The custodian then buys metal from the dealer on your written instruction. You can't contribute coins you already own, and your IRA can't buy them from you.

401(k) to gold IRA: the step to get right

Ask the plan for a direct rollover, with the check made out to the new custodian for the benefit of your IRA. If the plan pays you instead, it has to withhold 20% for federal tax, and you get 60 days to deposit the full amount, including the 20% you never received. Whatever you don't deposit in time is treated as a distribution.

Say you're 61 with $180,000 in a former employer's plan. A direct rollover moves $180,000. A check in your name arrives as $144,000, and you'd need $36,000 from somewhere else to make the rollover whole.

Our step-by-step rollover guide puts the paperwork in order, and rollover vs. transfer explains the difference between the two words.

Is there such a thing as a gold 401(k)?

When people say "gold 401(k)" they mean rolling 401(k) money into an IRA that can hold metal. The collectibles rule in section 408(m) covers individually directed accounts in workplace plans as well as IRAs, and your plan's menu decides what you can hold there.

A rollover is simple once you've left the employer. While you still work there, the plan decides whether a rollover is allowed. Ask your plan administrator; rules differ.

What does a physical gold IRA cost?

The costs follow from what the account is: real metal, bought from a dealer, held in an insured vault, with a custodian doing the tax reporting. Here's what each one pays for.

• Setup fee: once, to open the account.
• Custodian fee: yearly, for record-keeping and tax forms. Some custodians charge a flat amount and some scale it to the account's value.
• Storage and insurance: yearly, to the depository, either flat or scaled to the value or weight held.
• Dealer premium: on every purchase, over the metal's market price. Each dealer sets its own, so ask for it in writing, as a percentage over spot.
• Buyback spread: on every sale. Ask for the buyback price in writing when you buy.

Flat fees are a smaller share of a larger account. As a made-up example, if the yearly fees come to $250, that's 1% of a $25,000 account and 0.1% of a $250,000 one. Fees differ by firm, so get each fee schedule in writing and compare two or three. Our gold IRA fee guide works through every line with examples.

What happens with required withdrawals?

A traditional precious metals IRA has required minimum distributions like any traditional IRA. They start at age 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1958, and at 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. For people born in 1959, the IRS proposed age 73 in July 2024, and as of October 2026 that proposal has not been made final; our RMD age chart explains. Roth IRAs have none for the original owner.

You can sell enough coins or bars inside the IRA to raise the cash, or take metal out "in kind," in which case its market value on that day counts as the distribution. Coins come in fixed sizes, so keep a little cash in the account to make up the exact figure.

There's a third way. If you own more than one traditional IRA, you add the required amounts together and can take the total from any of them. Our guides to required minimum distributions and selling metal or taking it out of an IRA cover the mechanics and the deadlines.

Who does a precious metals IRA suit?

It suits someone who wants physical metal held inside a retirement account, has money already sitting in a 401(k) or IRA, and plans to hold it for years. The yearly fees are mostly flat, so they're a smaller percentage of a larger balance.

To open one you need money in an IRA or an old 401(k), and enough to meet the company's minimum. Each company sets its own, and the one we refer readers to asks for at least $50,000. How much you move is your decision. Our guide on who a gold IRA is for goes through it.

Nobody can tell you where any metal's price goes next, and we won't try. This page is education, not personal advice.

Common questions

Is a precious metals IRA different from a gold IRA?

They're the same account. Both names describe a self-directed traditional or Roth IRA that holds physical metal. "Precious metals IRA" just makes clear that silver, platinum and palladium can go in too.

Can one account be a gold and silver IRA at the same time?

Yes. A single account can hold all four metals, as long as each product meets the fineness rule or is one of the named U.S. coins and your custodian accepts it.

Can I do a 401(k) to gold IRA rollover while I'm still working?

Only if your plan allows withdrawals or rollovers for current employees. Your plan administrator can tell you. After you leave the job, ask the plan for a direct rollover.

Is investing in a gold IRA taxed differently from other IRAs?

It's taxed the same way. IRS Publications 590-A and 590-B apply the same rules whatever the IRA holds. The metal-specific rule is section 408(m), which decides what the account may buy. See a tax professional about your own return.

How do I compare precious metals IRA companies?

Separate the three roles first. Compare dealers on written prices against spot and on buyback terms, custodians on fees and what they accept, and depositories on storage type and pricing. Same-day written quotes are the fairest test.

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.