Fee Audit · 8 Providers · May 2026
The short answer
A gold IRA charges five fees, not one. Setup ($0–$80, one time). Annual custodian fee ($75–$300). Annual storage fee ($100–$300). A dealer spread — the markup over the spot price of gold when you buy (the CFTC says 5–10% is typical for standard bullion; numismatic coins can run 40–200% above spot). And a buyback spread when you sell.
Among the providers we tracked in May 2026, the visible annual cost runs $200–$300 per year after a one-time setup of $0–$80. That’s the easy part. The harder part is the dealer spread. On a $75,000 rollover, a 5% spread is $3,750 — roughly twelve to nineteen years of typical flat storage and custodian fees, paid in a single transaction.
That’s the cost most pages won’t put in front of you. We will — with the fee table, the math by balance size, the worked example, and the exact questions to ask before you authorize anything.
One honest filter before you keep reading
If your only goal is low-cost exposure to the price of gold, a low-cost gold ETF inside a regular Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard IRA is the lower-cost structure to compare first — expense ratios of roughly 0.10%–0.25%, no setup fee, no storage fee, no dealer spread. If that fits your situation, the Gold IRA vs. Gold ETF section further down will save you the rest of this page. But if you specifically want physical metal in a tax-advantaged IRA, every section below is written for you.
How it works
A gold IRA involves three separate parties — the dealer who sells you the metals, the custodian who holds the legal IRA account, and the depository where the physical metals sit. Each charges something. The dealer charges a markup over the spot price of gold. The custodian charges a setup fee and annual administration fee. The depository charges an annual storage fee. The IRS requires all three to be separate from you personally (Internal Revenue Code §408(m)).
| Party | What they do | What they charge |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer | Sources the metals, walks you through setup, coordinates with the custodian | A markup (“spread”) over the live spot price of gold on every purchase, and a markdown (“buyback spread”) on every sale |
| Custodian | Holds the legal IRA account, reports to the IRS, processes contributions and distributions | Setup fee ($0–$80) and annual account administration ($75–$300) |
| Depository | Physically stores and insures the metals in a secured vault | Annual storage fee ($100–$200 commingled, $150–$300 segregated) |
You’ll talk to the dealer. Behind the scenes, the dealer routes your account through one or two preferred custodians, who in turn use one or two preferred depositories. That’s why the same dealer can quote you different fees depending on which custodian they put you with.
Setup fee
One-time, paid to the custodian. Range: $0–$80. Most providers charge around $50.
Annual custodian (or "administration") fee
Paid every year to the custodian for IRS reporting and recordkeeping. Range: $75–$300. Usually flat, sometimes tiered by account size.
Annual storage fee
Paid every year to the depository for vault space and insurance. Range: $100–$200 commingled (metals pooled with other clients), $150–$300 segregated (your specific bars kept separate).
Dealer spread
The markup over the live spot price of gold when you buy. CFTC guidance: 5–10% is typical for standard bullion. Proof, numismatic, or collectible coins can run 40–200% above spot. This is the largest fee on most accounts, and no provider in our table publishes it online.
Buyback spread
The markdown below spot when you sell metals back. Not reliably published — ask any provider, in writing, for the same-day buyback price on the exact product you're considering. The CFTC specifically recommends asking "what would you pay me if I sold this back tomorrow" before you buy.
A term we’ll use a lot: Spot priceis the live wholesale market price of gold at any given second. When you buy retail, you pay above spot. When you sell, you receive below spot. The gap between the two prices is the dealer’s margin. The wider the gap, the more it costs you to be a customer.
May 2026 fee audit — 8 providers
Four providers in this table publish enough account-fee detail online to estimate the visible setup, custodian, and storage layer — Augusta Precious Metals, Birch Gold Group, Goldco, and Noble Gold. The other four (American Hartford Gold, Lear Capital, Preserve Gold, Patriot Gold Group) require a written quote to confirm specific fees. None of them publishes dealer spreads online.
| Provider | Min Account | Setup | Annual Custodian | Storage (Commingled) | Storage (Segregated) | Year-1 Visible | Steady-State Annual | Fees Online? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta Precious Metals | $50,000 | $50 | $125 | $100 | varies | ~$275 | ~$225 | Yes |
| Birch Gold Group | $5,000 recommended | $50 (+ $30 wire) | $125 | $110 (storage + insurance) | varies | ~$285 (first year waived on transfers over $50,000) | ~$235 | Yes ¹ |
| Goldco | $25,000 | $50 | $125 | $100 | $150 | ~$275–$325 | ~$225–$275 | Yes ² |
| Noble Gold Investments | $20,000 | $80 | $125 | n/a (segregated standard) | $150 | ~$355 | ~$275 | Yes ³ |
| Lear Capital | $10,000 | $50 | $125 | $110 | $160 | $315–$365 | $235–$285 | Partial ⁴ |
| American Hartford Gold | $10,000 | needs written quote | needs written quote | $100 | $150 | needs written quote | needs written quote | No ⁵ |
| Preserve Gold | needs written quote | $0 advertised on account setup | needs written quote | may be waived | needs written quote | needs written quote | needs written quote | No ⁶ |
| Patriot Gold Group | needs written quote | needs written quote | "No Fee For Life IRA" on qualifying $100,000+ accounts | needs written quote | needs written quote | needs written quote | needs written quote | No ⁷ |
A provider that won’t publish its setup fee on its own website is not going to volunteer its dealer spread on the first phone call. Fee transparency in writing is a strong proxy for transparency at the moment of purchase — when it matters most. The four “Yes” providers above (Augusta, Birch Gold, Goldco, Noble Gold) all publish at least the account-level schedule. The other four require you to ask.
The math the dealer’s page won’t show you
The dealer you call (e.g. Augusta, Goldco) is rarely the same company that legally holds your IRA. The legal IRA is held by an IRS-approved custodian — Equity Trust, STRATA Trust, GoldStar Trust, Kingdom Trust, and a handful of others. That custodian has its own fee schedule, which can differ meaningfully from what the dealer quotes through its negotiated partner arrangement. Asking “who is my custodian, and what fee schedule applies to my account?” is the single most clarifying question you can ask before funding.
Here are current published fee schedules from four common self-directed IRA custodians used by gold IRA dealers. The dealer-quoted numbers in the table above are usually negotiated bundles that route through one of these. Sometimes they match the published schedule. Sometimes they don’t.
| Custodian | Setup | Annual Account Fee | Storage / Holding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Trust Company (Universal IRA schedule) | $50 online / $75 paper | Asset-based maintenance starting at $350 for accounts under $50,000, scaling up | $110 non-segregated / $160 segregated where applicable |
| GoldStar Trust Company | $50 precious metals establishment | $90 annual maintenance (a separate Precious Metals section lists $150 annual maintenance plus $150 annual asset holding — confirm which line applies to your account) | $125 commingled / $225 minimum segregated; additional charge above $125,000 stored value |
| The Entrust Group | $50 account establishment | $219 annual recordkeeping for one asset under $50,000; $219 + 0.17% over $50,000 for one asset | Depository / storage fees separate |
| STRATA Trust Company | Online application fee published online | Annual precious metals IRA account fee published online | Commingled and segregated storage published online — confirm the current schedule directly with STRATA before relying on any partner-quoted figures |
Why this matters in practice
Equity Trust’s published Universal IRA schedule starts at $350 in annual maintenancefor accounts under $50,000 — significantly higher than the $125 most gold IRA dealers quote when they route through Equity Trust. The dealers can quote $125 because they’ve negotiated a flat-fee partner schedule. You only get that flat fee through that dealer relationship. If you later move the account to a different custodian, you may revert to the standard published schedule.
Ask in writing — these three questions cost nothing:
The fee that dwarfs everything else
Every gold IRA dealer charges a markup over the spot price of gold — the dealer spread. The CFTC says 5–10% is the typical range for standard bullion; numismatic or collectible coins can range from 40% to 200% above spot. On a $75,000 rollover, a 5% spread is $3,750 — roughly twelve to nineteen years of typical $200–$300 flat storage and custodian fees, paid in a single transaction. The dealer spread is the single most important fee to verify before authorizing any purchase, and it’s the one no provider publishes online.
Honest comparison first
A physical gold IRA is usually the higher-cost wrapper to compare against a low-cost ETF before deciding. If you compare a physical gold IRA against a low-cost gold ETF (like GLDM at roughly 0.10%, SGOL at roughly 0.17%, or IAU at roughly 0.25%) held inside a Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard IRA, the ETF usually has lower account-level friction — no setup fee, no separate IRA storage fee, and no precious-metals dealer spread.
If you only want gold exposure for inflation hedging or diversification, skip to the Gold IRA vs. ETF section — we’ll show you the lower-cost structure. For the readers staying: the dealer spread is what makes a gold IRA expensive. It is also the most negotiable cost in the account — if you know to ask.
When the live spot price of gold is, say, $3,300 per ounce:
Round-trip, you’ve paid $264 in friction per coin to own a metal worth $3,300. Multiply by however many ounces you’re buying.
| Cost line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Setup fee (one-time) | $50 |
| Annual custodian × 15 years (at $125) | $1,875 |
| Annual storage × 15 years (at $100 commingled) | $1,500 |
| Dealer spread on initial $75,000 purchase (5%) | $3,750 |
| Buyback spread on sale (3% at unchanged value) | $2,250 |
| 15-year all-in cost | $9,425 |
Where the money actually goes
$3,425
$6,000
That ratio is the visual most readers find shocking. The fees the dealer pitches as the “cost of a gold IRA” — setup, custodian, storage — are roughly a third of what you’ll actually pay. The remaining two-thirds is the spread, the line item nobody publishes. At a 10% spread (the high end of CFTC’s typical range), spreads alone would run $9,750.
This isn’t theoretical. Federal regulators have repeatedly taken action against precious-metals dealers for misrepresenting markups:
Every reputable dealer will answer all four in writing before you authorize a purchase. A provider that won’t is not giving you enough information to compare the quote.
1. "For the specific coin or bar I'm considering, what is your markup as a percentage of today's spot price?"
✓ Clear: "we mark up American Gold Eagles 5.5% over spot."
✗ Evasion: "our prices are competitive with the market."
2. "What is your buyback spread on this same product if I sold today?"
✓ Clear: "we'd pay 3% below spot."
✗ Evasion: "buyback depends on market conditions."
3. "Are you steering me toward proof or numismatic coins, and if so, why?"
✓ Proof and rare coins often carry much higher spreads than standard bullion. Standard bullion (American Gold Eagles, Buffalos, Maple Leafs, generic bars) often carries lower spreads.
4. "Can you put all of this in writing before I authorize the wire?"
✓ The order of operations matters more than anything else. Once your money is in their account, you've lost negotiating leverage.
Want to see how named providers compare on fees and spread transparency?
Have $50,000 or more to roll over and want everything in writing before a sales call?
The math by account size
Flat gold IRA fees create heavy drag on small accounts and minor drag on large ones. A $250-per-year fee equals 5.0% annual drag on a $5,000 IRA, 1.0% on $25,000, 0.5% on $50,000, and 0.10% on $250,000 — before any dealer spread. The same gold IRA can be a reasonable structure at $100,000 and a costly mistake at $10,000.
| Balance | $225 / yr | $235 / yr | $250 / yr | $275 / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | 4.50% | 4.70% | 5.00% | 5.50% |
| $10,000 | 2.25% | 2.35% | 2.50% | 2.75% |
| $25,000 | 0.90% | 0.94% | 1.00% | 1.10% |
| $50,000 | 0.45% | 0.47% | 0.50% | 0.55% |
| $100,000 | 0.23% | 0.24% | 0.25% | 0.28% |
| $250,000 | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.10% | 0.11% |
| $500,000 | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.06% |
| Annual fee drag | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 0.50% | Reasonable for the structure |
| 0.50%–1.00% | Moderate; comparable to a mid-cost mutual fund |
| 1.00%–2.00% | High; gold needs to outperform to justify the drag |
| Above 2.00% | Serious balance-size warning; consider alternatives |
| Above 4.00% | Structural problem; this is rarely the right account for you |
Under $5,000.A flat-fee gold IRA is structurally too expensive. Most major providers won’t accept the account at this level.
$5,000–$10,000. Even at the lowest minimums, flat fees create 2%+ drag — which is heavy. Consider whether you can wait, consolidate, or roll over a larger balance later.
$10,000–$25,000. Fee drag falls to roughly 1%–2.5% — meaningful but no longer prohibitive. Compare written quotes carefully.
$25,000–$50,000. Fee drag drops to 0.5%–1.0% — comparable to a mid-cost mutual fund. This is the lowest balance where a gold IRA starts to look reasonable on a cost basis.
$50,000–$100,000. Fee drag drops below 0.5%. Several providers offer first-year fee waivers at this level.
$100,000+. Annual flat fees become rounding error. At this balance the only fee that matters is the dealer spread.
$250,000+.Request written same-day quotes from at least three providers, comparing spreads on the exact coins or bars you’d buy. Flat fees are irrelevant; spread negotiation is everything.
If your balance would be under $10,000
A physical gold IRA is probably the wrong wrapper for you. That’s not a comment on gold as an asset — it’s about the structure. Two better-fit paths:
Worked example
Plug your own balance, holding period, storage choice, and spread assumption into the formula below. The default scenario ($75,000 rollover, 15 years, commingled storage at $100, $125 custodian, $50 setup, 5% buy-side spread, 3% sell-side spread) produces a 15-year all-in cost of approximately $9,425 — of which $6,000 is dealer spread and only $3,425 is flat fees combined.
The formula
15-year all-in cost =
Setup fee
+ (Annual custodian × Holding period)
+ (Annual storage × Holding period)
+ (Initial purchase × Buy-side spread %)
+ (Sale value × Sell-side spread %)
| Cost line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Setup fee (one-time) | $50 |
| Annual custodian × 15 years (at $125) | $1,875 |
| Annual storage × 15 years (at $100 commingled) | $1,500 |
| Dealer spread on initial purchase (5% × $75,000) | $3,750 |
| Buyback spread on sale (3% × $75,000 unchanged value) | $2,250 |
| 15-year all-in cost | $9,425 |
The ratio is the visual most readers find shocking. The fees the dealer pitches as the “cost of a gold IRA” are roughly a third of what you’ll actually pay. The remaining two-thirds is the spread — the line item nobody publishes.
Storage type comparison
Segregated storage keeps your specific bars and coins separately identified in the depository vault. Commingled storage pools your metals with other clients’ identical metals — the depository tracks ownership by quantity, not serial number. Segregated typically costs $50–$150 more per year. For standard IRA-eligible bullion, the cost difference is rarely meaningful.
| Feature | Commingled (non-segregated) | Segregated |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Your metals are pooled with other clients' identical metals. The depository tracks how much you own, not which specific bars are yours. | Your specific bars and coins are stored in a separately identified section of the vault, labeled to your account. |
| Typical annual cost | $100–$150 | $150–$300 |
| What you receive at distribution | Metals of the same type and quantity you bought — but not necessarily the same physical bars | The exact bars and coins you originally purchased |
| When it matters | Doesn't matter for fungible bullion — a 1-oz American Gold Eagle is a 1-oz American Gold Eagle | Matters for serial-numbered bars, collectible coins, or products where provenance affects value |
| Provider / custodian | Commingled | Segregated | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goldco | $100 | $150 | $50 |
| American Hartford Gold | $100 | $150 | $50 |
| Lear Capital | $110 | $160 | $50 |
| Equity Trust (Universal IRA) | $110 | $160 | $50 |
| GoldStar Trust | $125 | $225 minimum | $100+ |
Not a fee workaround
You cannot legally store gold IRA metals at home, even through an LLC structure. The IRS requires IRA-held precious metals to be in the physical possession of a bank or IRS-approved non-bank trustee, per Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m). In McNulty v. Commissioner(2021), the U.S. Tax Court ruled that more than $400,000 of coins stored at the taxpayer’s home through an IRA-owned LLC constituted a taxable distribution of the entire IRA. The depository fee you’d save is roughly $150 a year. The tax exposure is the full account balance.
Some marketing pitches suggest you can save on storage fees by setting up a “checkbook IRA” or “home storage IRA” through an LLC the IRA owns. The Tax Court has been clear.
In McNulty v. Commissioner (157 T.C. No. 10, November 18, 2021), Andrew and Donna McNulty set up a self-directed IRA that owned an LLC. They purchased $374,000 of American Eagle gold coins, $37,380 of American Eagle silver coins, and a later $6,746 gold coin shipped to their residence. They stored the coins at home. The IRS treated the home-stored coins as a distribution of the entire IRA. The Tax Court agreed.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Storage fee saved by skipping the approved depository | ~$150 / year |
| Tax + penalty exposure once the IRS finds out | Full IRA balance |
The savings aren’t close to the exposure. We do not cover any provider that markets a home-storage IRA as an IRS-compliant arrangement. See our full home-storage rule explainer in the Gold IRA Rules guide.
The honest comparison
A physical gold IRA can cost several times more in visible annual fees than holding a low-cost gold ETF inside a standard brokerage IRA, and substantially more once dealer spreads are included. The ETF has no setup fee, no storage fee, and expense ratios of roughly 0.10%–0.25%. The justification for the gold IRA is direct ownership of physical metal — not exposure to gold’s price, which the ETF delivers at a fraction of the cost.
| Feature | Gold ETF in a regular IRA | Physical gold IRA |
|---|---|---|
| Account opening fee | $0 (at Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard) | $0–$80 |
| Annual account fee | $0 | $75–$300 |
| Annual storage fee | $0 (no metal to store) | $100–$300 |
| Holding cost | Fund expense ratio (e.g. GLDM ~0.10%, SGOL ~0.17%, IAU ~0.25%) | Not applicable — you own the physical bar |
| Cost to buy or sell | Typically $0 commission at major brokers; ordinary ETF bid/ask spreads still apply | 5–10% dealer spread on bullion per CFTC; higher on numismatic products |
| Tax treatment | Same as any IRA | Same as any IRA |
| What you actually own | Shares of an ETF that holds gold in a trust on your behalf | Specific physical metal in an approved depository, in your account's name |
| At distribution | You sell shares for cash | You can sell for cash or take physical possession of the metal |
$75,000 in gold over 15 years — a rough comparison
As IAU shares in a Schwab IRA
~$2,800
As physical gold in a gold IRA (5% spread)
~$9,425
Our editorial conclusion. If your reason for considering gold is price exposure, inflation hedging, or diversification, a low-cost gold ETF is the lower-cost structure to compare first.
A physical gold IRA only makes sense if you have a specific reason to own the actual metal — you want the option to take physical possession at distribution; you want a different custody structure than an ETF; or you’re holding a large allocation where paper vs. physical ownership matters to you for non-financial reasons. If none of those reasons applies, save yourself the spread.
Due diligence
Before opening any gold IRA, request written answers to twelve specific questions covering the custodian identity, depository, storage type, every fee category, promotional terms, the exact metal product, today’s spot price, your purchase price, the buyback price, and any liquidation or shipping costs. The order matters — the written schedule must come before the authorization, not after.
Save this. Print it. Take it into the call.
Which custodian (legal trustee) will hold the IRA? (Equity Trust, STRATA Trust, GoldStar, Kingdom Trust, or other.)
Which depository will store the metals? (Delaware Depository, Brink's, IDS, Texas Precious Metals Depository, or other.)
Is storage segregated or commingled, and what does each cost?
What is the one-time setup fee?
What is the annual custodian fee, and is it flat or scaled with account size?
What is the annual storage fee, segregated and commingled?
What promotional waivers apply at my account size? (First-year storage waived? Multi-year? At what balance threshold?)
What fees resume after the promotional period ends?
For the specific coin or bar I'm buying, what is today's spot price?
What is my purchase price and the resulting markup percentage over spot?
If I sold this same product back to you today, what would you pay? (A clear answer like '3% below spot' is what you want. Evasion is a flag.)
What are the fees for partial distribution, full liquidation, in-kind distribution (physical metal shipped to me), and termination if I close the account?
Why the order matters
The written schedule must arrive in your inbox beforeyou authorize the wire transfer. Once your money is in the dealer’s account, you’ve lost the only leverage that matters. A transparent provider sends the written schedule first. An opaque provider asks for verbal authorization and “follows up with the paperwork.” That order is backwards. Don’t accept it.
A retirement rollover decision should not depend on a same-call quote. Ask for the quote in writing and timestamp it. Compare it against one other provider’s quote on the same product.
Warning signs
The biggest gold IRA red flags are vague pricing, refusal to put fees in writing before purchase, aggressive pressure to roll over retirement funds quickly, upsells toward proof or numismatic coins, “free gold” offers with no breakdown, home-storage IRA pitches, and any “no fee” claim that doesn’t specify which fees and for how long. The SEC, CFTC, FINRA, and NASAA have published repeated investor alerts about self-directed IRA fraud.
| Red flag | Why it matters | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠"Free gold" offers without breakdown | The cost may be recovered through a wider spread on your main purchase | "If the bonus coins are free, what's the markup on my main purchase as a percentage of spot?" |
| ⚠Push toward proof, rare, or collectible coins | CFTC guidance: collectible coin premiums can run 40–200% above spot, versus 5–10% for standard bullion | "Why this product instead of a standard American Gold Eagle or generic bullion bar?" |
| ⚠Refusal to quote a buyback spread | The exit cost is hidden, which is where many readers get hurt | "If I needed to sell this in five years, what would you pay below spot today?" |
| ⚠Home-storage IRA pitch | IRS rules don't permit this; McNulty v. Commissioner settled it | "Which IRS-approved non-bank trustee will hold the metals, and at which approved depository?" |
| ⚠High-pressure rollover language | A retirement decision should not depend on a same-call quote | "Please send everything in writing — I'll review and follow up." |
| ⚠"No fees" or "free storage" claims | Fees may be waived for a period or recovered through pricing elsewhere | "Which exact fees are waived, for how long, and what is your spread on the metals I'd buy?" |
The federal-regulator record on this niche is unambiguous. The SEC, NASAA, and FINRA have jointly warned that self-directed IRAs holding alternative assets — including precious metals — can carry elevated fraud risk because custodians typically do not vet the underlying promoters or asset quality. The CFTC has published multiple alerts targeting retirees specifically. If a dealer respects the questions, that’s the dealer you want. If they push back on them, you have your answer.
Decision guide
A gold IRA tends to fit larger rollovers ($25,000+), long holding periods (10+ years), readers who specifically want physical metal (not just price exposure), and readers willing to compare written quotes from multiple providers. It does not fit small balances under $10,000, readers who need income, readers who want the lowest-cost gold exposure, or readers responding to a high-pressure sales pitch.
Our methodology
We rank gold IRA providers on six criteria, all visible on the page:
Augusta Precious Metals, Birch Gold Group, Goldco, and Noble Gold all publish enough of their account-fee schedule online to score well on criterion #1. We have working affiliate relationships with several providers we cover. Our editorial criteria are stated on this page and in our affiliate disclosure. Affiliate commissions can vary by provider and program; the criteria above determine which providers we cover, not commission rates.
Rollover context
A properly executed direct rollover from a 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or existing IRA into a gold IRA generally does not trigger taxes or penalties. The IRA contribution limit for 2026 is $7,500 ($8,600 if age 50 or older) per IRS Publication 590-A — but this limit applies only to new contributions, not rollovers. The fee question and the tax question are separate.
The fee categories on this page apply identically whether you’re funding the gold IRA with new contributions or a rollover. What changes with a rollover:
Methodology
Frequently asked questions
Primary sources
Still figuring out the next step?
Published account fees across eight providers, the custodian-vs-dealer math, the spread that dwarfs everything else, the drag by balance size, and the questions to ask before you authorize anything. That’s the data part.
The deciding part is yours.
Confident a gold IRA fits and know your rough balance and timeline?
Still weighing whether a gold IRA is the right structure — or want a personalized shortlist?
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