Gold IRA Education

How to Buy Gold With a 401(k): 3 Legal Ways, Real Costs, and the Tax Traps to Avoid

Last verified: May 21, 2026

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission when you request a free info kit or open an account through links on this page. These commissions support our editorial work but do not influence which companies we recommend. See our full disclosure and editorial standards.

Most workplace 401(k) plans will not let you buy a physical gold coin or bar directly. That's the part the TV ads skip. The three legal ways to buy gold with a 401(k) are: (1) a gold-related fund inside your plan if one is offered, (2) a gold ETF through a self-directed brokerage window if your plan has one, or (3) a direct rollover of eligible 401(k) money into a self-directed Gold IRA — an IRA at a specialized custodian that can legally hold physical bullion in a third-party vault.

The right route depends on three things almost no one tells you upfront: whether you still work for the employer that sponsors the plan, your age, and whether you actually want physical gold or just gold price exposure. Below, we'll show you exactly which route fits, what it really costs, and the four sales tactics that have cost retirees real money in the last three years.

What we verified.Every IRS rule on this page is cited to IRS.gov, the Internal Revenue Code, or current IRS Notice 2025-67 for 2026 limits. Every provider fee is taken from the provider's own publicly visible pricing page (and we tell you what we couldn't verify). Every regulatory warning is sourced to the SEC, FINRA, or CFTC. This is general education, not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice — and for retirement decisions tied to your specific income, age, state, and goals, consult a fiduciary financial advisor and a CPA before you act.

A note on affiliate compensation. We may earn a commission if you request information from a featured Gold IRA provider through a link on this page. That does not change the route-fit warnings above, the disqualification rules below, or the verified facts in any provider table. We feature Augusta Precious Metals first for the $50K+ Gold IRA reader because of its education-first onboarding and minimum-fit; we send under-$50K readers to Birch Gold or American Hartford because their minimums match. Commission size does not change the routing.

Which gold route fits your situation?

Can you actually buy gold with a 401(k)?

Short answer: You can buy gold exposure with most 401(k)s in some form. You usually cannot buy physical gold inside the 401(k) itself. To own real bars or coins in a retirement account, you roll eligible 401(k) money into a self-directed Gold IRA — a special type of Individual Retirement Account at a specialized custodian that can legally hold physical metals.

This is the first place most readers go wrong. The TV ad says “move your 401(k) into gold.” It doesn't say “your 401(k) probably can't hold the gold itself — you'll need a separate retirement account for that.” Both are usually true.

A workplace 401(k) is a plan whose investment menu is set by your employer. Almost every menu is built from mutual funds, target-date funds, sometimes company stock, and sometimes a self-directed brokerage window. Physical gold generally doesn't fit that infrastructure — 401(k) plans are built around plan-selected funds, not vaulted bars. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 expanded what kinds of precious-metals coins and bullion could be held inside IRAs— not 401(k)s — and that's the legal foundation that makes a Gold IRA possible. The 401(k) is the source of the money; the self-directed IRA is the vehicle that can hold the metal.

So when you search “how to buy gold with a 401(k),” what you're really asking is: given the money I currently have parked in a 401(k), what are my legal options for getting gold into my retirement picture?That's a three-route question, not a one-route answer.

Quick note on Executive Order 14330 and the DOL proposed rule

On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14330 (published in the Federal Register on August 12, 2025), which directs the Department of Labor, SEC, and Treasury to make it easier for 401(k) plans to offer alternative assets — including direct and indirect investments in commodities, real estate, and digital assets. On March 30, 2026, the DOL published a proposed rule explaining how plan fiduciaries should evaluate alternative assets in 401(k) lineups. As of this writing (May 2026), the proposed rule has not been finalized. No current 401(k) plan is required to add gold — and if your plan doesn't offer it today, that won't change until a final rule is issued and your plan's sponsor chooses to act on it. We will update this section when the rule is finalized.

The 3 legal ways to buy gold with 401(k) money

Short answer:A gold fund inside your plan menu (if offered), a gold ETF through a self-directed brokerage window (if your plan has one), or a direct rollover into a self-directed Gold IRA. Each has a different cost, a different friction level, and a different best-fit reader. Most people only hear about route #3 because that's the one with affiliate commissions behind it.

Route 1: A gold or precious-metals fund inside your 401(k)

If your plan menu offers a precious-metals mutual fund, a natural-resources fund, or a commodities fund, you can usually buy it with the same online interface you already use. No rollover, no new account, no custodian, no depository.

Best fit: Current employees who want a small gold-adjacent allocation without rollover paperwork. Anyone with a smaller balance where Gold IRA flat fees would be a heavy drag.

The catch most pages don't tell you: A gold mining fund is not the same thing as physical gold. Mining stocks can rise and fall on company-specific issues — operating costs, mine closures, management changes — that have nothing to do with the gold price. If your goal is to track the gold price itself, mining funds are a noisier instrument than bullion or a bullion-backed ETF.

Cost:Whatever the fund's prospectus says. Check the prospectus on your 401(k) portal before assuming.

Route 2: A gold ETF through a self-directed brokerage window

A self-directed brokerage window (sometimes called a SDBA or brokerage link) is an option some 401(k) plans add that lets you trade individual stocks, ETFs, and sometimes mutual funds inside your 401(k). If your plan has one, you can usually buy a physical-gold-backed ETF directly — same as if you were trading in a regular brokerage account, but the money stays inside your 401(k) and keeps its tax treatment.

Best fit: Anyone who wants low-cost gold price exposure (not physical possession), whose plan offers a brokerage window. This is the cheapest route in the entire category.

Gold ETF expense ratios at a glance

Per each issuer's official fund page; confirm current numbers on the fund's site before you buy.

Risk note from the issuers themselves:iShares states that IAU and IAUM are not registered investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and that share value can fall with gold prices and expenses. Gold ETFs are not “safer than physical gold” — they're a different ownership structure with their own risks, including counterparty and custody risks at the fund level.

Cost on $50,000: GLDM costs about $50 a year. GLD costs about $200. Compare that to roughly $225–$285 a year that a Gold IRA typically charges in administrative and storage fees alone — before the dealer markup on the metals themselves.

The catch:ETF holders don't own physical metal personally. The fund owns the metal; you own a share of the fund. If “I want to hold the actual coin” is the reason you're doing this, an ETF won't satisfy that. If “I want gold to be 5–10% of my retirement portfolio at the lowest possible cost” is the reason, an ETF is hard to beat.

Route 3: A direct rollover into a self-directed Gold IRA

A self-directed IRA is an Individual Retirement Account at a specialized custodian (Equity Trust, STRATA Trust, Kingdom Trust, Preferred Trust, and others) that's legally allowed to hold alternative assets — physical metals, real estate, private equity, and so on. A “Gold IRA” is just a self-directed IRA used to hold IRS-approved physical bullion that is in the physical possession of a bank or IRS-approved nonbank trustee.

Best fit: Someone with $25,000 or more in a former-employer 401(k) (or a current plan that allows in-service rollovers), who specifically wants real bars and coins held inside a retirement account, who's comfortable with annual custodian and storage fees, and who's willing to pay a dealer markup over spot price on the metals.

The mechanics, in one paragraph: Open a self-directed IRA with a custodian that handles metals. Request a direct rolloverfrom your 401(k) administrator — the money moves plan-to-custodian, never to you personally. The IRA buys IRS-approved bullion through your chosen dealer. The metal ships directly to an approved depository like Delaware Depository or Brink's. You get account statements; you don't get the metal in your hand.

If you already know route #3 is yours, our 401(k) to Gold IRA Rollover Guide walks through the step-by-step paperwork, timeline, Form 1099-R coding, and Rule of 55 details.

How a 401(k) to Gold IRA rollover works without taxes or penalties

Short answer: Open a self-directed IRA, request a direct rolloverfrom your 401(k), buy IRS-approved bullion through the IRA, ship it to an approved depository. Done as a direct rollover, the money moves plan-to-custodian and no current income tax or early-withdrawal penalty applies. Done as an indirect rollover (a check made out to you), the IRS requires the plan to withhold 20% for federal tax up front, you have 60 days to redeposit the full pre-withholding amount, and missing that window converts the whole distribution to ordinary taxable income plus a 10% additional tax if you're under 59½.

Here's the part of the rollover most pages skip — the math on what happens if you mishandle it.

Direct vs. indirect rollover, in dollars

Same person, same balance, three outcomes:

Source: IRS Topic No. 413 (Rollovers from Retirement Plans) and IRS guidance on Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions. The 20% withholding applies to eligible rollover distributions paid directly to the participant; it does not apply to direct rollovers where the money moves plan-to-custodian.

The lesson is simple. Use a direct rollover. Ask your 401(k) administrator to send the money directly to your new self-directed IRA custodian. If a check is issued, it should be made payable to the receiving custodian “for the benefit of” your name — not to you personally.

The 6 steps, simplified

1. Confirm you're eligible.Separated employees can usually roll over. Currently employed under 59½ usually cannot. (More on this in “Who shouldn't roll over” below.)
2. Pick your Gold IRA provider and custodian. The provider (Augusta, Goldco, Birch, etc.) is the dealer that sells you the metals. The custodian is the legally authorized IRA administrator that holds the account. Most providers have a default custodian relationship.
3. Open the self-directed IRA. Application, ID, beneficiary form. The IRA opens with a $0 balance until the rollover funds arrive.
4. Request the direct rollover from your 401(k). Funds move plan-to-custodian.
5. Pick the metals. Confirm purity, weight, and dealer markup over spot price in writing before the trade settles.
6. Metal ships to the depository.You'll get a vault receipt and ongoing statements. You never touch the metal.

Timelines vary by 401(k) administrator, custodian, paperwork completeness, and funding method. A clean direct rollover is often complete in two to three weeks; slow plan administrators can stretch it longer. Treat that range as an estimate, not a rule.

For the full step-by-step including Form 1099-R coding, Rule of 55 details, Roth-to-Roth rules, and the Solo 401(k) / 403(b) / 457(b) / TSP variants, see our 401(k) to Gold IRA Rollover Guide.

What gold the IRS actually allows in an IRA

Short answer:Gold held in an IRA must be at least 99.5% pure (.995 fineness) and must come from a government mint or accredited refiner. There is one statutory exception — the American Gold Eagle coin, which is 22-karat (91.67% pure) but is specifically authorized by Congress under 31 U.S.C. § 5112. If an IRA buys something that doesn't qualify under the metals exception, the IRS treats the cost of that asset as a distribution to the account owner in the year acquired — meaning that amount becomes taxable and can also trigger the 10% additional tax if the owner is under 59½ and no exception applies.

This rule trips up smart people. Just because a coin is gold doesn't mean it qualifies for an IRA. A South African Krugerrand is real gold. It doesn't qualify. A pre-1933 U.S. gold coin is real gold. It doesn't qualify. A graded “proof” coin from a TV-ad dealer is real gold. Many of them don't qualify, and the markup on those coins is where a lot of Gold IRA buyers lose money.

Here's the working list:

Silver, platinum, and palladium can also go in a self-directed IRA. The purity minimums are .999 for silver, .9995 for platinum, .9995 for palladium.

Sources: Internal Revenue Code § 408(m)(3); 31 U.S.C. § 5112; IRS Publication 590-A; IRS guidance on investments in collectibles in individually directed qualified plan accounts.

If a Gold IRA salesperson pushes you toward “rare,” “proof,” “graded,” “limited,” or “semi-numismatic” coins, you are looking at the single biggest profit center in the industry. Standard bullion typically carries a much smaller markup over spot than specialty coins, and in one 2023 SEC enforcement action — SEC v. Red Rock Secured— the SEC alleged the company sold gold to retirement-account investors at markups of as much as 130% over spot. The standard bullion list above is short on purpose. Stick to it, and ask for the spread over spot in writing on the exact item you'll receive.

Where the gold is stored (and why home storage is a tax trap)

Short answer: IRA-owned bullion must be in the physical possession of a bank or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee — in practice, that means a third-party insured depository the custodian uses. Personal possession arrangements, home safes, and bank safety-deposit boxes you control are not the safe route. In McNulty v. Commissioner(2021), the U.S. Tax Court treated a couple's personal control of IRA-owned metals as taxable distributions and upheld back taxes and penalties.

This is the single most-misrepresented rule in the Gold IRA industry. Salespeople still pitch “home storage IRAs” or “checkbook control IRAs” that supposedly let you keep IRA-owned gold in your house. They cite a legal structure (an LLC owned by the IRA) and argue you can be the LLC manager and hold the metal. The Tax Court did not agree in McNulty. Don't rely on home-storage or checkbook-IRA structures without your own tax counsel reviewing the specifics first.

The major depositories Gold IRA custodians use:

Storage comes in two forms: segregated (your specific coins or bars are stored separately and identifiable) and commingled or non-segregated (your metal is pooled with other clients' identical bullion). Segregated typically costs $75–$150 more per year. For larger accounts where direct identification matters to you, segregated is worth the extra cost; for smaller accounts where the metal is fungible bullion anyway, commingled keeps fees lower. Confirm in the written custodian and depository agreements which option you're getting, what insurance covers it, and whether you have audit or inspection rights.

What it actually costs to buy gold with a 401(k)

Short answer:The cheapest route is a 0.09%–0.10% ETF inside a brokerage window — about $50 a year on $50,000. A Gold IRA typically costs $225 to $285 a year in administrative and storage fees on top of a dealer spread over spot on the metals themselves. The spread is the cost most readers miss until it's too late.

Let's put the actual numbers next to each other on a $50,000 position:

Sources: official fund pages for GLDM (State Street), SGOL (abrdn), GLD (State Street), IAU and IAUM (iShares); Goldco's “How Much Does a Gold IRA Cost?” page; Birch Gold's Gold IRA Fees page; Noble Gold's support page; Augusta's Gold IRA page. Provider promotions (“first year free,” “fee-free for 10 years on qualifying purchase”) shift; confirm any current offer in writing.

The annual fees are not the whole story.

The dealer spread is where most readers lose money

When a Gold IRA dealer sells you a bullion coin, the price you pay is the spot price plus a spread. That spread is the dealer's profit margin, and it's the largest single cost in the transaction. Industry reports place common-bullion spreads (American Gold Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, generic bars) in roughly the mid-single-digits to ~10% range. Specialty-coin spreads run materially higher — and in the 2023 SEC action against Red Rock Secured, the SEC alleged markups as high as 130% over spot.

If you buy $50,000 of gold at a 10% spread, you're starting $5,000 underwater. Gold has to rise about 10% just to get you to break even before fees. That's not a reason to skip a Gold IRA — but it is the reason FINRA tells precious-metals buyers to get a full accounting of fees in writing and to understand the break-even math before they buy. Ask for the current spot price, the price you'll be charged, the implied markup, and a buyback quote — all in writing, on the specific item you'll receive — before you fund anything.

Why small Gold IRAs usually don't make sense

A $235 annual fee is:

• 2.35% per year on a $10,000 Gold IRA
• 0.94% per year on $25,000
• 0.47% per year on $50,000
• 0.24% per year on $100,000

That's before the spread. If your rollover is under $25,000 and you only want gold price exposure (not physical metal in your name in a vault), a brokerage-window ETF at 0.09%–0.10% almost always wins. If your rollover is $50,000 or more and you specifically want IRA-held physical bullion, the Gold IRA math gets reasonable.

The honest tradeoff (read this before you commit)

We'll say what most of page 1 won't: A Gold IRA is the expensive way to get gold exposure. If all you want is for gold to be 5–10% of your retirement portfolio, a brokerage-window ETF is almost always cheaper, simpler, and more liquid.

That's the damaging admission. Here's the pivot.

The Gold IRA route earns its fees in three specific situations: when you want actual physical bullionheld in your name's account at a third-party vault (not a fund share), when your balance is large enough that flat fees become small as a percentage (~$25K minimum, ~$50K is where the math gets clean), and when you have a long enough time horizon that a one-time mid-single-digit-to-10% entry spread amortizes meaningfully. If those three conditions all apply, the route makes sense and the providers below are the ones to compare. If even one doesn't apply, route #2 (gold ETF in a brokerage window) is likely your answer — and you can stop reading the Gold IRA companies section entirely.

This is also why Augusta Precious Metals does not accept Gold IRAs under $50,000. If you have less than that to roll over, Augusta is the wrong fit and Birch Gold Group ($5,000 minimum) or American Hartford Gold ($10,000 minimum) is your starting point. But because Augusta filters out smaller accounts, they spend more time educating each customer than any other provider in the category — including a one-on-one web conference led by a Harvard-trained economic analyst before you fund anything. The filter is the feature.

Affiliate disclosure: The Retirement Index may earn a commission if you request information from Augusta below. That does not change the route-fit warnings or the under-$50K alternatives we send readers to.

Comparing Gold IRA providers (if route #3 is yours)

Short answer:These are the providers to compare first based on publicly visible minimums and fee disclosures, sorted by rollover size. Final fit depends on the written fee schedule, the dealer spread on the coins you'll actually receive, storage terms, buyback policy, the pressure level on the sales call, and your personal tax and retirement situation. None of these providers should be chosen on minimum and fee alone.

We organized this by who fits whom, not by who pays the highest commission, because the readers we lose by pushing the wrong provider cost us more than the readers we gain by promoting one.

$50,000+ rollovers — Augusta Precious Metals

Augusta's pricing structure leans on a flat, predictable annual fee rather than asset-based fees that grow with your balance. They have historically promoted offers covering fees for qualifying purchases; if a current offer applies to your situation, confirm the terms, qualifying amount, covered fees, excluded fees, and end date in writing before you fund.

$25,000–$50,000 rollovers — Goldco

$10,000–$25,000 rollovers — American Hartford Gold

$5,000–$25,000 rollovers — Birch Gold Group

The mid-balance category competes harder on customer acquisition, which means tighter sales pressure on the inbound call. Birch and American Hartford are both established providers with public BBB profiles and verifiable fee disclosures — but you'll likely hear about specialty coins from either. Stay on bullion. Ask for the spread in writing.

Flat-fee structure or Texas storage — Noble Gold Investments

Noble's pricing is the simplest in the category — a single flat number, no asset-based components, segregated storage built in. The Texas Bullion Depository / IDS Texas option appeals to readers who want geographic separation from Delaware-based vaults.

What we couldn't verify per provider

For every provider above, we verified the publicly listed minimum and the publicly disclosed fee categories from each company's own pages where cited. We did not verify (and you should confirm in writing before funding):

• The exact dealer spread on the specific coins or bars they'll quote you
• The current month's promotional offer (first-year fee waivers, free silver, fee-free periods — these shift quarterly)
• The buyback price method and whether the quote is guaranteed or indicative
• The current BBB letter grade at the moment of your decision (BBB ratings can change; check the live profile)
• The exact written annual fee schedule for Augusta and American Hartford Gold (both disclose categories publicly but not full dollar schedules)

Get those in writing. Always.

Who should NOT roll a 401(k) into gold

Short answer:Five groups of readers should pause before rolling over: anyone aged 55–58 who just left a job (Rule of 55 issues), anyone still actively employed by the plan sponsor under 59½ (you usually can't anyway), anyone with a balance under $25,000 (fees eat too much), anyone who only wants gold exposure (route #2 is cheaper), and anyone reacting to a cold call or fear-based pitch.

If you're in one of these groups, the matching tool below routes you to a fiduciary financial advisor — an investment adviser legally required to act in your best interest under the Investment Advisers Act — instead of a provider link. That's not us being modest. That's us being honest about who a Gold IRA serves and who it hurts.

1. You're 55–58 and just separated from service

The IRS Rule of 55 lets you take penalty-free distributions from a 401(k) (not an IRA) if you left the sponsoring employer in or after the year you turned 55. Roll that money to an IRA and the Rule of 55 disappears.You'll wait until 59½ for penalty-free access. If there's any chance you'll need 401(k) money between 55 and 59½, talk to a fiduciary before you roll anything anywhere.

2. You're still employed by the plan sponsor and under 59½

Most 401(k) plans block in-service distributions before 59½. You can usually buy a gold fund or use a brokerage window inside the plan if those are offered. You usually cannot roll to a Gold IRA yet. Check your Summary Plan Description or call HR before you do anything else.

3. Your rollover would be under $25,000

The math doesn't work. A $235 flat fee on a $10,000 Gold IRA is 2.35% a year — that's roughly 20x what a 0.10% gold ETF inside a brokerage window would cost. If you want a small allocation to gold, route #2 is your answer.

4. You only want gold exposure, not physical bullion

If “I want gold to be 5–10% of my portfolio” is the real goal, an ETF or fund is cleaner. You don't need a Gold IRA to own gold exposure. You need a Gold IRA to own physical bullion inside a retirement account. Those are different problems.

5. You're responding to fear, a cold call, or a “the dollar is about to collapse” pitch

The CFTC has a public warning about precious-metals fraud targeting retirees. The SEC has a similar investor alert on self-directed IRA fraud. The reason these warnings exist is that fear-based sales work — and the salespeople pushing fastest are usually the ones charging the highest spreads. No legitimate rollover rule requires a same-day Gold IRA decision. Slow down. Get a second opinion.

How to spot a Gold IRA scam before you fund the account

Short answer:The four biggest red flags are time pressure (“act today”), specialty-coin pushes (numismatic, proof, graded), home-storage pitches, and refusal to disclose the spread over spot in writing. Real SEC and Tax Court enforcement actions document each of these costing retirees real money. The checklist below would have caught every documented case we found.

The 7-point red-flag checklist

What enforcement actions teach you

In 2023, the SEC sued Red Rock Secured alleging the firm marked up gold by as much as 130% over spot on retirement-account purchases — meaning a customer paying $4,000 for a coin received something worth roughly $1,740 at market. That's not a typo. It happened. The case is public.

In 2021, the U.S. Tax Court ruled in McNulty v. Commissionerthat a Rhode Island couple who exercised personal control over IRA-owned gold through a home-storage “checkbook IRA” structure owed taxes on the value of the metals plus penalties. The court did not buy the LLC-as-IRA-manager workaround. The decision is on record.

These are the two cases worth memorizing. They're the proof points that the red-flag checklist isn't theoretical.

How to verify a provider before you fund

• Better Business Bureau (BBB): Check the live BBB profile at decision time. BBB ratings can change, and the rating is not an endorsement of investment suitability.
• Trustpilot: Look at the content of negative reviews, not just the star rating. Patterns about delivery delays, fee surprises, or pushy upsells are real.
• FINRA BrokerCheck: Most Gold IRA dealers are not FINRA-registered broker-dealers (physical gold is not a security). If a salesperson is offering broader investment advice, check their registration at brokercheck.finra.org.
• SEC IAPD: For any advisor giving you broader retirement guidance, verify at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
• Your state Attorney General:Search for complaints against the company name and the specific salespeople's names.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy physical gold directly in my 401(k)?

Almost never. Most workplace 401(k) plans don't allow direct ownership of physical gold bars or coins. Your three routes are an in-plan gold fund, a brokerage-window gold ETF, or a rollover to a self-directed Gold IRA that can hold physical metals.

Can I move my 401(k) to gold without penalty?

Yes — a direct rollover from an eligible 401(k) into a self-directed IRA, where the money moves plan-to-custodian, can avoid current income tax and the 10% additional tax. The trap is the indirect rollover, where the plan pays the money to you first; that triggers 20% mandatory withholding and starts a 60-day clock.

Can I roll over my current employer's 401(k) into a Gold IRA while still working there?

Sometimes. Many plans allow in-service rollovers once you reach age 59½. Some allow them for certain money sources (prior rollover balances, after-tax contributions) at any age. Many forbid them entirely. Your Summary Plan Description is the only document that gives you a definitive answer.

How long does a 401(k) to Gold IRA rollover take?

It varies by 401(k) administrator, custodian, paperwork completeness, and funding method. A clean direct rollover is often complete in two to three weeks; slow plan administrators can stretch it longer.

What's the minimum to start a Gold IRA?

Provider-dependent. Birch Gold Group's published minimum is $5,000. American Hartford Gold's published minimum is $10,000. Goldco's published minimum is $25,000. Augusta Precious Metals requires $50,000. Noble Gold's published minimum is $20,000.

Can I store IRA gold at home?

Don't, without tax counsel. IRS guidance says qualifying IRA bullion must be in the physical possession of a bank or IRS-approved nonbank trustee. The 2021 McNulty v. Commissioner Tax Court case treated personal control of IRA-owned metals as taxable distributions and upheld penalties.

What gold coins qualify for an IRA?

American Gold Eagle (statutory exception, despite being 22-karat), American Gold Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Philharmonic, Australian Kangaroo, and bars from LBMA/NYMEX/COMEX-accredited refiners that meet .995 purity. Krugerrands, British Sovereigns, and pre-1933 U.S. gold coins generally do not qualify.

Is the rollover taxable?

Direct rollover (money moves plan-to-custodian): no current income tax. Indirect rollover (check made out to you): no current income tax IF you redeposit the full pre-withholding amount in a qualifying retirement account within 60 days. Miss the 60 days and the distribution becomes ordinary income, plus a 10% additional tax if you're under 59½ and no exception applies.

Does a 401(k) rollover count against the annual IRA contribution limit?

No. The 2026 IRA contribution limit is $7,500 ($8,600 with the age 50+ catch-up of $1,100), per IRS Notice 2025-67. Rollover amounts from a 401(k) don't count against that limit — you can roll over $100,000 and still make a $7,500 new contribution the same year.

What percentage of my 401(k) should be in gold?

There's no IRS rule. Allocation depends on age, time horizon, income needs, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and the rest of your portfolio. Common discussion frameworks reference small allocations as a diversifier rather than a core holding, but the right number for you is a planning conversation, not a one-size answer.

Is gold a safe investment for retirement?

Gold is not risk-free. It pays no dividends, can be volatile in the short term, and there's no guarantee of how it will perform against equities over your specific time horizon. The SEC specifically warns that self-directed IRAs can involve fraud, high fees, volatile performance, and limited custodian review of the underlying investment. FINRA tells precious-metals buyers to understand fees, volatility, and the break-even math before they buy.

Should I respond to a Gold IRA cold call?

No. The CFTC specifically warns retirees against unsolicited precious-metals pitches. If a Gold IRA company calls you, run the red-flag checklist before you do anything else.

Can I roll a Roth 401(k) into a Roth Gold IRA?

Yes — a direct Roth-to-Roth rollover preserves the tax treatment. Pre-tax 401(k) money should not be casually mixed with Roth money during a rollover; pre-tax stays in a Traditional Gold IRA, Roth stays in a Roth Gold IRA. If your plan has both pre-tax and Roth balances, your 401(k) administrator can typically split the rollover.

What happens to my Gold IRA when I die?

It transfers to your designated beneficiary under the same rules as a Traditional or Roth IRA. Under the SECURE Act, most non-spouse beneficiaries must fully distribute an inherited Traditional IRA within 10 years. A spouse beneficiary has more flexibility, including the option to treat the inherited account as their own. The metals can usually be sold inside the IRA or distributed in-kind, depending on the beneficiary preference and tax situation.

What we actually verified on this page

• IRS rules cited to IRC § 408(m)(3), § 408(a)(2), and IRS Topic No. 413 (Rollovers)
• 2026 contribution limits ($7,500 IRA / $1,100 catch-up / $24,500 401(k) elective deferral / $8,000 standard 401(k) catch-up / $11,250 enhanced catch-up for ages 60–63) from IRS Notice 2025-67
• Gold ETF expense ratios from State Street's official GLDM and GLD fund pages, abrdn's official SGOL documentation, and iShares' official IAU and IAUM pages
• Provider fees and minimums from each company's publicly visible pricing pages (Goldco's “How Much Does a Gold IRA Cost?”, Birch's Gold IRA Fees, Noble's support page, AHG's Gold IRA FAQ, Augusta's Gold IRA page)
• Depository details from each depository's own public materials
• SEC enforcement reference to SEC v. Red Rock Secured (2023)
• Tax Court reference to McNulty v. Commissioner (2021)
• Executive Order 14330 signed August 7, 2025, published in the Federal Register August 12, 2025
• DOL proposed rule on alternative assets in 401(k) plans, published March 30, 2026
• Existing internal coverage at /401k-to-gold-ira-rollover/ for deeper rollover mechanics

What we did not verify:the exact dealer spread on the specific coins each provider will quote you (get this in writing before you fund); the current month's promotional offer terms; the exact written annual fee schedules for Augusta and American Hartford (both disclose categories publicly but not full dollar schedules); the current BBB letter grade at the moment of your decision (check the live profile); and your specific plan's in-service distribution rules (only your plan administrator or Summary Plan Description can tell you). We refresh fee data, provider minimums, IRS limits, and regulatory references quarterly.

Still not sure what to do next?

Three honest paths, depending on where you are:

A note on us

The Retirement Index is an independent research and comparison resource for retirement planning decisions. We're reader-supported through affiliate partnerships, which we disclose openly. We don't accept payment to change editorial conclusions or to push a provider above a better-fit alternative. The Augusta-led featuring above reflects our judgment that Augusta has the most education-first onboarding and the cleanest minimum-fit for the $50K+ rollover reader who is the right fit for the Gold IRA route — not the size of any commission. If a future quarterly verification turns up material regulatory or service issues with any featured provider, the lead position moves to whichever provider's evidence supports it. That's the deal.

Editorial: The Retirement Index Editorial Team. Last verified: May 21, 2026. Next scheduled review: Quarterly, or sooner if IRS rules change, a major enforcement action is filed against a featured provider, or a provider materially changes its minimum or fee structure.

Related guides

• 401(k) to Gold IRA Rollover: Step-by-Step Guide 2026
• Best Gold IRA Companies 2026 — Full Review
• How to Open a Gold IRA in 2026
• How to Choose a Gold IRA Company: The Written Quote Checklist
• What Is a Gold IRA? IRS Rules Explained