How to Open a Precious Metals IRA: Custodians, Rollovers, and Costs

To open a precious metals IRA, you set up a self-directed IRA with a custodian authorized to hold physical bullion, fund the account by rollover, transfer, or contribution, and then direct the custodian to buy IRS-qualifying gold, silver, platinum, or palladium that ships to an approved depository in the trustee’s name. From application to your first metal purchase usually takes one to three weeks, depending mostly on how quickly funding clears. Federal law requires a qualified trustee to physically hold the metals, so storing IRA gold in a home safe is not an option no matter what a sales pitch says.

Pick a Custodian and Depository

A standard brokerage IRA will not hold physical metals. You need a self-directed IRA custodian that specifically handles bullion, and under federal tax law that trustee must be either a bank or an entity the IRS has approved under Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e).¹ The IRS publishes the list of approved nonbank trustees on its website, so you can verify a company actually holds that designation before handing over your paperwork.

You also need a depository to store the metals. This is a separate decision from your custodian choice, though many custodians steer clients toward specific depositories they already work with. The statute requires IRA-held bullion to remain in the physical possession of a trustee described under 26 U.S.C. 408(a), which in practice means a bank or approved institution.² The IRS does not publish an “approved depository” list, despite what some promoters say. What matters is that the depository operates under the custodian’s control so the trustee-possession requirement is met.

Depositories usually offer two storage types. Segregated storage keeps your specific bars and coins set aside for you. Commingled storage pools your holdings with those of other clients holding the same product. Segregated costs more. Annual storage fees generally run $100 to $300 depending on holdings and storage type.

Gather Your Documents and Choose the Account Type

Having paperwork ready before you start prevents the back-and-forth that stalls an application. You will need:

Government-issued ID such as a driver’s license or passport for identity verification.
Your Social Security number for tax reporting.
Beneficiary information: full names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers.
A recent statement from any 401(k), 403(b), or IRA you plan to roll over, so the transfer details match exactly.

The application will ask whether you want a Traditional or Roth IRA. Traditional contributions may be tax-deductible, and you pay income tax on withdrawals. Roth contributions are after-tax, and qualified withdrawals in retirement come out tax-free. This choice governs the tax treatment of every dollar in the account, so it deserves more than a quick checkbox. Make sure every name, address, and number on the application matches your legal ID exactly. Mismatches trigger verification holds.

Submit the Application

Most custodians accept applications electronically through e-signature platforms. Digital submission is faster than mailing physical copies; custodians typically begin their compliance review within one to two business days of receiving a completed application. During review, the custodian verifies your identity, checks that the paperwork is consistent, and confirms the account structure meets IRS rules. Once approved, you receive an account number and online portal access. At that point the account exists but holds nothing. It is an empty shell waiting to be funded.

Fund the Account

You have several ways to get money into a precious metals IRA, and the method matters for taxes.

Direct Rollovers and Trustee-to-Trustee Transfers

The cleanest option is a direct rollover from an employer plan like a 401(k) or 403(b), where the plan administrator sends funds straight to your new custodian. A trustee-to-trustee transfer does the same thing between IRA custodians. Neither method triggers tax withholding, and there is no limit on the number of trustee-to-trustee transfers you can do in a year.³

Indirect 60-Day Rollovers

With an indirect rollover, the funds come to you first, and you have 60 days to redeposit them. Two risks come with this route. First, distributions from an employer plan get 20% withheld for federal taxes, so to roll over the full amount you have to make up that 20% from other funds or owe tax on the shortfall.⁴ Second, you are limited to one indirect IRA-to-IRA rollover in any 12-month period across all of your IRAs combined. Miss the 60-day window or blow past the one-per-year limit and the whole amount becomes a taxable distribution.³

Annual Contributions

You can also fund the account with new contributions. For 2026, the IRA contribution limit is $7,500, and if you are 50 or older, the catch-up brings the total to $8,600.⁵ These limits apply across all your IRAs combined for the year, not per account. Contribute $4,000 to a traditional IRA at a brokerage and you can only put $3,500 (or $4,600 with catch-up) into your precious metals IRA that same year.

Pick a Dealer and Buy Qualifying Metals

Your custodian holds the account and handles paperwork, but the actual metals come from a separate precious metals dealer. This is where investors get burned most often, because the dealer market includes both reputable companies and aggressive salespeople pushing overpriced products.

Before you buy anything, understand what qualifies. The IRS treats precious metals as collectibles, and buying a collectible with IRA funds triggers an immediate taxable distribution equal to the purchase price.² The exception in 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3) is narrow. Bullion bars and rounds must meet these fineness minimums:⁶

Gold: .995 fineness (99.5% pure)
Silver: .999 fineness (99.9% pure)
Platinum: .9995 fineness (99.95% pure)
Palladium: .9995 fineness (99.95% pure)

For coins, the statute specifically names American Eagle gold coins in the $5, $10, $25, and $50 denominations, American Eagle silver coins, and American Eagle platinum coins, all authorized under 31 U.S.C. 5112.⁷ American Buffalo gold coins (99.99% pure, also minted under 31 U.S.C. 5112) qualify as well. Foreign-minted bullion coins like the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf can qualify too, but only because they meet the bullion fineness thresholds, not because the statute lists them by name.

What does not qualify: rare or numismatic coins, pre-1933 gold pieces, and anything below the fineness thresholds. If your IRA buys a non-qualifying metal, the IRS treats it as though you withdrew the cash, meaning income tax on the full amount plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½.⁸

A few practical guidelines when dealing with dealers. Get written price breakdowns showing the spot price, the premium, and any markup before you commit. Typical markups on IRA-eligible bullion run 3% to 10% over spot. If someone quotes 20% to 50% above spot for a “special edition” or “exclusive IRA-approved” coin, walk away. Compare prices across at least two or three dealers. Be skeptical of anyone guaranteeing returns on a commodity that fluctuates daily.

Once you have chosen a dealer and specific products, you submit a Trade Authorization or Purchase Direction form to your custodian. This form tells the custodian exactly what to buy and from whom. The custodian wires payment to the dealer, usually charging a $25 to $50 wire fee. The dealer ships the metals directly to your depository. They never come to you. The depository inspects the delivery against the shipping manifest, logs the metals into your account, and confirms with the custodian. Your online balance then reflects physical holdings rather than cash.

Do Not Store the Metals at Home

Some promoters market “home storage IRA” or “checkbook IRA” arrangements, claiming you can hold gold coins in your own safe. The Tax Court rejected this in McNulty v. Commissioner (2021), ruling that a couple who stored American Eagle coins from their IRA in a home safe had taken a taxable distribution of the coins’ full value. Their reliance on the promoter’s assurances was not treated as reasonable cause, so additional IRS penalties applied on top of the taxes owed. IRA-held bullion must remain in the physical possession of a trustee qualifying under 26 U.S.C. 408(a).²

Home storage is one example of a broader category the IRS calls prohibited transactions: any improper use of an IRA by the account owner, beneficiaries, or disqualified persons (your spouse, parents, children, and their spouses). Examples include borrowing from the IRA, selling property to the IRA, using IRA assets as loan collateral, and buying property for personal use with IRA funds. The penalty is severe. The entire IRA ceases to exist as of January 1 of the year the violation occurred, the full fair market value on that date is treated as a distribution to you, and you owe income tax on the whole balance plus a 10% penalty if you are under 59½.⁹

Costs to Expect

Precious metals IRAs carry more layers of fees than a typical brokerage IRA:

Custodian setup fee, often around $50, charged once when the account opens.
Annual administration fee, ranging from $75 to several hundred dollars depending on custodian and account size.
Storage fee, typically $100 to $300 per year, with segregated storage at the higher end.
Wire transfer fee of $25 to $50 per transaction when the custodian pays a dealer.
Dealer premiums of 3% to 10% above spot price on each purchase for standard IRA-eligible bullion.
Liquidation or buyback spread, which varies by dealer; some charge a flat fee, others build their margin into a lower buyback price.

On a $25,000 account, annual custodian and storage fees alone might run $200 to $500, which is roughly 1% to 2% of the account value every year before the metals gain or lose a penny. That drag compounds over decades, and for smaller balances the fixed costs take a proportionally larger bite.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Approved Nonbank Trustees and Custodians
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts
3
Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions
4
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 413, Rollovers From Retirement Plans
5
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
6
CME Group. Precious Metals Physical Delivery Process
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5112 – Denominations, Specifications, and Design of Coins
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs Regarding IRAs Distributions (Withdrawals)
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Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Prohibited Transactions