Our Top-Rated Gold IRA Companies

Costs typically include a one-time setup fee (around $50) and annual fees for custody and storage (around $200 total). However, companies like Augusta often run promotions to waive these fees for many years.

No. IRS regulations strictly prohibit home storage for IRA-owned precious metals. The assets must be held by an IRS-approved custodian in a third-party depository. Any company suggesting otherwise is promoting a risky scheme that could lead to severe tax penalties.

The most common method is a tax-free rollover or transfer from an existing retirement account, such as a 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or another IRA. Your Gold IRA company specialist will help you with all the paperwork for this process.

The spread is the difference between a dealer's cost for a metal and the price they sell it for. This is how dealers are compensated. A reputable company like Augusta is known for its transparent pricing and will be upfront about its spread.

No, you cannot add physical gold bars or coins directly to a standard IRA. Standard IRAs are designed to hold paper assets like stocks and bonds. To hold physical precious metals, you must open a new, separate Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) with a specialized custodian and then fund it by rolling over or transferring assets from your existing IRA.

When you're ready to take a distribution, you have two options: take physical possession of the metals (which is a taxable event) or sell them for cash. Most top Gold IRA companies, including Augusta, offer a buyback program. You can contact them to sell your metals at the current market price. The funds are then sent to your IRA custodian, and you can request a cash withdrawal from there.

The IRS has strict rules to prevent IRAs from holding "collectibles." Most rare or numismatic coins are considered collectibles and are therefore not allowed. To be IRA-eligible, gold coins must generally have a minimum purity of 99.5%. The American Gold Eagle is a notable exception to this rule, as it is specifically permitted by law despite its lower purity.

Your Gold IRA functions like any other IRA in terms of inheritance. The assets in the account, including the physical gold and silver, will pass to the beneficiaries you have designated on your account paperwork with the custodian. Your beneficiaries will then have several options for how to manage the inherited IRA, according to IRS rules.

Both are methods to move funds between retirement accounts tax-free. A transfer moves funds directly between two similar types of accounts (e.g., from one traditional IRA to another). A rollover moves funds from one type of account to another (e.g., from a 401(k) to a traditional IRA). For the investor, the process is very similar and a good Gold IRA company will handle the paperwork for either method. The most important thing is to ensure it's a "direct" rollover/transfer, where the money goes from custodian to custodian without you touching it.