Gold IRA Custodian Fees: Setup, Annual and Transaction Charges (12 Fee Schedules Compared, 2026)

Gold IRA custodian fees cost $215 to $685 a year on a $50,000 account under 12 published schedules in effect in 2026. You also pay $0 to $50 to open the account online and about $100 to $500 to leave it. Your total depends on three things: your balance, whether your metal is stored apart from other people's, and which price list opens your account.

The custodian is the trust company or bank that legally holds your IRA. Its fee schedule is the dated price list attached to your account agreement. The dealer's markup on the metal, another layer of gold IRA fees, is usually larger.

This page prints 12 custodian fee schedules, read September 29, 2026, priced at $50,000 and $250,000. It covers the first-year bill, trade and exit charges, 10-year totals in dollars and ounces, and what happens when a fee goes unpaid. Every number comes from the custodian's own dated fee schedule.

The 5 key figures below summarize gold IRA custodian fees as of September 29, 2026.

• Setup fee: $0 to $50 online ($75 on paper at Equity Trust Universal and Directed).
• Yearly custodian and storage bill: $215 (GoldStar, commingled storage) to $1,160 (Equity Trust Universal IRA at $250,000).
• Per buy or sell: $0 to $200 a trade.
• Closing the account: about $100 to $500 in custodian fees, before shipping.
• 10-year total: $2,410 to $11,900, including setup, one purchase and closing.

What Are Gold IRA Custodian Fees?#

Gold IRA custodian fees are the charges your IRA's trust company or bank bills for opening, keeping, trading and closing the account. They also include storage at the vault, called the depository, that the custodian arranges for your metal.

Custodian fee schedules charge for 5 kinds of things, listed below with a dated example of each.

• Setup fee: a one-time charge to open the account, $0 to $50 online (GoldStar $50, schedule GTC Rev. 01/2026).
• Administration fee: the yearly charge for record keeping and IRS reporting, $90 (GoldStar) to $556 (Madison Trust, effective January 1, 2026) on flat schedules.
• Storage fee: the depository's yearly charge, flat ($100 to $225) or a percentage of value, such as uDirect's 0.50%.
• Transaction charges: fees per action, such as buying, selling, wires and late payment ($0 to $200 per trade).
• Exit fees: termination and transfer-out charges, such as GoldStar's $150 and Equity Trust's $250.

Storage comes in two kinds. Commingled storage keeps your coins with identical coins of other owners, and you get back the same type and weight. Segregated storage keeps your own coins apart.

Custodians bill storage because the depository's contract is usually with them. Entrust says: "The depository bills your provider, and your provider uses funds from your SDIRA to pay them." In plain English: the vault bills the custodian, which pays from your self-directed IRA. What gold IRA custodians do beyond billing, and how each is chartered, is covered separately.

Custodian fees vs dealer markups: which is which?#

The custodian's fees are printed on a dated schedule, while the gold dealer's markup is built into the coin price and rarely printed anywhere. The spread is the dealer's share of the price you pay. The buyback is the price the dealer pays when you sell the metal back.

The table below shows who charges what, and where you can read it.

The custodian pays whatever price you and the dealer agreed. Equity Trust's Precious Metals Risk and Fee Disclosure (Rev. 121625) says "it is your obligation to agree upon a purchase price/selling price for your precious metals." In plain English: the custodian does not check whether the price is fair. How dealers set gold IRA markups and spreads is covered on its own page.

Why does a gold IRA pay a custodian at all?#

A gold IRA pays a custodian because federal law requires every IRA to be held by a bank or an approved trustee. The same law says IRA bullion must sit in that trustee's physical possession.

Under 26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2), the trustee "is a bank (as defined in subsection (n)) or such other person who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary..." Section 408(m)(3)(B) lets bullion count only "if such bullion is in the physical possession of a trustee". In plain English: you cannot hold your own gold IRA or keep its coins at home, so a licensed firm holds both and charges for it.

A trustee is the firm that legally holds the account for you; 408(h) treats a custodian the same way. Most metals custodians count as banks under 408(n)(3) as state-chartered trust companies, licensed by a state banking department. A nonbank trustee is a firm the IRS approves (Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)). That IRS list had 73 entities on April 1, 2026, and no major metals custodian is on it.

So you check a custodian on a state list instead; the steps to verify a custodian's charter are on a separate page.

How Much Are Gold IRA Custodian Fees Per Year? 12 Schedules Compared#

Gold IRA custodian fees run $215 to $685 a year at $50,000 and $215 to $1,160 at $250,000 under schedules in effect in 2026, storage included. That range covers 12 published schedules read September 29, 2026. Metals-focused schedules opened through a dealer sit at the low end ($215 to $325), and all-asset and value-based schedules sit at the high end.

Each row names the schedule's revision code: the version label printed on the fee sheet, so you can match it to yours. "Private storage" means segregated storage, so the segregated column covers it.

Table 1 lists yearly custodian and storage fees for 12 published schedules at two balances (commingled / segregated, read September 29, 2026).

Notes: (a) Entrust storage comes from the Entrust-Delaware Depository form; Entrust calls commingled storage "allocated". (b) The live Forge and uDirect fee pages returned an error; values come from dated archive copies. (c) GoldStar's segregated charge above $125,000 is not confirmed by GoldStar, so no dollar figure is printed. (d) NDTCO says "All annual fees are per asset", and Madison adds $30 a quarter per additional asset; how a holding of several coin products counts is not established, so these totals can be higher.

Published schedules, read September 29, 2026. Accounts opened through a dealer or adviser can be billed on an institutional schedule that differs from the public one; ask for the schedule attached to your own application.

Three schedules (rows 10 to 12) publish no storage price, so their totals read "+ storage". Three other published metals schedules are not rows in Table 1 but appear in the sections below: Preferred Trust ($300 a year, storage varying by depository, schedule 1.26.26), Advanta IRA ($250 a year per depository, Rev. 10/25) and Accuplan ($349.95 a year, fees page read September 29, 2026).

The cheapest gold IRA custodian at $50,000 and $250,000#

The lowest published yearly total at both $50,000 and $250,000 is GoldStar's commingled storage at $215, as of its January 2026 schedule. For segregated storage, the lowest is Equity Trust's metals-only schedule at $285.

The ranking below sorts every priced option in Table 1 from low to high at each balance.

Not ranked at either balance: NDTCO, Provident and IRA Financial, which publish no storage price.

GoldStar's commingled total is always $20 below Equity Trust's non-segregated $235. With segregated storage, GoldStar costs $90 + a $225 minimum = $315 a year up to $125,000: $30 above Equity Trust's $285 and $10 below STRATA's $325. Above $125,000 the charge rises with value, so ask GoldStar for the dollar amount in writing.

This ranking is math on published numbers, not a recommendation, and a dealer can open your account on a private schedule. Price is only one test; how SafeOunce weighs the others is on best gold IRA custodians.

Why can one custodian charge two fee schedules? Equity Trust and Midland#

One custodian can publish several price lists at once: Equity Trust publishes four. Its metals-only schedule costs $285 a year at any balance with segregated storage. Its direct Universal IRA costs $660 at $50,000 and $1,160 at $250,000 (schedules read September 29, 2026).

The table below compares the two Equity Trust price lists with segregated storage.

In plain English: the same company, vault and coins can cost $375 to $875 more a year, depending on which account the paperwork opens. So Equity Trust self-directed IRA fees depend on the channel.

The Universal IRA also has tiers, which are price bands by account value. "Under $50,000" pays $350, and "$50,000-$99,999" pays $500. So a $49,999 account pays $510 with segregated storage, and a $50,000 account pays $660.

Equity Trust publishes two more lists. A legacy retail schedule (FS-0001-03 Rev. 081726) charges $500 at $100,000-$199,999, or $375 more than the metals-only $125. The Enterprise Flex schedule (FS-0004-01 Rev. 110625) is priced by "NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS BY REPRESENTATIVE". Which list applies to which customer is not established, so ask which account type your paperwork opens.

Midland Trust clients moved to Equity Trust on July 15, 2024 by negative consent, meaning silence counted as agreement. The Equity Institutional schedule (effective July 15, 2024) says "If no selection is made, the account will default to Option 1." That default costs $350 per metals asset a year, so three coin products cost $1,050; Option 2 costs $425 at $45,000-$59,999. Former clients can check Midland Trust fees and the default fee option line by line.

Are gold IRA custodian fees flat or a percentage of your account?#

Most metals-only custodian fees are flat dollar amounts. Seven of the 12 schedules in Table 1 have a part that grows with value instead.

The 3 fee models are listed below with the schedules that use them.

• Flat fee: the same dollar amount at any balance (GoldStar commingled, Equity Trust metals-only, STRATA).
• Value-based (scaled) fee: a charge that rises with account value, in tiers or as a percentage. Examples are Equity Trust Universal's tiers, Entrust's 0.17% over $50,000 (with a $2,299 cap, meaning a ceiling) and uDirect's 0.50% storage.
• Per-asset fee: a charge for each asset type you hold (Entrust 1 vs 2+ asset types; Midland Option 1 at $350 per asset). Madison adds $30 a quarter ($120 a year) per additional asset, which may apply to metals (not established).

A $285 flat fee costs less than a 0.50% storage charge above $57,000. Forge's commingled total stays below Directed's up to $475,000, and Entrust (one asset type plus $100 Delaware storage) stays below Madison up to $460,000. Crossover points for every pair of structures are worked out in flat vs scaled gold IRA fees.

What Does It Cost to Open a Gold IRA? Setup Fees and the First-Year Bill#

Opening a gold IRA costs $0 to $50 in custodian setup fees online, and $265 to $781 for the whole first year on a $50,000 account, under schedules in effect in 2026. The first-year bill adds the setup fee, one purchase fee and the first year's custodian and storage fees.

Table 2 shows the first-year bill at $50,000, with commingled storage unless stated (schedules read September 29, 2026).

The dealer's markup on the first purchase is not in this table and is usually larger. Dealers can also charge you to open: American Bullion's Shipping and Transaction Agreement (October 2024) charges "the greater of $250 or 0.50%" of transferred funds if you open the IRA and do not buy. The 5 steps of how to open a gold IRA, and what each one costs, are on the account-opening page.

Setup fees by custodian#

A gold IRA setup fee costs $0 at STRATA (online) and IRA Financial, $30 at NDTCO and $50 at 7 other custodians, as of September 2026. A setup fee is the one-time charge to open the account.

Each amount below comes from the custodian's own schedule.

• STRATA: $0 electronic, $50 on paper (page modified August 31, 2026).
• IRA Financial: $0 (effective January 1, 2026).
• Forge: $0 or $50 (effective December 1, 2025).
• NDTCO: $30 application fee.
• Equity Trust metals-only, GoldStar, Entrust, Madison, uDirect, Directed and Provident: $50.
• Paper applications: $75 at Equity Trust Universal and Directed.

Eight custodians also require a minimum cash balance: cash that must stay in the IRA and cannot buy metal. It is $500 at Madison, uDirect, Provident, IRA Financial, Forge and Preferred and $325 at Accuplan (2026 schedules), and $750 at American IRA (latest readable schedule, November 2024). That cash adds to how much money you need to start a gold IRA, where company minimums are compared too.

When are gold IRA custodian fees billed?#

Custodians bill yearly fees either each January or on the account's opening anniversary, and most do not prorate. So the month you open or close changes what you pay. To prorate means to charge only for the part of the year you used.

An anniversary date is the day of the year your account opened. GoldStar bills "on the account opening anniversary date. Annual Fees are not prorated" (GTC Rev. 01/2026). STRATA and Provident also bill on the anniversary, and NDTCO in each asset's anniversary month. Forge bills quarterly on day 1, Madison quarterly, and Directed bills storage in advance, "neither prorated nor refundable". Closing one day after a GoldStar anniversary pays a full $215 year you will not use, so close before it.

What Are Gold IRA Transaction Charges? 6 Fees Charged Per Action#

Gold IRA transaction charges are the custodian's fees for 6 actions: buying metal, selling it, taking it out in kind, sending a wire, mailing paper statements and paying late. A wire is a bank-to-bank money transfer. "In kind" means you take the coins themselves rather than cash.

Table 3 shows the 6 charges at 8 custodians, in the same order, from their 2026 schedules (read September 29, 2026).

n/p = not published in the schedule read. Madison's $30 disbursement fee covers cash payouts; its in-kind fee is not established.

Buying and selling fees: $0 to $200 a trade#

Buying or selling metal costs $0 a trade at GoldStar and Entrust and up to $200 per sale at Preferred Trust, as of September 2026. A liquidation is a sale of metal inside the IRA.

The 12 per-trade charges below run from lowest to highest.

1. GoldStar: $0 (the schedule says "NO FEE"), plus $10 and shipping on liquidations and in-kind moves.
2. Entrust: $0 for metals trades.
3. IRA Financial: unlimited purchases and distributions, included in the $495 yearly fee.
4. Equity Trust metals-only: $30 per liquidation.
5. uDirect: 6 free transactions for the life of the account; metals liquidation $50.
6. Directed: $50 per metals transaction.
7. Forge: $50 per transaction.
8. STRATA: $75 ($40 + $35 depository handling).
9. Madison: $75 per investment.
10. Advanta: $95 per trade (Rev. 10/25).
11. NDTCO: $130 per buy or sell.
12. Preferred Trust: $50 per purchase and $200 per sale (schedule 1.26.26).

STRATA's per-trade fee is often quoted as $40, but its own table adds $35 depository handling, the vault's charge for moving metal in or out. So each STRATA buy or sell costs $75, or 1.5% of a $5,000 purchase.

In-kind distribution fees: taking physical gold out#

Taking coins out of a gold IRA in kind costs $75 at GoldStar and $125 per transaction at Equity Trust, plus shipping, as of their 2026 schedules. In kind means the custodian ships you the coins instead of selling them for cash.

GoldStar charges $75 plus $10 and shipping. Equity Trust's metals-only schedule charges $125 per transaction plus shipping cost and $10 (minimum $50). STRATA charges $35 depository handling plus $10 and the depository's cost, Directed and Forge $50, and Preferred Trust $200 (schedule 1.26.26).

Gold IRA distributions in coins are taxed like cash ones. A traditional IRA's in-kind payout is income at the metal's value, and before age 59 1/2 the 10% additional tax may apply (26 U.S.C. 72(t)). The steps and taxes of gold IRA distributions in cash or in coins are on the distributions page.

Wire, paper statement and late fees#

Wires cost $30 to $50, paper statements $20 to $60 a year and late payments $35 to $50 at the metals custodians that publish them, as of September 2026.

The three lines below list each dated charge.

• Wire: Equity Trust $30, Entrust $30, STRATA $35, Directed $35, GoldStar $50, Provident $50 (wire out).
• Paper statements: Directed $20, GoldStar $40, STRATA $50 and Equity Trust $60 a year.
• Late fee: Directed $35, NDTCO $40 per 30 days, and Equity Trust, STRATA and GoldStar $50.

A corrected Form 5498 or 1099-R costs $100 at STRATA and $250 at Directed, and a Roth conversion costs $100 at GoldStar. These small lines are the hidden gold IRA fees most fee summaries leave out.

What do trade fees add up to over 10 years?#

Ten yearly sales to meet required minimum distributions cost $0 at GoldStar and Entrust, $300 at Equity Trust, $750 at STRATA and up to $1,300 at NDTCO (2026 fees). A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the yearly withdrawal the law requires from a traditional IRA. It starts at age 73 for people born 1951 to 1958, or 75 if born 1960 or later (26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9)).

Table 4 compares two 10-year trade scenarios under 2026 schedules. Scenario B uses $8,600, the 2026 IRA limit of $7,500 plus the $1,100 catch-up at age 50 (IRS Notice 2025-67).

Frequent small purchases cost the most at per-trade custodians: $130 is 1.51% of each $8,600 purchase at NDTCO. Whether to sell slices or take coins for your RMD is covered under the RMD rules for metals.

How Much Does It Cost to Close or Leave a Gold IRA Custodian?#

Leaving a gold IRA custodian costs about $100 to $500 in custodian fees under published schedules read September 2026, depending on whether you sell first or move the coins in kind. A termination fee is the charge for closing the account. A transfer out moves your IRA to another custodian, and re-registration is the fee for putting the metal in the new custodian's name.

Table 5 compares the two exit routes at 13 custodians under their published schedules.

Published schedules, read September 29, 2026. Accounts opened through a dealer or adviser can be billed on an institutional schedule that differs from the public one; ask for the schedule attached to your own application.

Exit costs run highest at Preferred Trust and on in-kind moves at Equity Trust and STRATA, and Provident's in-kind cost grows $25 with each extra asset. Each exit route is priced step by step in gold IRA termination and transfer-out fees.

Exit problems dominate complaints about custodians. SafeOunce read the most recent one-star Trustpilot reviews on September 29, 2026. Exit friction plus exit fees made up 64% at Equity Trust (22 reviews), 74% at STRATA (19) and 75% at GoldStar (20). Exit friction means complaints about delays in selling or transferring.

Before you open the account, ask in writing for the exit fees and the number of business days to sell or transfer.

A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer, in which the old custodian sends the account straight to the new one, is not a rollover and is not taxed (IRS Publication 590-A). Moving coins in kind when switching gold IRA custodians keeps it a transfer, not a rollover.

What Do Gold IRA Custodian Fees Cost Over 10 Years?#

Over 10 years, gold IRA custodian fees total about $2,410 to $6,910 on a $50,000 account and $2,410 to $11,900 on a $250,000 account under 2026 schedules. Those totals include setup, one purchase and closing the account.

Table 6 ranks 12 custodian setups by their 10-year cost at two balances.

SafeOunce computation: setup + one purchase fee + 10 years of custodian and storage fees + closing by selling (sale fee + termination; GoldStar adds its $50 wire and $10 shipping handling). Metal value held flat; value-based fees rise if gold rises. Fees paid from outside the account. The Universal IRA's metals sale fee is not established, so it is left out.

Published schedules, read September 29, 2026. Accounts opened through a dealer or adviser can be billed on an institutional schedule that differs from the public one; ask for the schedule attached to your own application.

Flat schedules take a shrinking share as the account grows. GoldStar's $215 is 0.43% of $50,000 but only 0.09% of $250,000, while Equity Trust Universal's $1,160 is still 0.46% of $250,000. Small accounts feel flat fees most: a $285 yearly bill is 2.85% of $10,000, 1.14% of $25,000 and 0.57% of $50,000.

The gold IRA fee calculator runs the same math at your own balance.

How many ounces of gold do the fees cost?#

Ten years of custodian fees cost 0.58 to 2.87 troy ounces of gold on a $250,000 account, at the LBMA PM price of $4,144.55 on September 28, 2026. The LBMA PM price is the London afternoon benchmark price for gold. A troy ounce is 31.1 grams, the unit gold is priced in.

The four lines below turn 10-year totals into ounces at that September 28, 2026 price.

• $2,410 (GoldStar commingled, either balance): 0.58 oz, about 18.1 grams.
• $3,180 (Equity Trust metals-only, segregated): 0.77 oz.
• $6,900 (Equity Trust Universal at $50,000): 1.66 oz.
• $11,900 (Equity Trust Universal at $250,000): 2.87 oz, about 89.3 grams.

Per year, $285 equals 0.069 oz and $1,160 equals 0.280 oz at the same price. To redo the math for another day, divide the fee by that day's LBMA PM price.

Custodian fees vs the dealer's markup#

On $100,000 held for 10 years, custodian and vault fees cost about $3,200, while the dealer's markup costs about $5,400 to $43,000 depending on the coins bought. A round trip means buying coins and selling them back. Its cost is the spread plus the bid gap: how far below market price the dealer buys back.

The four lines below compare both costs on $100,000 over 10 years (SafeOunce computation, September 29, 2026).

• Custodian fees: $3,180 including exit (Equity Trust metals-only, segregated).
• Plain 1 oz bullion coins: about $5,400, from a round trip of about 5.4% (SD Bullion, September 29, 2026).
• A 23.4% spread: about $27,000 with the bid gap. That is Lear Capital's own 2022 average, stated in its Chapter 11 plan (Doc 694, June 5, 2023), not an industry average.
• A spread of up to 39.99%: about $43,000 with the bid gap, at American Hartford Gold's 2026 contract cap for "exclusive" coins.

The markup costs about 2 to 13 times the custodian bill, depending on the coins, so the coin and dealer choice outweighs the custodian choice. To test a quote, work out how much metal must rise to cover the markup, fees and buyback.

Who Pays Gold IRA Custodian Fees, and What Happens If Nobody Does?#

You owe the custodian's fees even when a gold company promises to pay them, and an unpaid bill lets the custodian sell your metal and close the account.

A metals-only IRA holds little cash, often just a required $325 to $500 (2026 schedules). So each yearly bill is paid by a separate check or by selling metal. That sale happens at the dealer's bid price, which is below what you paid.

Can you pay gold IRA custodian fees from outside the IRA?#

Yes for the custodian's own yearly fee: IRS Publication 590-A says trustees' administrative fees are not subject to the contribution limit. That limit is the most you may add to your IRAs in a year. For 2026 it is $7,500, plus $1,100 at age 50 or older (IRS Notice 2025-67). A fee paid by check does not use it up.

Vault storage is less clear. Publication 590-A does not address it, and custodians disagree. Preferred Trust (schedule 1.26.26) says the vault fee "must be paid directly from your IRA", Directed says owners may pay fees personally, and Accuplan says not to pay storage "out of pocket". So follow your custodian's written rule, and keep enough cash in the IRA to cover storage.

What happens if you do not pay your gold IRA fees?#

The custodian can sell your metal to cover unpaid gold IRA fees and pay the rest out to you, which the IRS treats as a taxable withdrawal. That payout is a forced distribution, made without your request. It is reported on Form 1099-R, the form that reports IRA payouts to you and the IRS.

Three other schedules have similar clauses. NDTCO may close the account and report it on Form 1099. Equity Institutional, the former Midland schedule, says past-due accounts "will be closed ... creating a taxable event" ($250 to reinstate). Provident may sell metal for fees "plus one year's estimated fees".

That 10% additional tax is the gold IRA early withdrawal penalty, and its exceptions are explained on its own page.

Are "we pay your fees" offers worth it?#

A dealer's promise to pay your custodian fees is worth about $215 to $325 a year on metals-only schedules at $50,000. The custodian still bills you if the dealer stops paying.

Provident's Fee Disclosure says "investment companies or financial advisors may offer to pay fees associated with your account with Custodian; regardless, you are personally responsible for payment of all fees." In plain English: the offer is a favor from the dealer, not a change in who owes the bill.

Check any such offer against the coin price you pay; what no-fee gold IRA offers cost in extra markup is worked out separately.

Self-Directed IRA Fees: Why All-Asset Custodians Cost More for Gold#

Self-directed IRA fees for a metals-only account run $215 to $325 a year at metals custodians, but $395 to $656 or more at three all-asset custodians (September 2026). A self-directed IRA is an IRA that can hold assets beyond stocks and funds, such as physical metals. An all-asset custodian also holds real estate and private deals, and prices its service for them.

The table below shows what 4 all-asset custodians charge for a metals-only account at $50,000. Entrust is the exception at small balances: $319 with Delaware commingled storage, rising to $659 at $250,000.

An all-asset custodian pays for staff who review property deeds and private offerings, services a coin-only account does not use. How a self-directed IRA for gold works, and its rules, are on the account-type page.

Custodians of every kind "generally do not evaluate the quality or legitimacy of any investment", says the SEC and NASAA alert on self-directed IRAs. The SEC's case against Equity Trust was dismissed in Initial Decision No. 1030 (June 27, 2016). It noted a stricter duty "would require custodians to charge much higher fees than did Equity Trust".

In plain English: a custodian fee buys record keeping, not a check on the dealer or the price.

A checkbook IRA for gold, in which a company owned by the IRA holds the money, costs more again. IRA Financial charges $999 plus $495 a year, and $299 a year for "Compliance Shield" from year 2 (effective January 1, 2026). Metals in a checkbook IRA for gold still need a custodian's vault.

What is the cheapest self-directed IRA for precious metals?#

For a metals-only self-directed IRA, the lowest published yearly total is $215 at any balance: GoldStar with commingled storage, as of September 2026. With segregated storage, the lowest is $285 (Equity Trust metals-only). These are computed totals, not a recommendation.

The table below matches 5 reader situations to the published numbers in Tables 1 to 5 (SafeOunce computation, September 29, 2026; not a recommendation).

The channel matters too: dealers open the metals-only schedules, while a direct Universal IRA at Equity Trust costs $660 at $50,000. The cheapest schedule on paper can still cost you more when its fees hit the way you use the account. If you trade often or plan to take coins out, compare the per-trade and in-kind lines before the yearly total.

How to Check a Custodian's Fees Before You Sign: 7 Questions#

Ask the custodian these 7 questions in writing before any money moves, and keep the dated fee schedule it sends you. You should get each answer by email or letter, so you have a dated record.

The 7 questions below follow the order of this page.

1. Ask for the fee schedule attached to your application, with its revision code, such as "FS-0004-05 Rev. 081726".
2. Ask which account type the dealer's paperwork opens: metals-only or general (worth $375 a year at Equity Trust at $50,000).
3. Ask for the yearly total at your balance, commingled and segregated, and whether fees are charged per asset.
4. Ask when fees are billed and whether they are prorated.
5. Ask for every exit fee: sale, transfer out, termination and shipping.
6. Ask whether fees may be paid by separate check, including storage.
7. Ask what happens to the account if a fee goes unpaid.

The dealer gets its own list of questions to ask before you sign. Also check that the custodian still operates under that name: Kingdom Trust stopped being a custodian on January 24, 2024, and its accounts went to Digital Trust.

SafeOunce takes no money from any company named on this page.

Custodian Fees vs Storage Fees, ETFs and Other Gold IRA Costs#

Custodian fees sit next to three other costs: the vault's storage, the dealer's spread and, for comparison, a gold fund's yearly fee. Together they decide what a gold IRA really costs.

Gold IRA storage fees: who sets them#

Gold IRA storage fees are set by the custodian's contract with the vault, and they appear on the custodian's schedule. At the three flat-fee metals custodians they run $110 to $125 a year shared and $160 to $225 kept apart (September 2026): Equity Trust $110 / $160, STRATA $115 / $175 and GoldStar $125 / $225 minimum. Vault-by-vault prices are in gold IRA storage fees.

Segregated storage has limits for silver. At the Delaware Depository, STRATA lists it as "Yes (except silver)", and GoldStar takes only 1,000-oz silver bars. Segregated storage costs $50 to $100 a year more at these custodians; whether segregated vs commingled gold IRA storage is worth it is its own question.

Custodian fees vs a gold ETF's expense ratio#

A $285 flat custodian and storage bill costs less each year than GLDM's 0.10% expense ratio only above $285,000, and less than GLD's 0.40% above $71,250. An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a fund that trades like a stock, and its expense ratio is the yearly fee taken as a percentage of your holding. IAU's 0.25% crosses at $114,000 (expense ratios from fund 10-K filings, as of September 2026). Inside an IRA, a gold ETF is never taxed at the 28% collectibles rate, and traditional IRA withdrawals are ordinary income. The full gold IRA vs gold ETF comparison adds the dealer's spread and runs 10 years.

Questions readers ask about gold IRA custodian fees#

Readers ask these 4 short questions about gold IRA custodian fees; each answer uses 2026 schedules.

What is the IRA custodian fee?#

An IRA custodian fee is the yearly charge the trust company or bank holding your IRA bills for record keeping and tax forms. On flat metals schedules it is $90 to $556 a year before storage (2026). It runs higher on value-based schedules. The custodian files Form 5498, which reports your deposits and year-end value, and Form 1099-R for payouts (26 U.S.C. 408(i)).

What are typical fees for a gold IRA?#

A typical gold IRA pays about $215 to $325 a year in custodian and storage fees, plus a one-time dealer markup that is usually larger, as of September 2026. Spreads, minimums and storage sit with every gold IRA cost compared on the fees hub.

Are gold IRA custodian fees tax-deductible?#

Custodian fees you pay by separate check are not deductible as IRA contributions, says IRS Publication 590-A (2025). Its words: such fees "aren't deductible as IRA contributions." In plain English: paying the fee by check gives you no IRA deduction.

What are the downsides of a self-directed IRA?#

For gold, a self-directed IRA has 3 main downsides: flat fees that weigh on small accounts, a custodian that does not check the dealer's price, and exit fees. A $285 yearly fee is 2.85% of a $10,000 account and 1.14% of $25,000, and leaving costs about $100 to $500 under published schedules. The self-directed IRA rules for metals are on the account-type page.