Self-Directed IRA for Gold and Silver: How It Works, the Rules, Costs and How to Open One (2026 Guide)

A self-directed gold IRA is an ordinary IRA held by a custodian that allows physical gold and silver, and that custodian does not check the price you pay. A custodian is the company that legally holds the IRA. So who does check, and what does the account really cost?

The types of gold IRAs differ by tax rules: traditional, Roth, SEP and SIMPLE. Self-directed is not one of the types of gold IRAs; it is the custodian setup each of them needs to hold metal, which sits in a depository, a private vault. Below: how it works, its 7 rules, 10-year costs, 6 steps to open one and who it suits.

SafeOunce sells no metal and runs no custodian; every rule below links to the statute or the IRS.

What Is a Self-Directed IRA for Gold and Silver?#

A self-directed IRA (SDIRA) is an IRA "held by a trustee or custodian that permits investment in a broader set of assets than is permitted by most IRA custodians". That definition comes from an investor alert by the SEC and NASAA, the group of state securities regulators. A trustee is a company that holds assets for you under legal rules. The IRA itself is a trust, or a custodial account treated as one (26 U.S.C. 408(a) and 408(h)).

A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds IRA-eligible metal: gold, silver, platinum or palladium that passes the tax-code test in rule 2 below. It is not a separate tax category.

What does "self-directed" mean, and what does it not mean?#

"Self-directed" means you choose what the IRA buys; it does not mean you hold the gold, run the account yourself or get a tax break a regular IRA lacks. The table below sets 4 things self-direction gives you against 4 things it does not.

A fiduciary is someone legally bound to act in your best interest; no one plays that role here. You also cannot be your own custodian: the law requires a bank or an approved trustee, and a nonbank trustee "cannot be an individual" (Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)).

It also differs from a "self-directed brokerage account" for stocks and funds, explained in the brokerage section below.

Can a self-directed IRA hold physical gold and silver?#

Yes: a self-directed IRA can hold physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium. The metal must be IRA-eligible under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3), and a trustee must hold it, usually in a depository.

The IRS says IRAs "cannot invest in collectibles, such as art, antiques, gems, coins, or alcoholic beverages". It adds that they "can invest in certain precious metals only if they meet specific requirements" (IRS Retirement Plan Investments FAQs, updated April 8, 2026).

How Does a Self-Directed Gold IRA Work?#

A self-directed gold IRA works in 6 moves: you fund it and pick the metal, the custodian pays the dealer, and a vault stores the metal for the IRA. The 6 moves are listed below in the order they happen.

1. Open. A custodian checks your ID and opens the account.
2. Fund. You add money by contribution, transfer or rollover.
3. Choose. You pick a dealer and a product.
4. Direct. You sign a purchase direction, your written order to pay the dealer from IRA cash.
5. Ship. The dealer sends the metal to a depository, in commingled or segregated storage.
6. Report. The custodian values the metal yearly and files Form 5498 with the IRS.

Commingled storage pools your metal with other owners' metal of the same kind, still counted as yours. Segregated storage keeps your own coins apart.

The custodian handles moves 1, 4 and 6; the dealer handles moves 3 and 5. What gold IRA custodians do and charge is compared in one place.

Who does what: you, the custodian, the dealer and the depository#

Four parties handle a self-directed gold IRA, and only one of them, the dealer, sets the price you pay. The table below shows each party's role and pay.

The spread is the gap between what the dealer charges you and what it pays to buy the metal back. It is the dealer's income and never appears as a fee on a custodian statement.

FDIC insurance, the federal bank-deposit guarantee, covers only uninvested cash in the IRA, up to $250,000. SIPC, which protects brokerage customers, does not cover physical metal. Where the vaults are and how gold IRA depositories insure metal is covered separately.

Who checks the price of the gold you buy?#

No one checks the price you pay. Self-directed custodians "generally do not evaluate the quality or legitimacy of any investment in the self-directed IRA or its promoters", according to the SEC and NASAA.

A Texas State Securities Board emergency order, ENF-21-CDO-1844, shows the gap. Issued July 22, 2021 against GSI Exchange, it lists one investor's 413 gold coins, shown below.

The dealer's margin was 22.3% of the price, or 28.7% over cost (SafeOunce computation). The firm neither admitted nor denied the findings in its consent order (ENF-23-CDO-1875, effective September 15, 2023). That order required a rescission (refund) offer to customers who bought before July 22, 2021, backed by an escrow of 110% of the amount.

Your only price check happens before you sign: get the price per coin, its percent over spot (the market price of raw metal) and the dealer's bid, what it pays you, in writing. The CFTC, the federal commodities regulator, puts typical bullion at 5% to 10% over spot and collector coins at 40% to 200% (release 8215-20, August 4, 2020). Compare the dealer's gold IRA markups and spreads with those ranges.

Silver in a self-directed IRA#

Silver works like gold in a self-directed IRA, with 3 differences: a higher purity test, one named US silver coin, and about 68 times the weight of gold per dollar. The 3 differences are listed below.

• Fineness and coins: fineness is the share of pure metal. Silver bullion must be at least .999 fine, or 99.9% pure (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B)). The only named silver coin is the 1 oz American Silver Eagle; fractional Silver Eagles do not exist.
• Weight: $50,000 buys about 815 oz of silver (about 25.4 kg, or 56 lb) at the LBMA price of $61.33 on September 28, 2026. The same money buys about 12 oz of gold at $4,144.55. The LBMA price is the daily London benchmark (SafeOunce computation).
• Segregated storage: at the Delaware Depository, STRATA segregates gold, platinum and palladium only, and GoldStar segregates only 1,000 oz silver bars (schedules as of September 2026).

Commingled storage fees at Equity Trust, GoldStar and STRATA are flat, so they do not rise with silver's bulk; value-based storage charges by value.

What Are the Rules for a Self-Directed Gold IRA? 7 Rules#

A self-directed gold IRA follows 7 rules from the tax code, from who holds it to how it is taxed. The IRS publishes no list of approved investments (IRS Retirement Plan Investments FAQs, updated April 8, 2026). These 7 rules are the test.

1. A bank, trust company or IRS-approved nonbank trustee must hold the account#

Only a bank, a state-supervised trust company or a nonbank trustee on the IRS list can hold a self-directed IRA, never you (26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2) and 408(n)).

The only metals business on it is Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP, approved November 30, 2023. Equity Trust, STRATA and GoldStar are absent because the law counts them as banks: they hold state trust charters, or, for GoldStar, operate as a division of Centennial Bank.

To verify a custodian, search the IRS PDF for its name, then check its charter, the license a state grants, on the state banking regulator's list. South Dakota's roster shows Equity Trust as TC.022-2, chartered March 1, 2003. What a list of "IRS-approved gold IRA custodians" really covers is explained step by step.

2. Only IRA-eligible gold, silver, platinum and palladium#

A self-directed IRA may buy only metal that passes 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3): a US coin named in the law, or bullion of at least .995 gold, .999 silver or .9995 platinum or palladium.

The precious metals the tax code allows follow 2 routes. Route A covers named coins: the Gold Eagle (1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 oz), the 1 oz Silver Eagle, the Platinum Eagle and coins issued by a state. Route B covers bullion (bars, rounds and coins valued for their metal) that meets the fineness test. The Gold Buffalo and the Palladium Eagle qualify only through Route B.

The full list of precious metals the tax code allows shows each coin's legal route.

3. The custodian must hold the metal: no home storage#

Bullion in a self-directed IRA must be "in the physical possession of a trustee described under subsection (a)" (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)). Keeping IRA gold at home counts as taking it out of the IRA.

The US Tax Court applied that rule in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (November 18, 2021). Gold and Silver Eagles bought through an IRA-owned company and kept in the owner's home safe were taxable distributions of their cost. A distribution is a withdrawal from the IRA. The company wrapper, a limited liability company, did not help (US Tax Court).

Sellers still market a home storage gold IRA as a way around the vault; why it fails is covered with the full McNulty facts.

4. Contributions are cash only, within one yearly limit#

You can put only cash into a self-directed IRA: up to $7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older (IRS Notice 2025-67). That limit is shared with every other IRA you own.

Contributions also require compensation: work income such as wages or self-employment earnings, not Social Security or pensions. Rollovers and transfers have no dollar cap. The deadline for 2026 is April 15, 2027. The 2027 limits are not announced as of September 29, 2026. All gold IRA contribution limits, including SEP and SIMPLE, are in one table.

5. No prohibited transactions with yourself or your family#

A self-directed IRA may not buy from, sell to, lend to or otherwise benefit you or your close family (26 U.S.C. 4975). One such deal ends the whole IRA as of January 1 of that year (26 U.S.C. 408(e)(2)).

A breach costs only the IRA involved its tax status, so a separate metals IRA limits the damage. Every kind of IRA prohibited transactions involving metal is listed with its cost.

6. No collectibles and no life insurance#

A self-directed IRA may not hold collectibles or life insurance (26 U.S.C. 408(m) and 408(a)(3)).

The IRS collectibles rule in 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(1) treats buying a collectible as a distribution of its cost. Section 408(m)(2) lists art, rugs, antiques, metals, gems, stamps, coins and alcoholic beverages, apart from the metal exceptions in rule 2. Section 408(a)(3) adds: "No part of the trust funds will be invested in life insurance contracts."

How the IRS collectibles rule treats a wrong coin is shown in dollars.

7. The same tax and RMD rules as any IRA of its type#

A self-directed IRA is taxed exactly like the traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA it is: holding gold adds no tax break and no extra tax.

A traditional IRA is tax-deferred: you pay no tax until you withdraw, and withdrawals in cash or coins are ordinary income. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are the yearly withdrawals the law demands. They start at 73 if you were born in 1951 to 1958, or 75 if born in 1960 or later (26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9)(C)(v)). For people born in 1959 the age is 73 under proposed IRS regulations, which are not final. A Roth IRA has no RMDs in your lifetime, and qualified withdrawals are tax-free (26 U.S.C. 408A).

Taxes follow the account type, not the metal: gold IRA taxes from contribution to withdrawal follow the same path as any IRA.

What Does a Self-Directed Gold IRA Cost?#

A self-directed gold IRA costs about $50 to open, then $215 to $656 a year in custodian and storage fees on $50,000, as of September 2026. The dealer's spread comes on top and is usually the largest cost.

A flat fee stays the same at any balance; a value-based fee rises with it. The table below shows yearly custodian plus storage cost under 5 published schedules, commingled / segregated where both exist.

Custodians are named only as sources of published schedules, as of September 29, 2026; this is not a recommendation. Year 1 adds setup fees; dealer spreads are excluded. *GoldStar's segregated storage above $125,000 reads as $225 minimum plus $1.80 per $1,000 of value above $125,000, but the PDF layout makes that rate hard to read; confirm it in writing.

Flat fees hit small accounts hardest: $235 a year is 1.18% of a $20,000 account but 0.09% of $250,000. Setup, annual and per-trade gold IRA custodian fees for every metals custodian are compared line by line.

What a $100,000 self-directed gold IRA costs over 10 years#

Over 10 years a $100,000 self-directed gold IRA costs about $3,180 in custodian, storage and exit fees, but $5,400 to $36,100 in dealer spread. The spread depends on what you buy.

The table below prices 3 dealer spreads with the same custodian: Equity Trust metals-only with segregated storage ($50 setup + 10 × $285 + $280 exit = $3,180, FS-0004-05 Rev. 081726). The gold price is held flat and fees are paid from outside the IRA. The round trip is what you lose if you buy and sell straight back.

The loss is larger than the spread because the dealer also buys back about 4.7% below its own cost (a typical industry buy-back template). A spread cap is a maximum, not the price every buyer pays. Even if you leave after 1 year, the bullion route costs $6,015.

Break-even is the rise in the gold price you need before you can sell without a loss. A 5.4% loss needs about a 5.7% rise, a 23.7% loss needs 31.1%, and a 36.1% loss needs 56.6% (SafeOunce computation). Test other spreads and balances in the gold IRA fee calculator.

Is a self-directed gold IRA worth it with yearly contributions only?#

A self-directed gold IRA funded only by yearly contributions is expensive in its first years. Flat fees take 3% to 4.5% of a single $8,600 contribution in year one, as of September 2026.

The table below follows $8,600 a year under 3 published schedules. Each cell shows that year's fees and their share of the money contributed so far.

$8,600 a year, flat metal price, fees paid from outside, non-segregated storage, dealer spreads excluded. Which Equity Trust schedule applies depends on how the account is opened; ask in writing.

How much money you need to start a gold IRA has 2 answers: the law sets no minimum, but companies do. As of September 29, 2026, Birch Gold asks $5,000, Noble Gold $20,000 and Goldco $25,000. Augusta asks $50,000, according to its FAQ (updated September 23, 2026). At the $8,600 maximum, $25,000 takes 2.9 years of contributions and $50,000 takes 5.8 years.

For most small accounts, a gold ETF in an existing IRA costs less. An ETF (exchange-traded fund) owns gold and trades like a stock; GLDM's expense ratio, its yearly fund fee, is 0.10% (fund filings, as of September 2026), or $8.60 on $8,600. Every company minimum, and how much money you need to start a gold IRA, is tracked by date.

When the fees are billed (and the December trap)#

Custodian fees are billed in advance and not prorated, so the month you open the account or receive the metal can double a year's fee. Prorated means cut down for a part year.

A cash sweep moves uninvested IRA cash into a bank account. GoldStar sweeps it to its affiliate Happy State Bank, and the rate difference "will be considered GoldStar's compensation". Billing dates differ as much as the gold IRA storage fees themselves.

Cost of leaving a self-directed gold IRA#

Closing or moving a self-directed gold IRA costs $150 to $375 at the largest metals custodians, as of September 2026, before shipping and the dealer's buy-back spread. A termination fee is the charge for closing the account, and in kind means the coins move, not cash. Full-exit costs at 4 custodians are listed below.

• Equity Trust metals-only (FS-0004-05 Rev. 081726): $280 to sell and close ($30 + $250), or up to $375 in kind ($125 + $250), plus shipping.
• GoldStar (GTC Rev. 01/2026): $150 full termination; $75 more in kind, plus $10 and shipping.
• STRATA (fee page, August 31, 2026): $325 to sell and close ($75 + $250), or $350 in kind.
• Madison Trust (effective January 1, 2026): $300 in kind, or up to $330 by sale.

Equity Trust accounts also carry mandatory arbitration, a private hearing instead of a court case. You can opt out only within 65 days of opening (Clark v. Equity Trust, D.N.M., October 29, 2024).

Moving metal in kind when switching gold IRA custodians avoids a sale.

How Do You Open a Self-Directed Gold IRA? 6 Steps#

You open a self-directed gold IRA in 6 steps, and the account is ready to buy metal only after the cash has arrived at the custodian. The 6 steps are listed below in the order you do them.

1. Choose the tax type.
2. Choose a custodian that holds metals and check its charter.
3. Open the account and note your 7-day right to cancel.
4. Fund it by contribution, transfer or direct rollover.
5. Choose the dealer and sign the purchase direction.
6. Confirm delivery and read your first statement.

The same process, priced step by step, is on the page that shows how to open a gold IRA in 5 steps.

Step 1: Choose the tax type#

Choose traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE first, because the tax type decides when you pay tax, and it must match the money you move in.

Pre-tax money goes to a traditional IRA, and Roth money goes only to a Roth IRA. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs serve business owners and their employees. SIMPLE money can move only to another SIMPLE IRA in its first 2 years. Otherwise the move counts as a taxable distribution, and if you are under 59 1/2 the usual 10% additional tax becomes 25% (26 U.S.C. 72(t)(6)).

After-tax money needs a Roth gold IRA, where qualified withdrawals are tax-free.

Step 2: Choose a custodian that holds metals and check its charter#

Choose a custodian that lists precious metals on its fee schedule, then confirm its charter with the IRS list or your state banking regulator.

Read 5 fees on the schedule: the annual fee, storage (commingled and segregated), the per-trade fee, the in-kind fee and the termination fee. Custodians also change hands. Kingdom Trust stopped acting as custodian on January 24, 2024, and its accounts moved to Digital Trust. Midland Trust accounts moved to Equity Trust on July 15, 2024 by negative consent, meaning you are moved unless you object. A transfer "at the trustee's request" is not a rollover (IRS Publication 590-A).

No ranking replaces reading the schedule yourself; how SafeOunce scores the best gold IRA custodians is set out in its method.

Step 3: Open the account and note your 7-day right to cancel#

Fill in the custodian's application with your ID, beneficiaries and storage choice. You can revoke a new IRA for at least 7 days (Treas. Reg. 1.408-6).

The revocation right lets you undo the account and get your money back in full. It runs against the custodian, not the dealer. The dealer's cancellation terms are separate and often shorter, so read both before you fund.

How to cancel a gold IRA within the 7 days, and the dealer's own terms, are compared.

Step 4: Fund it by contribution, transfer or direct rollover#

Fund the account in one of 3 ways: a cash contribution, a transfer from another IRA, or a direct rollover from a 401(k) or similar plan.

A trustee-to-trustee transfer sends money from your old IRA custodian straight to the new one. It is not a rollover: no 60-day clock, no once-a-year limit and no withholding (IRS Publication 590-A). A direct rollover pays a 401(k) straight to the new custodian with 0% withheld. A plan check made out to you loses 20% to withholding, tax taken out in advance (26 U.S.C. 3405(c)). Neither route counts toward the yearly limit.

An IRA to gold IRA transfer moves money custodian to custodian with no 60-day clock.

Step 5: Choose the dealer and sign the purchase direction#

Choose the dealer separately from the custodian, get the price in writing, and sign the custodian's purchase direction only for IRA-eligible metal after the cash has arrived. The 5 numbers to get in writing are listed below.

• Price per coin and its percent over spot
• The dealer's buy-back bid today
• All yearly custodian and storage fees
• All exit fees
• The cancellation window and what starts it

Judge a dealer by its written answers, not its ads: the questions to ask when you choose a gold IRA company are the same whoever you call.

Step 6: Confirm delivery and read your first statement#

Confirm with the custodian that the metal reached the depository, then check your first statement. It values the metal at market price without the dealer's markup, so it shows less than you paid.

Equity Trust values metal at the previous day's metal price, and its figure "does not include any markups, commissions or premiums from the precious metals dealer". So $50,000 spent at a 10% premium shows about $45,455 at an unchanged spot price.

About 28 days is a fair delivery benchmark, borrowed from a CFTC rule for financed metal sales. In CFTC v. Moran (N.D. Tex. 3:23-cv-02077), the Crown Bullion case, the CFTC alleged fake invoices sent to self-directed custodians. Liability was entered by consent on September 5, 2024.

Checking whether your gold is really in your IRA, not only on an invoice, takes one call to the depository.

Is a Self-Directed Gold IRA a Good Idea? Pros, Cons and Who It Suits#

A self-directed gold IRA makes sense when you want real metal, stored in a named vault for many years, and your balance keeps flat fees small. For price exposure alone, or for small yearly contributions, a gold fund in an ordinary IRA usually costs less.

The table below sets 5 pros against 5 cons of the account itself.

SafeOunce gives no allocation, the share of savings to put in metal, because that depends on your whole plan. You should compare the total 10-year cost of each route, not the yearly fee alone. Whether a gold IRA is a good investment at all depends on gold's own record, a separate question with its own data.

Which self-directed IRA fits your situation?#

The right self-directed IRA depends on where your money is now, how much you have and what you want to own, not on any "best" list. The table below matches 8 situations to what usually fits, with the rule or number that decides each one.

Numbers as of September 2026. Situations overlap; check every row that fits you. Custodians are named as sources of published schedules only.

This page ranks no one; SafeOunce ratings come only from its published method, linked in Step 2. The full cost comparison of a gold IRA vs gold ETF inside a retirement account is worked out separately.

Is a Self-Directed IRA Different From a Traditional or Roth IRA?#

No: a self-directed IRA is a traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA held at a custodian that allows metal. So "self-directed IRA vs Roth IRA" compares a custodian setup with a tax type.

The table below compares 4 IRA types held at a metals custodian.

Self-directed IRA vs self-directed brokerage IRA (Fidelity, Schwab)#

A self-directed brokerage IRA lets you pick stocks, bonds and funds yourself, including gold ETFs, while a self-directed IRA at a metals custodian can hold the metal itself.

Fidelity is the exception: its own IRAs hold Gold Eagles, 1 oz Buffalos and bars. It charges a buy commission of 2.90% down to 0.99% and storage of 0.125% a quarter, with a $1,000 IRA minimum purchase (FA-FEES-0926, September 2026). Fidelity's own bullion program, the closest thing to a Fidelity gold IRA, needs no custodian change.

Schwab IRAs hold no physical metal, and a full transfer out costs $50 per account (Schwab pricing guide, April 2026). What Schwab and gold IRAs allow is covered separately.

Self-directed IRA vs self-directed or solo 401(k)#

A self-directed IRA holds coins easily, while an employer 401(k) almost never does. A solo 401(k) for a one-person business can hold IRA-eligible bullion if its plan document, the plan's written rules, allows it and a bank or approved trustee holds the metal.

The collectibles rule reaches "an individually-directed account under a plan described in section 401(a)" (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(1)). No IRS ruling covers an owner-trustee who keeps the bullion. Plan-document and custody rules for a self-directed and solo 401(k) for gold are covered separately. The limited ways to hold gold in a 401(k) at work are funds and brokerage windows.

Self-directed SEP and SIMPLE IRAs for gold#

SEP and SIMPLE IRAs can be self-directed and hold IRA-eligible metal like any IRA, provided the custodian offers that account type. Both are workplace IRAs: a SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) is funded by the employer, and a SIMPLE IRA takes pay deferrals plus employer money. GoldStar's schedule, for example, covers "Self-Directed Traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRAs".

A SEP takes up to 25% of pay (20% of net self-employment earnings), capped at $72,000 for 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67). Limits and deadlines for a SEP gold IRA follow the business's tax return. The 2-year rule for a SIMPLE IRA and gold decides where the money may go.

Questions readers ask about self-directed gold IRAs#

Seven questions readers ask about self-directed gold IRAs are answered below.

What is the "loophole" for self-directed IRAs?#

The "loophole" most often sold for gold is a checkbook IRA LLC that lets you keep IRA coins at home. The Tax Court rejected it in McNulty v. Commissioner (2021). An IRA may own a single-member LLC, a limited liability company with one owner (Swanson v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 76 (1996)). But bullion must still sit with a trustee. Why a checkbook IRA for gold and silver still needs a custodian for metal is explained separately.

How much money do you need to start a self-directed IRA?#

The law sets no minimum, but custodians and dealers do. Madison, Provident, IRA Financial and Preferred require $500 of cash in the account (September 2026); uDirect and Forge listed $500 in May 2026, and American IRA listed $750 in its November 2024 schedule. Fidelity's IRA metals purchase minimum is $1,000, and gold IRA company minimums run from $5,000 to $50,000, as of September 2026.

Do you pay taxes in a self-directed IRA, and does UBIT apply to gold?#

You pay no tax on gains while the metal stays in the IRA. Unrelated business income tax (UBIT), a tax on business income inside a tax-exempt account, rarely reaches a metals IRA. An IRA "is subject to the taxes imposed by section 511" (26 U.S.C. 408(e)(1)). But 26 U.S.C. 512(b)(5) excludes gains on property other than inventory or "property held primarily for sale to customers". UBIT usually comes from borrowing (512(b)(4)), and an IRA cannot pledge its metal without a deemed withdrawal (408(e)(4)). This is SafeOunce's reading of the statute, not an IRS ruling.

What else can a self-directed IRA invest in?#

Self-directed IRAs "usually allow investors to hold alternative investments such as real estate, mortgages, tax liens, precious metals, and private placement securities", according to the SEC and NASAA. SafeOunce covers only the metals. Health savings accounts fall under a different law and are not covered here.

Does your state change the rules?#

No: IRA rules are federal, so a self-directed gold IRA works the same in Florida, Ohio or Utah. Your state matters for income tax on withdrawals, which follows where you live, not where the vault is. Custodians themselves are chartered by a state.

Gold IRA companies that advertise a self-directed IRA#

When a gold IRA company offers "our self-directed IRA", the account is opened at a separate custodian, and the company is the dealer. Advantage Gold uses STRATA; U.S. Money Reserve uses Equity Trust; Birch Gold uses Equity Trust and GoldStar (company documents, as of September 2026). Augusta says it coordinates with Equity Trust (FAQ, updated September 23, 2026). Allegiance Gold's page lists "Strata Trust, Equity Trust, GoldStar, IRA Innovation, and Entrust" (read September 29, 2026). Every one of the gold IRA companies is listed with its custodians and record. Equity Trust's schedules are read in the Equity Trust review, and GoldStar's fee timing in the GoldStar Trust review.

How do you take money or coins out of a self-directed IRA?#

You take money out by having the dealer buy the metal back and the custodian pay you, or you take the coins as an in-kind distribution. From a traditional IRA, coins are taxed at fair market value when they come out, and exit fees apply. Cash or coins, gold IRA distributions are walked through step by step.