A gold IRA has more costs than a regular IRA. Most are listed on a fee schedule: setup, annual custodian administration, and storage and insurance. The biggest cost is often the one that isn't listed, which is the markup you pay on the metal itself. Here's how to see the whole picture.
The Five Layers of Gold IRA Cost
| Cost | Who charges it | When | Typical form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account setup | Custodian | Once | Flat fee, often around $50 |
| Annual administration | Custodian | Yearly | Flat fee or tiered by value |
| Storage and insurance | Depository (often billed by custodian) | Yearly | Flat fee or a percentage of value; more for segregated storage |
| Dealer markup (spread over spot) | Dealer | Every purchase | Built into the price; rarely on fee schedules |
| Buyback spread | Dealer | Every sale | Bid price below current selling price |
Smaller charges can include wire fees, shipping to the depository, transaction fees for each trade, paper-statement fees, and account closing or transfer-out fees. Ask for the complete list.
What Published Fee Schedules Look Like in 2026
We reviewed the published fee information of six well-known gold IRA companies in 2026. Combined annual custodian and storage fees fell in a range of roughly $225 to $365 a year, with first-year totals higher once setup and wire fees were added. Several companies offered to cover some fees for a period, usually for larger accounts.
Those figures change often, and company pages sometimes contradict each other, so treat them as a reference range rather than a quote. Always get the current schedule in writing from the company and the custodian.
Flat vs. scaled fees. A flat fee costs the same whether you hold $20,000 or $500,000, so it matters most for small accounts. A fee that scales with value can become expensive as your balance grows. Ask which method each fee uses.
Illustration: $250 a year in combined custodian and storage fees. Over 10 years, that's $2,500 regardless of account size.
The Cost Most People Miss: Dealer Markup
When you buy metal for your IRA, the dealer sells it to you at a price above its melt value, which is the spot price times the metal content. That difference, often called the premium, spread or markup, is how dealers are paid. It's normal and unavoidable, but its size varies enormously:
- Common bullion coins and bars tend to carry the smallest premiums.
- Proof coins and coins sold as "premium," "low-mintage," "limited" or "exclusive" can carry much larger ones.
Enforcement cases show how large hidden markups can get. In 2023 the CFTC and state regulators charged Red Rock Secured with fraud, and a 2024 federal consent order found markups of roughly 92% to 130% on coins sold to retirees. In 2021 the New York Attorney General alleged that Lear Capital charged undisclosed commissions of up to 33%; the company settled for $6 million in 2022. See gold IRA scams.
Hypothetical illustration of how the markup affects what you start with. Markup here means the share of your purchase price above melt value.
A $250 annual fee is easy to compare. A markup that quietly costs you thousands on day one is not, which is why you should always ask for it.
How to Calculate Your Real First-Year Cost
- Add the one-time fees: setup, wire, shipping.
- Add the annual fees: custodian administration plus storage and insurance.
- Add the markup in dollars: (price paid per unit - melt value per unit) x quantity. Ask the dealer for the spot price at the moment your order is locked.
- Divide the total by your purchase amount. That's your first-year cost as a percentage, and gold must rise by at least that much for you to break even, before any buyback spread.
Questions to Ask About Fees
- What is the setup fee, and who charges it, the custodian or the dealer?
- What are the annual custodian and storage fees? Are they flat or a percentage?
- Is storage segregated or commingled, and what does each cost?
- What is the markup over spot, as a percentage, on each product you're recommending?
- What will you pay me if I sell it back tomorrow? (This reveals the round-trip spread.)
- Are there fees for wires, shipping, transactions, statements, transfers out or closing?
- If fees are waived, which ones, for how long, and on what conditions?
- How are fees paid if the IRA has no cash? Will metal be sold to cover them?
For one company's published numbers, see Augusta Precious Metals fees. Use these alongside our 15 questions for any gold IRA company.
Ways to Keep Gold IRA Costs Down
- Choose widely traded bullion coins and bars over proof or "premium" coins.
- Compare at least two companies' written quotes for the same products on the same day.
- Choose commingled storage unless segregated storage matters to you.
- Keep a small cash balance in the IRA so fees don't force metal sales.
- Buy fewer, larger orders rather than frequent small ones if transaction fees apply.
- Consider whether a gold fund inside your existing IRA would meet your goal at lower cost.
Sources
- CFTC Release 8704-23 (Red Rock Secured charges, 2023)
- CFTC Release 8898-24 (Red Rock Secured consent order, 2024)
- New York Attorney General: $6 million settlement with Lear Capital (2022)
- Published fee pages of six gold IRA companies, reviewed October 2026