Gold IRA fees in 2026 run about $215 to $325 a year on the flat-fee custodian and dealer schedules we checked, plus a $50 setup fee and a $30 to $50 wire to open. On top of that comes a one-time dealer markup over spot, which usually costs more than every annual fee combined. Below: each fee by type, real custodian schedules, storage costs, a $25,000 / $50,000 / $100,000 example, and every company's fees side by side.
Opening costs about $275 to $365 in fees at the published schedules below. That covers a $50 setup fee, a $30 to $50 wire, and the first year of custodian and storage fees, which most custodians bill on day one. Augusta Precious Metals' sheet shows $275 for year one. Birch Gold Group, Lear Capital and an Equity Trust account at the dealer rate each come to $315. Noble Gold comes to $365.
You also need to meet the dealer's minimum, which ranges from $5,000 (Birch Gold Group) to $50,000 (Augusta). And you pay the dealer's spread on the metal you buy: 5% on a $50,000 bullion order is $2,500.
Each figure is sourced in the tables below. Fees change, so confirm current pricing in writing.
A gold IRA has three billers: the custodian that administers the account, the depository that stores the metal, and the dealer that sells it to you. The first two publish schedules. The dealer's margin is built into the price of the metal. The table gives the range we found in published documents for each fee, with examples. For how the account works overall, start with our main gold IRA guide.
| FEE TYPE | PUBLISHED RANGE (OCT 2026) | EXAMPLES FROM SCHEDULES WE LOADED | WHO CHARGES IT | HOW OFTEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup / application | $0 to $75 | $50 at Equity Trust (online), GoldStar, Preferred, Madison and CNB; STRATA $50, waived online; Equity $75 on paper | Custodian | Once |
| Annual custodian fee, flat | $90 to $150 on metals schedules | GoldStar $90; dealer-rate Equity accounts $125 (Augusta, Lear); Birch and Noble $125; STRATA $150 | Custodian | Yearly |
| Annual custodian fee, scaled or broad | $225 to $2,500+ | Equity retail tiers by value from $225; Equity Universal IRA from $350; Preferred $300 metals-only; Madison $139 a quarter | Custodian | Yearly |
| Storage, commingled | $100 to $125 flat | Augusta sample $100; Equity and Birch $110; Lear $110; STRATA $115; GoldStar $125 | Depository, billed by custodian | Yearly |
| Storage, segregated | $160 to $225 flat | Equity, Lear and Noble $160; STRATA $175; CNB at Delaware $200; GoldStar $225 minimum | Depository, billed by custodian | Yearly |
| Wire | $30 to $50 | $30 at Equity, Preferred, Madison, Birch, Noble, Lear; $35 STRATA; $50 GoldStar | Custodian | Per wire |
| Buy or sell transaction | $0 to $200 | GoldStar no fee; Equity $10 per asset (max $30) or $30 per liquidation; STRATA $40; Preferred $50 to buy, $200 to sell; Madison $75 | Custodian | Per trade |
| In-kind distribution or transfer out | $50 to $200 | Equity $50 or $125; GoldStar $75; Noble $75; Preferred $100 partial; STRATA $100 cash transfer out | Custodian | Per event |
| Closing / termination | $150 to $300 | GoldStar $150; Madison $225; Equity, STRATA and Noble $250; Preferred $300 | Custodian | Once, on exit |
| Dealer markup (spread) | Low single digits to 35%+ | Lear's contract: "generally" 2% to 35%; Lear's 2022 average: 23.4%; most dealers publish no figure | Dealer | Every purchase |
| Buyback spread or fee | Rarely published | Lear's contract allows a buyback "service fee"; Augusta and Lear say they have never declined a buyback but cannot guarantee one | Dealer | Every sale |
Custodian schedules loaded Oct 5, 2026: Equity Trust (Universal IRA Rev. 110625; retail Rev. 081726), STRATA Trust (effective Sep 1, 2026), GoldStar Trust (Rev. 01/2026), Preferred Trust (as of 1.20.26), Madison Trust (effective Jan 1, 2026), CNB Custody (effective 6/2026). Dealer figures from each company's own site, linked in the company table further down.
Almost every custodian we checked charges $50 to open a precious metals IRA. STRATA waives it for online applications, and Equity Trust charges $75 for a paper application. A setup fee well above that range is a reason to ask what it covers.
An IRS-approved custodian has to hold the account for you. You cannot store IRA metal yourself and keep the tax benefits; more on that below. The custodian handles recordkeeping, IRS reporting and compliance. Metals-only schedules charge a flat $90 to $150 a year. Broad self-directed schedules often tier the fee by account value, and they cost more. Equity Trust's retail schedule starts at $225 and reaches $500 at $100,000, while the same firm's dealer-referred metals accounts show $125 on Augusta's and Lear's disclosures. Which price list you land on can be worth a few hundred dollars a year. The difference is explained in flat versus scaled fee structures.
Your metal sits in an insured, approved depository. Commingled storage runs $100 to $125 a year on the schedules we loaded, and segregated storage $160 to $225. The full breakdown is in the storage section below.
Wires cost $30 to $50. Some custodians also charge every time the IRA buys or sells metal: nothing at GoldStar, $40 at STRATA, $200 for a sale at Preferred Trust. These fees matter if you plan to sell a little each year to cover required minimum distributions, because a per-trade fee repeats every time.
Closing the account costs $150 to $300 at the custodians we checked, plus any sale and wire fees on the way out. Our walkthrough of what it costs to close a gold IRA lists the charges to ask about in advance.
This is the cost that dwarfs all the others, and it appears on no fee schedule. When you buy, the dealer sells above the live spot price, and the difference is the markup, also called the premium or spread. Our research puts common bullion (American Gold Eagles, Maple Leafs, standard bars) at roughly 3% to 8% over spot, and proof or "collectible" coins at 20% to 40% or more. Lear Capital is the only dealer we track that puts a range in its contract: its spreads "generally range between 2% and 35%" of the price you pay. That clause followed a 2023 bankruptcy settlement with state regulators over fee disclosure. The premium leaves your account on day one, so it is the most important number to negotiate.
Over a decade, your custodian and storage fees are smaller than a single round of collectible-coin markup. Win on the metals you buy, not on the $25 you save in storage.
The table models three account sizes on two kinds of schedule. The flat case uses the most common published pattern: $50 setup, a $30 wire, a $125 custodian fee and $110 commingled storage, so $315 in year one and $235 a year after. That matches Birch Gold Group's and Lear Capital's published totals. The scaled case uses Equity Trust's retail tiers to show what a value-based custodian fee does to a larger account. The markup rows apply our bullion and proof bands. Nothing here is a quote.
| COST LINE | $25,000 ACCOUNT | $50,000 ACCOUNT | $100,000 ACCOUNT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year one, flat schedule | $315 | $315 | $315 |
| Each later year, flat schedule | $235 (0.94%) | $235 (0.47%) | $235 (0.24%) |
| Ten years, flat schedule | $2,430 | $2,430 | $2,430 |
| Each later year, value-tiered schedule (Equity retail fee plus $110 storage) | $460 | $535 | $610 |
| Markup, common bullion at ~5%, paid once | $1,250 | $2,500 | $5,000 |
| Markup, proof or collectible coins at ~30%, paid once | $7,500 | $15,000 | $30,000 |
Modeled by Gold IRA Consulting. Flat schedule from Birch Gold Group's published fees, which match Lear Capital's. Tiered row from Equity Trust's retail schedule (Rev. 081726): $350 for $25,000 to $49,999, $425 for $50,000 to $99,999, $500 for $100,000 to $199,999. Fees held flat, no metal price movement, no waivers. Markup bands are our research estimates, not any company's figures.
For a $100,000 gold IRA, a flat schedule costs $315 in the first year and $235 a year after, about a quarter of one percent of the balance. The same account on a value-tiered custodian schedule pays about $610 a year. The bigger number is the purchase: a bullion order at around 5% costs about $5,000 on day one, and a proof-coin order at around 30% costs about $30,000. On a $50,000 account, choosing bullion over proof coins saves roughly $12,500 at purchase. That is more than fifty years of flat annual fees.
On a $25,000 account, flat fees take almost 1% a year. That is why some dealers set higher minimums and why a small balance is a weak case for a gold IRA. The gold IRA fee calculator runs the same arithmetic on your own quote, and our pros and cons breakdown covers whether the structure suits you at all.
Storage is the one annual fee that depends on a choice you make. Commingled (non-segregated) storage pools your coins with identical coins owned by others, and you get back equivalent pieces. Segregated storage keeps your exact bars and coins apart, and costs more. Insurance is included in the rate at the facilities we cover. Our segregated vs commingled guide covers when the premium is worth paying.
Most investors never pay the depository directly. The custodian bills a storage line and passes it through, often as a flat amount. Here is how that looks at the Delaware Depository, the most common IRA vault, through different custodians.
| HOW YOU ARE BILLED | COMMINGLED | SEGREGATED | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware Depository rate card, per $1,000 of value | $0.80 per $1,000, $95 minimum | $1.60 per $1,000, $190 minimum | As recorded in our Delaware Depository guide |
| STRATA Trust (Delaware is its main vault) | $115 flat | $175 flat (not for silver) | STRATA schedule |
| CNB Custody at Delaware | $100 flat under $500,000 | $200 flat under $500,000 | CNB schedule |
| Madison Trust at Delaware | $100 minimum covers the first $100,000, then $1 per $1,000 | Madison schedule | |
| Equity Trust (depository not named) | $110 | $160 | Equity schedules |
| GoldStar Trust | $125 | $225 minimum, plus $1.80 per $1,000 above $125,000 | GoldStar schedule |
Two points follow. First, a flat storage line beats a percentage once the account is large enough. At $0.80 per $1,000 with a $95 minimum, commingled storage on $100,000 of metal costs $95 a year and on $250,000 costs $200, while a flat $110 line stays at $110. The crossover is about $137,500: below it the per-$1,000 rate is cheaper, above it the flat line wins. Second, storage is never 0.5% to 1% of value at these facilities. A quote in that range is far above every published IRA rate we found. The full depository picture is in our gold IRA storage guide.
Home storage is not an option. Metal owned by an IRA must be held by a trustee or approved depository under IRC 408(m). In McNulty v. Commissioner (2021), the Tax Court treated metal kept at home as distributed, which brings tax and possible penalties. Any pitch for a "home storage gold IRA" that saves you storage fees should be treated as a red flag; see our home storage explainer.
Your dealer usually picks the custodian, but you can ask for a different one, and the custodian bills you for as long as the account exists. These are the precious-metals lines from each custodian's own schedule. For background on each firm, see our gold IRA custodians guide.
| CUSTODIAN (SCHEDULE DATE) | SETUP | ANNUAL | STORAGE COMM. / SEG. | PER TRADE | WIRE | CLOSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoldStar Trust (01/2026) | $50 | $90 | $125 / $225+ | $0 | $50 | $150 |
| STRATA Trust (Sep 2026) | $50, $0 online | $150 | $115 / $175 | $40 | $35 | $250 |
| Equity Trust, retail (Rev. 081726) | $50 online | $225 to $2,250 by value | $110 / $160 | $30 per sale | $30 | $250 |
| Equity Trust, Universal IRA (Rev. 110625) | $50 online | $350 to $2,500 by value | $110 / $160 | $10 per asset sold, $30 max | $30 | $250 |
| Preferred Trust (1.20.26) | $50 | $300 metals-only | Pass-through, varies | $50 buy / $200 sell | $30 | $300 |
| Madison Trust (Jan 2026) | $50 | $139 a quarter | $100 min at Delaware | $75 | $30 | $225 |
All schedules loaded Oct 5, 2026 from the links in the first table. New Direction Trust's live schedule was unreachable, and Kingdom Trust and Inspira blocked automated access, so they are not listed. We do not substitute third-party figures for a custodian's own schedule. Dealer-referred accounts can carry different pricing from a custodian's public list, as Equity Trust's $125 rate on Augusta's and Lear's disclosures shows.
On a metals-only account held for years with few trades, GoldStar's schedule is the cheapest on this list ($215 a year with commingled storage). STRATA costs more per year but is simpler at small balances. Value-tiered schedules are the ones to avoid as an account grows, unless your dealer has negotiated a flat rate. Ask your dealer which custodian it uses, then get that firm's schedule, not the dealer's summary of it.
Moving money into a gold IRA has no IRS charge if it is done as a direct transfer. The costs come from the two custodians and from timing.
The step-by-step process is in our gold IRA rollover guide, and the difference between the two routes is explained in gold IRA transfer vs rollover.
Every figure below comes from the company's own website or fee document, checked on October 5, 2026. Where a company prints nothing, the cell says so; that is a gap in disclosure, not a zero charge. Each company has a dedicated fee page with the detail. For scored rankings, see our best gold IRA companies page, or go straight to the lowest-cost gold IRA providers.
| COMPANY | IRA MINIMUM | PUBLISHED ANNUAL FEES | FEE RELIEF | FULL FEE PAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch Gold Group | $5,000 | $235 ($125 management, $110 storage); $50 setup, $30 wire | First year's fees paid on transfers over $50,000 | Birch Gold fees | Visit → |
| Augusta Precious Metals | $50,000 | $225 ($125 custodian, $100 storage); $275 in year one | Multi-year waiver widely reported, not on its own pages | Augusta fees | Visit → |
| Goldco | NOT STATED | One flat fee a year, amount not published | "May reimburse" annual fees; up to 10% back in silver | Goldco fees | Visit → |
| American Hartford Gold | $10,000 | Not published; storage "might be free" by account size | Depends on account size | AHG fees | Visit → |
| Noble Gold Investments | $20,000 | $285 ($125 maintenance, $160 storage); $50 setup, $30 wire, $250 closure | None published | Noble Gold fees | Visit → |
| Lear Capital | $10,000 | $235, or $285 segregated; $315 to $365 in year one | 1 to 3 free years by size, limited mintage coins only | Lear Capital fees | Visit → |
| Patriot Gold Group | NOT STATED | Not published | No storage or insurance fees for life on qualifying IRAs, threshold not stated | Patriot Gold fees | Visit → |
| Advantage Gold | NOT STATED | Not published; custodians STRATA and Equity Trust | None published | Advantage Gold fees | Visit → |
Company sources loaded Oct 5, 2026: Birch FAQ and IRA page; Augusta's fee sheet and FAQ (Internet Archive copies, because the live site blocks automated access); Goldco FAQ; American Hartford Gold FAQ; Noble Gold IRA page; Lear fee page; Patriot No Fees for Life page; Advantage Gold FAQ. Confirm current pricing directly with each provider.
Two patterns stand out. The companies that print their numbers (Birch, Augusta, Noble, Lear) land within $60 a year of each other, at $225 to $285. The companies that do not print them are not necessarily dearer, but you start the conversation without a reference point. And no company except Lear publishes a markup range, which is the cost that matters most. For lower-minimum options, see our low-minimum gold IRA picks.
You control more of the cost than most buyers realize. A few disciplined choices typically save more than switching providers ever will.
Fees are not only what you pay to get in. They also include the spread when you sell. A dealer buys back below its selling price, and the gap is your real round-trip cost. Augusta and Lear both say the law prohibits them from guaranteeing a buyback, while adding that they have never refused one. Lear's own contract example shows a coin bought at $40 with a 20% spread would be bought back below $32. Collectible coins are where exit costs get worst: a coin sold to you at a 30% premium may be bought back near its melt value. Before you buy, confirm how the dealer prices buybacks and whether a fee applies. Our buyback programs guide compares the policies.
A gold IRA is not right for everyone. The fee math works against you if you have a very short time horizon, a small balance where flat fees are a large percentage, or a tendency to be talked into high-premium collectible coins. If any of those describe you, a lower-cost approach (or simply waiting until you can meet a sensible minimum with low-premium bullion) is usually the better call. Diversification and inflation protection are real benefits, but only when you keep the markup low.
About $275 to $365 in fees at the published schedules we checked in October 2026: a $50 setup fee, a $30 to $50 wire, and the first year of custodian and storage fees, which most custodians bill at opening. You also need to meet the dealer's minimum, from $5,000 at Birch Gold Group to $50,000 at Augusta Precious Metals. And you pay the dealer's markup on the metal, which on a $50,000 bullion order at about 5% is $2,500.
On flat-fee schedules, about $215 to $325 a year for the custodian fee plus storage and insurance, regardless of your balance. Examples: GoldStar Trust $90 plus $125 commingled storage; Birch Gold Group and Lear Capital $235; Augusta Precious Metals $225 in its fee sheet; Noble Gold $285. Value-tiered custodian schedules cost more as the account grows. The larger cost is the one-time dealer markup when you buy the metal, which never appears on the annual schedule.
On a typical flat schedule, $315 in the first year ($50 setup, $30 wire, $125 custodian, $110 storage) and $235 a year after, about 0.24% of the balance. On a value-tiered schedule such as Equity Trust's retail list, the custodian fee alone is $500 at $100,000, so the yearly total is about $610 with storage. The dealer markup is separate: about $5,000 at a 5% bullion premium, or about $30,000 at a 30% proof-coin premium.
Commingled storage costs about $100 to $125 a year and segregated storage about $160 to $225 on the custodian schedules we checked, usually as a flat pass-through. STRATA Trust bills $115 or $175, Equity Trust $110 or $160, and GoldStar Trust $125 or a $225 minimum. Delaware Depository's per-value rate card, as recorded in our depository guide, is $0.80 per $1,000 commingled and $1.60 per $1,000 segregated, with $95 and $190 minimums. Storage is not 0.5% to 1% of value at these facilities.
Most charge a $50 setup fee and a flat annual fee of $90 to $150 on metals-only schedules: $90 at GoldStar Trust, $150 at STRATA Trust, and $125 for dealer-referred Equity Trust accounts. Wires cost $30 to $50, buy or sell transactions $0 to $200, and closing the account $150 to $300. Some custodians, including Equity Trust's retail schedule, tier the annual fee by account value, starting at $225.
A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer has no IRS charge. Your old provider may charge a transfer-out or closing fee, and the new custodian charges its setup fee and first-year fees. An indirect rollover from an employer plan triggers 20% mandatory withholding, which you must replace within 60 days to avoid tax, so the direct route is cheaper and safer. Some dealers cover first-year fees on larger transfers, such as Birch Gold Group above $50,000.
The markup is the premium a dealer charges over the live spot price of the metal. Our research puts common bullion coins and bars at roughly 3% to 8% and proof or collectible coins at 20% to 40% or more. Lear Capital is the only dealer we track that publishes a range in its contract, 2% to 35% of the price paid. The markup is the biggest cost most gold IRA buyers never see itemized, so get it in writing as a percentage over spot before you buy.
It depends on your balance and time horizon. Flat fees of $215 to $325 a year are a small percentage of a six-figure account but close to 1% a year on $25,000. The fees can be worth it for diversification, but only if you buy low-premium bullion and avoid high-markup collectible coins. A gold IRA is usually a poor fit for a very short horizon, a very small balance, or anyone who would end up paying numismatic premiums.
Generally no for most investors. Custodial and IRA administration fees are not separately deductible after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended miscellaneous itemized deductions, and the dealer markup is folded into your cost basis rather than treated as a deduction. Contributions to a traditional IRA may be deductible subject to IRS income and coverage limits described in IRS Publication 590-A. Tax situations vary, so confirm with a licensed tax professional.
For the company-by-company comparison, see which provider has the lowest gold IRA fees in our 2026 rankings, or browse the best precious metals IRA companies.
Custodian fee schedules: Equity Trust, STRATA Trust, GoldStar Trust, Preferred Trust, Madison Trust, CNB Custody. All loaded Oct 5, 2026.
Dealer fees, minimums and promotions: each company's own pages, linked under the company table. Markup range and history: Lear Capital's transaction agreement and the confirmed plan in In re Lear Capital, Inc., No. 22-10165 (Bankr. D. Del.).
Tax treatment and contribution rules: IRS Publication 590-A and IRS Publication 590-B. Rollover withholding: IRS rollover guidance.
Permitted metals and custody: Internal Revenue Code section 408(m); McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (2021).
Investor protection: the CFTC precious metals advisory and the SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. Markup bands (3% to 8% bullion, 20% to 40% proof) are our research estimates. Pricing and promotions change; confirm current terms with each company.
We scored the top gold IRA companies on fee transparency, custody, service, and reputation. Compare the all-in cost before you commit, or request a free investor kit to see one provider's exact pricing.