How much does a gold IRA cost per year?

Among companies that publish figures, roughly $200 to $300 per year: an annual custodian fee of about $75 to $150 plus storage of about $100 to $150, after a one-time setup fee near $50. The dealer spread, the gap between buy and buyback prices on the metal itself, usually costs more than all the stated fees combined and is rarely advertised.

What is the dealer spread on a gold IRA?

The difference between what the dealer charges you for coins or bars and what it pays when buying them back. It is the dealer's real margin. Premiums over the wholesale spot price vary by product, with popular one-ounce coins typically running several percent above metal value and more for small or specialty items. A company that discloses its spread in writing before a transaction makes comparison possible; most do not.

Are gold IRA fees higher than normal IRA fees?

Yes, structurally. A conventional IRA at a major brokerage typically has no custodian or storage fee at all. A gold IRA carries setup, annual custodian, and storage fees because physical metal requires a self-directed custodian and an insured vault, plus dealer spreads on every purchase and sale.

Which gold IRA company has the lowest fees?

Comparison is only possible among companies that publish figures. Goldco publishes the most complete numbers (about $50 setup, $80 annual, $100 to $150 storage); Augusta publishes ranges for custodian and storage and names its partners; American Hartford Gold publishes neither fees nor a minimum. Published administrative fees are similar where visible, which makes the undisclosed spread the deciding cost.

Gold IRA Fees: Every Cost, Including the One Nobody Advertises

Gold IRA pricing has a strange shape: the fees companies talk about are small and similar, and the cost that actually decides what you pay is the one that rarely appears in writing. Here is every layer, with the published figures where they exist and the questions that expose the rest.

The four fee layers

Layer	Typical published range	Who charges it	How visible
Setup fee	About $50, one time	Custodian	Usually published
Annual custodian fee	$75 to $150 per year	Custodian	Usually published
Annual storage fee	$100 to $150 per year	Depository	Usually published; sometimes scaled to account value
Dealer spread	Varies by product; often the largest cost	Dealer	Rarely published

The first three are administrative and pass through from the custodian and depository; on a $50,000 account they add up to roughly half a percent per year. The fourth is the dealer's own margin, and it is where the industry actually competes and earns.

The one that matters

The spread is the gap between what you pay for metal and what the dealer pays to buy it back. Coins sell at a premium above the wholesale spot price, and buybacks happen below it, so the account is down by the round-trip spread the moment metal is purchased. Premiums vary by product: common one-ounce bullion coins carry modest premiums, while specialty and limited-mintage coins can carry very large ones, which is exactly why they get pushed hard.

Two protections: ask for the buy and buyback price on the specific product in writing before any transaction, and be skeptical of any pitch steering you from ordinary bullion toward "exclusive" or "premium" coins.

What the companies we track actually publish

Company	Setup	Annual custodian	Storage	Minimum
Goldco	About $50	About $80	$100 to $150	$25,000
Augusta Precious Metals	Not published	$75 to $150	$100 to $150	$50,000
American Hartford Gold	Not published	Not published	Not published	Not published

Company-published figures as of July 2026; custodian and storage fees are set by third parties and can change. "Not published" means the figure did not appear on the company's own website when we checked, not that no fee exists.

This table is why fee transparency is the heaviest weight in our comparison: administrative fees are similar where visible, so the real differences live in what is not shown. A company that will not put numbers in writing before you commit is answering the comparison question for you.

Fee waivers and free-silver promotions

Common promotions include waived fees for a period on qualifying deposits and bonus silver on large orders. Neither is free money: waivers end, and promotional metal is priced somewhere. Evaluate any account on its permanent economics, then treat promotions as a tiebreaker at most.

The five questions that expose the real price

What is your buy price and buyback price today on a one-ounce American Gold Eagle, in writing?
What are the setup, annual, and storage fees, and which custodian and depository charge them?
Is storage flat or scaled to my account value?
Are there liquidation or shipping fees when I sell or take distributions?
Does any promotion change the price of the metal I am buying?

Comparing gold IRA companies?

We compare precious metals IRA companies on published minimums, fees, and named custodian and depository partners.

See the comparison

Frequently asked questions

Are gold IRA fees tax deductible?

Custodian fees paid from outside the IRA were historically treated as miscellaneous itemized deductions, a category suspended under current law, and fees paid from inside the account simply reduce the balance. Practically, treat the fees as a cost, not a deduction, and confirm specifics with a tax professional.

Why does a normal IRA not have these fees?

Because paper assets need no vault. A brokerage IRA holding an index fund or even a gold ETF has no metal to store or insure, which is why investors who only want price exposure often skip the physical account entirely.

Do storage fees depend on how much gold I have?

Sometimes. Some depositories charge flat annual fees; others scale by account value. Scaled storage grows with the account, which matters over decades, so ask which model applies before funding.

Can I avoid the spread by buying bars instead of coins?

Bars typically carry lower premiums than coins, but every physical product has a spread, and buyback terms differ. What you cannot avoid is the round trip itself; you can only shrink it by choosing ordinary bullion products and a dealer that discloses both sides of its pricing.

Sources

This page is general educational information, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Fees are the companies' own published estimates and can change; verify current figures before opening an account. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.