In general, a Gold IRA charges three fees. Gold IRAs are more expensive than traditional IRAs, and account holders considering this type of account should plan for a variety of fees in addition to the setup costs and the purchase price of the eligible precious metals. However, the IRS has introduced additional tax filing and record keeping requirements for gold IRAs due to the more complicated assets they own. Once you’ve opened a self-employed gold IRA, you can transfer cash to the account to fund your purchase of physical gold.
In a regular IRA, you can’t own physical gold, although you can invest in a wide variety of assets that are invested in gold, such as gold stocks or gold ETFs. These fees are also known as spread or seller fees and are charged in addition to the purchase price of gold and silver. Simplified gold IRAs for employees, also known as SEP Gold IRAs, are available to self-employed people and small business owners. Due to the tax deferral of an IRA account, an approved IRA custodian bank must be used to manage the account.
Gold IRAs are individual retirement accounts that hold physical gold as an investment instead of traditional stocks and bonds. These funds buy up a basket of gold-related investments, such as stocks in various gold mining companies. These investments are available in a normal brokerage IRA, which means you don’t have to go through the work and additional costs of setting up a self-directed gold IRA. There are many government regulations governing the purchase, handling, and storage of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium to be deposited in a gold IRA.
For those who intend to add a gold IRA to their portfolio, there are a number of additional costs associated with this type of account that investors should be aware of. Make sure you check the list of approved gold objects with your custodian manager before you transfer gold to your IRA. These fees are separate from the spread and are charged by an administrator who makes it easier to buy or sell precious metals in the Gold IRA. With this type of IRA, you can manage the account and invest in a wider range of products than other IRAs.
Traditional gold IRAs, Roth and SEP gold IRAs are subject to contribution limits, just like their non-gold counterparts.