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Gold IRA Fees: What Custodians, Depositories and Dealers Charge
Gold IRA fees from four custodians' 2026 schedules, storage costs at the depositories they use, and what the dealer's markup really costs, with a 10-year example on $100,000.
Gold IRA fees come from three places: the custodian that holds the account, the depository that stores the metal, and the dealer that sells it to you. The first two usually cost $215 to $610 a year on a $100,000 account. The third is a one-time markup, and it's often the largest cost you'll pay.
The custodian and storage figures here come from four custodians' published fee schedules and depository forms, read on their own sites in October 2026. The dealer section uses the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's own enforcement numbers, because dealers don't publish a schedule.
How much does a gold IRA cost?
On a $100,000 account, expect about $215 to $610 a year in custodian and storage fees, plus a $50 setup fee and a dealer premium on every purchase. Over 10 years the custodian and storage fees alone come to about $2,200 to $6,200 at the four custodians below.
The gold IRA cost breaks down into four groups:
| Cost | Who charges it | How it's billed |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Custodian | Once, usually $50 |
| Annual fee | Custodian | Flat, or rising with account value |
| Storage | Depository, billed through the custodian | Flat, or a percentage of metal value |
| Premium and buyback spread | Dealer | Built into the price when you buy and sell |
Transaction fees, shipping and exit fees come on top. Which ones hit you depends on how often you buy and sell.
What do gold IRA custodians charge?
Gold IRA custodian fees run $90 to $500 a year on a $100,000 account at these four custodians, plus a $50 setup fee at each. The bigger difference is how the fee is built. Some charge a flat amount, and others charge more as your gold gains value.
| Custodian | Setup | Annual fee | Storage | Buying or selling metal | Taking metal out in kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Trust | $50 online | $225 to $2,250, by account value ($500 at $100,000 to $199,999) | $110 commingled, $160 segregated | $30 to sell | $125, plus shipping at cost plus $10 ($50 minimum) |
| Vantage | $50 | $325 | 0.20% of account value, $150 minimum, at Delaware Depository | $95 per purchase or sale | $100, plus shipping ($50 minimum) |
| GoldStar Trust | $50 | $90 | $125 commingled; segregated 0.18% of metal value, $225 minimum | $0 | Shipping, $10 plus cost |
| The Entrust Group | $50 | $219 for one metal product, $329 for more, plus 0.17% of value over $50,000 | $150 segregated at Delaware Depository | $0 | Depository shipping, $25 minimum plus $35 a package |
Entrust counts one metal product as one asset. Its own example prices $62,350 of 1-ounce American Gold Eagles at $240 a year after the first year. Gold IRA setup fees are the one thing all four agree on: $50.
None of these is a recommendation. They publish full schedules, which is why they're here. Our page on the self-directed precious metals IRA explains how the custodian, depository and dealer fit together. If your IRA also holds real estate or private assets, our comparison of self-directed IRA fees prices those.
How much are gold IRA storage fees?
Gold IRA storage fees run $110 to $225 a year for a typical account at these custodians, and segregated storage costs $50 to $100 more than commingled. Some depositories charge a percentage instead, so storage grows with your gold.
Commingled storage pools your coins with other owners' identical products. Segregated storage keeps your specific bars and coins apart, labelled to your account. Here's what each choice costs on the schedules above:
| Custodian | Commingled | Segregated | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Trust | $110 | $160 | When metal arrives, then each January |
| GoldStar Trust | $125 | 0.18% of metal value, $225 minimum | At opening, then each anniversary, not prorated |
| Vantage | 0.20% of account value, $150 minimum | Not listed separately | Full year charged for any part of a year |
| The Entrust Group | Not listed | $150 | Anniversary month each year |
Flat storage is easier to plan around. On a percentage schedule, a strong year for gold also raises your storage bill. At GoldStar, segregated storage stays at the $225 minimum until your metal is worth $125,000, then charges $1.80 for every $1,000 above that.
You can't skip storage by keeping the coins yourself. The IRS requires IRA bullion to be held by the trustee, and home storage has cost people dearly in court. Our guide to gold IRA storage rules covers the cases.
How much does the dealer markup cost you?
The dealer markup is usually the biggest gold IRA cost, even though it never shows up on a fee schedule. Dealers sell above the spot price and buy back below it, and that spread is money your IRA loses on day one.
The CFTC's advisory, Lies Versus Facts: The Truth Behind Gold and Silver IRA Scams, warns that this spread "can range anywhere from 30 to 300 percent or more" at fraudulent dealers. Those aren't hypothetical numbers.
- In the Red Rock Secured case, at least 950 people paid over $69 million for coins worth $30 million, with markups of 91.89% to 129.97%, and most of them used retirement money (CFTC release, April 2024).
- Safeguard Metals took about $68 million from more than 450 customers, most of them elderly or retirement-aged, by misrepresenting its markups. The court ordered $25.6 million in restitution and a $25.6 million penalty (CFTC release).
At a 100% markup, your gold has to double in price before you break even.
Even a fair premium matters more than most fees. Say a dealer charges 5% over spot when you buy and pays 2% under spot when you sell. Gold then has to rise about 7% before your IRA makes a dollar. On a $100,000 purchase, that 5% premium is about $4,760, which is more than a decade of custodian and storage fees at GoldStar.
Both cases involved coins sold as something special; Red Rock's were Canadian Red-Tailed Hawk coins. The CFTC's advice is blunt: if someone tries to sell you higher-priced "collectibles" for an IRA, the coins likely aren't rare. Plain bullion coins and bars carry smaller premiums, and our list of IRA-approved gold coins shows which ones qualify.
Are there gold IRA rollover fees?
The receiving custodian rarely charges to accept a rollover, but the account you're leaving may charge an exit fee, and a badly handled rollover can cost far more in tax. Gold IRA rollover fees and gold IRA transfer fees are mostly the old custodian's closing charges.
On the schedules above, closing an account costs $250 at Vantage, Entrust and Equity Trust, and Vantage adds $100 for an outgoing transfer. Check your current IRA or 401(k) for its own charges.
The expensive mistake is taking the money yourself. The IRS page on rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions spells out the traps:
- A 401(k) distribution paid to you has 20% withheld, even if you plan to roll it over. To roll over the full amount, you have to replace that 20% from your own pocket within 60 days.
- An IRA distribution paid to you has 10% withheld unless you opt out.
- You get one IRA-to-IRA rollover in any 12 months, no matter how many IRAs you own.
A direct rollover from a 401(k), or a trustee-to-trustee transfer from an IRA, avoids all three. IRS Publication 590-A says a trustee-to-trustee transfer isn't a rollover at all, so the one-a-year limit doesn't apply. Our 401(k) to gold IRA rollover guide walks through the paperwork.
What does a gold IRA cost over 10 years?
On $100,000 of gold held for 10 years, custodian and storage fees total about $2,200 to $6,200 at these four custodians, and the gap comes mostly from the annual fee. Here's a gold IRA fees comparison for that account. It holds 1-ounce American Gold Eagles in one purchase, and the value stays flat to keep the math clean:
| Custodian | Year 1 | Each later year | 10-year total, including a final sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoldStar Trust (commingled) | $265 | $215 | $2,200 |
| The Entrust Group (segregated) | $504 | $454 | $4,590 |
| Vantage | $670 | $525 | $5,490 |
| Equity Trust (commingled) | $660 | $610 | $6,180 |
Now let gold double, so the account is worth $200,000. Value-based fees climb with it. Vantage's yearly bill rises from $525 to $725, Equity Trust's from $610 to $810 and Entrust's from $454 to $624. GoldStar's commingled fees stay at $215.
Add the dealer side. A 5% premium on the original purchase is about $4,760, so the true 10-year cost at the cheapest custodian is closer to $7,000 than $2,200. Our precious metals IRA calculator lets you test your own numbers.
How to keep gold IRA fees down
- Pick the fee structure before the custodian. If you expect your metal to grow in value, flat annual and storage fees will cost less over time.
- Get two dealer quotes for the same product on the same day, and ask each dealer what it would pay to buy that product back today. The gap between the two numbers is your real cost.
- Buy plain bullion. Stick to standard coins and bars that count as IRA-eligible gold, and walk away from anyone pushing proof or "rare" coins for an IRA.
- Choose commingled storage unless you need your exact pieces back. It saved $50 to $100 a year on these schedules.
- Buy in fewer, larger orders if your custodian charges per transaction. Vantage's $95 fee applies to every purchase and sale.
- Treat a no fee gold IRA offer with care. Some dealers cover your custodian and storage fees for a year or more, which is worth about $215 to $610 a year here. If the same dealer charges 5% more for the gold, you've paid about $5,000 for that "free" year on a $100,000 order.
- Move money by direct rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer, never by a check made out to you.
Our step-by-step guide to investing through a precious metals IRA covers the order of operations.
Price your gold IRA before you buy
The fee schedule you sign and the premium you pay decide what a gold IRA really costs, and both are easy to check before money moves. Bullionite helps investors set up a precious metals IRA, compare custodians and storage, and check a dealer quote against the market. Book a consultation and bring any quote you've been given.
This guide is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice. Fees come from each custodian's published schedule as of October 2026 and change over time, so confirm them before you open an account.
FAQ
Can you pay gold IRA fees with a credit card?
Usually, yes. Entrust's depository form lets you pay storage by credit card, from the IRA or by invoice, and Vantage keeps a card on file for fees. Paying the custodian's annual fee from outside the IRA doesn't count toward your contribution limit, according to IRS Publication 590-A.
Do gold IRA fees go up when gold rises?
They do if the fees are value-based. Vantage's storage is 0.20% of account value, Entrust adds 0.17% of value over $50,000, Equity Trust's annual fee steps up by account value, and GoldStar's segregated storage rises above $125,000. Flat fees, like GoldStar's $125 commingled storage, stay the same.
Are gold IRA fees tax deductible?
No. IRS Publication 590-A says separately billed trustee fees can't be deducted as an itemized deduction, and the 2025 tax law made that permanent. Our FAQ on whether self-directed IRA fees are tax deductible has the detail.
What does it cost to take a required distribution from a gold IRA?
If you sell metal to raise cash, Equity Trust charges $30 and Vantage $95, while GoldStar and Entrust charge nothing for the sale. Taking coins out in kind costs $125 at Equity Trust or $100 at Vantage, plus shipping. Either way, the dealer's buyback price decides how much cash the metal raises, and our guide to self-directed IRA RMDs covers the timing.
Is segregated storage worth the extra cost?
For most bullion investors, no. Commingled storage holds identical products, and the extra $50 to $100 a year buys you the right to get your exact pieces back. Segregated storage makes more sense for unusual bars or coins where the specific piece matters.
As the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Bullionite and Bullionite Asset Group, I’ve built my career on a simple premise understanding the intersection of macroeconomics, commodities, and digital assets to stay ahead of the curve, not under it. My focus is on navigating the complexities of the world’s largest markets spanning the US, the Middle East, and Asia to identify high-value opportunities for alternative investment.
With a specialized focus on Self-Directed IRAs (SDIRAs), I help investors move beyond traditional 401ks by integrating assets like precious metals and cryptocurrency into their retirement strategies. Based in Newport Beach, California, I am dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional finance and the evolving landscape of new age digital assets, ensuring that every strategic move is backed by deep market insight and a commitment to long-term growth.
