How to buy gold inside an IRA

Key facts

Each fact below is tied to a numbered source at the foot of this page. Follow the numbers and check us.

1. 01

   The order of operations matters: the account exists and is funded before metal is bought.^3,5

   The IRA is the buyer. You cannot buy gold personally and contribute it, and you cannot pay a dealer directly and have the metal assigned to the account afterwards. Contributions to an IRA must generally be in cash under §408(a)(1).

2. 02

   A trustee-to-trustee transfer and a 60-day rollover are different transactions with different rules.^1,6

   In a transfer, the money moves directly between institutions and never reaches you. In a rollover, you receive the distribution and must redeposit it within 60 days. The IRS describes both routes, and the direct route avoids the deadline entirely.

3. 03

   The one-rollover-per-year limit applies across all your IRAs in aggregate.^2,6

   §408(d)(3)(B) permits only one non-taxable 60-day IRA-to-IRA rollover in any one-year period. Following Bobrow v. Commissioner, the IRS applies that limit on an aggregate basis across all of an individual's IRAs, not IRA-by-IRA. Trustee-to-trustee transfers are not subject to it.

4. 04

   Only metal satisfying §408(m)(3) can be purchased, and the custodian applies its own list too.^5,7

   Either a coin named through §408(m)(3)(A) or bullion meeting the contract-market delivery fineness under §408(m)(3)(B) — for COMEX gold, 995 fineness. Then your custodian must also agree to administer that specific item.

5. 05

   The metal must end up in the physical possession of the trustee.⁵

   This is a statutory condition of the bullion exception, not a best practice. It is why the purchase ships to a depository and not to your address.

6. 06

   Metal prices move while paperwork does not.⁷

   Because spot changes continuously, a purchase is priced at the moment the order is confirmed, against funds already available in the account. This is the practical reason funding comes before product selection: an unfunded account cannot lock a price.

7. 07

   Distributions can generally be taken in cash or in kind.⁴

   You can direct the sale of metal and take cash, or take physical delivery of the bullion itself as a distribution. Either way the distribution is a taxable event governed by the ordinary IRA distribution rules in Publication 590-B, and required minimum distributions still apply where relevant.

8. 08

   Fees come from at least three parties, and only some appear as fees.³

   Custodian setup and annual administration, depository storage and insurance, and the dealer's margin inside the metal price. The third is the largest and least visible in many arrangements. Ask for it explicitly.

The vocabulary

Self-directed IRA

An IRA whose holder selects the investments, with the custodian executing rather than advising.

Trustee-to-trustee transfer

A direct institution-to-institution movement of IRA funds. Not a rollover, so no 60-day clock and no annual limit.

60-day rollover

A distribution you receive and redeposit into an IRA within 60 days. Limited to one in any one-year period across all your IRAs.

Direct rollover

A movement from an employer plan straight to an IRA, without the funds passing through your hands.

In-kind distribution

Taking the physical metal itself out of the account as a distribution instead of selling it for cash.

Depository

The insured vault holding the metal under the trustee's possession.

Eligible metal

Metal satisfying §408(m)(3) and accepted by your custodian.

The process, in order

1. 1

   Decide the account structure

   Traditional or Roth, and whether this is new money, an existing IRA, or an old employer plan. The tax character of the account is unchanged by holding metal in it.

2. 2

   Select and open a custodian account

   A qualifying trustee under §408(a)(2). Confirm the fee schedule and approved-product list before signing, and confirm they will administer what you intend to buy.

3. 3

   Fund the account

   By trustee-to-trustee transfer from an existing IRA, a direct rollover from an employer plan, a 60-day rollover, or a cash contribution within the annual limit. The direct routes avoid the 60-day deadline and the one-per-year limit.

4. 4

   Select eligible metal

   Identify products satisfying §408(m)(3) that your custodian will administer, and compare all-in cost per ounce of fine metal rather than headline premiums.

5. 5

   Instruct the purchase

   You direct the custodian; the custodian pays the dealer from account funds. Price is locked at confirmation because the market moves continuously.

6. 6

   Delivery into depository possession

   The dealer ships to the depository, which takes the metal into the trustee's possession for the benefit of your account and confirms receipt by weight and serial number.

7. 7

   Ongoing administration

   Annual valuations and statements, storage and administration fees, and required minimum distributions where applicable. Metal can be sold back or distributed in kind when you choose.

Before you start

• Whether a transfer or a rollover fits your situation — the direct route is usually simpler and avoids the deadline.
• Whether the funds are currently in an IRA or an employer plan, which changes the mechanics.
• How large the account is relative to flat annual fees.
• Which specific products you want, checked against your custodian's list before you commit.
• Whether a metal allocation is appropriate for you at all — a question for your own tax and investment advisers, not for a dealer.

Risks and limitations

Anyone who only tells you the upside is selling, not explaining.

• Missing the 60-day deadline.

  A failed 60-day rollover can become a taxable distribution, potentially with an additional tax if you are under the relevant age. A trustee-to-trustee transfer avoids the clock entirely.

• Breaching the one-rollover-per-year limit.

  The limit applies in aggregate across your IRAs. A second 60-day rollover in the period can be taxable.

• Buying an ineligible product.

  Acquiring a collectible in an IRA is treated under §408(m)(1) as a distribution equal to its cost. Confirm eligibility with the custodian in advance.

• Fee drag on smaller accounts.

  Flat annual custodian and storage fees can be a significant percentage of a modest balance.

• Concentration and liquidity.

  Metal in a depository can be sold, but not instantly, and the round-trip spread applies.

Common misconceptions

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Taking a distribution personally when a direct transfer was available.
• Choosing products before confirming the custodian will administer them.
• Comparing only the custodian's fee while ignoring the dealer's margin in the metal price.
• Funding an account and then discovering the intended product is not on the approved list.
• Assuming a dealer's tax explanation is tax advice for your situation. It is not, including ours.

What people ask next

• What does a custodian actually do?→
• Which gold products qualify?→
• What are the total fees?→
• How does a rollover work in detail?→

Sources and references

Everything factual on this page traces to one of the following. Law and government publications come first, then exchange specifications and standards bodies.

1. 1.
   Rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions

   Internal Revenue Service · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   The IRS describes the 60-day deadline for depositing a distribution into another plan or IRA, and separately describes having the institution directly transfer the payment — a trustee-to-trustee transfer — as an alternative route.

2. 2.
   Announcement 2014-32 — Application of One-Per-Year Limit on IRA Rollovers

   Internal Revenue Service · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   Following Bobrow v. Commissioner, the IRS applies the §408(d)(3)(B) one-rollover-per-year limit on an aggregate basis across all of an individual's IRAs, rather than IRA-by-IRA. The Announcement also confirms trustee-to-trustee transfers are not subject to the limit.

3. 3.
   Publication 590-A — Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

   Internal Revenue Service · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   The IRS's own annual guide to IRA contribution limits, eligibility, deduction phase-outs, transfers and rollover mechanics.

4. 4.
   Publication 590-B — Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

   Internal Revenue Service · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   The IRS's own annual guide to IRA distributions, required minimum distributions, the additional tax on early distributions and in-kind distribution treatment.

5. 5.
   26 U.S.C. § 408(m) — Investment in collectibles treated as distributions

   Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   §408(m)(1) treats an IRA's acquisition of a collectible as a distribution equal to its cost. §408(m)(2) lists 'any metal or gem' and 'any stamp or coin' as collectibles. §408(m)(3) carves out specific U.S. coins and gold, silver, platinum or palladium bullion meeting a contract-market delivery fineness, and only where that bullion is in the physical possession of a trustee described in §408(a).

6. 6.
   26 U.S.C. § 408(d)(3) — Rollover contributions and the one-year limitation

   Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School · Tier 1 — Primary / government · checked 2026-09-02

   §408(d)(3)(A)(i) excludes a distribution from income where it is paid into an IRA within 60 days. §408(d)(3)(B) permits only one such non-taxable 60-day rollover between IRAs in any one-year period.

7. 7.
   Gold futures contract specifications (COMEX)

   CME Group · Tier 2 — Industry / authoritative · checked 2026-09-02

   Under 'Grade and Quality': gold delivered under the COMEX gold futures contract must assay to a minimum of 995 fineness. This is the contract-market delivery standard that §408(m)(3)(B) points to for gold bullion.