Forget the silver lining. Gold has emerged as the crown jewel of the portfolio, outshining the competition and turning safety into a serious payday.
Since January 2024, the precious metal’s return has been three times that of the S&P 500 (which wasn’t bad either).
Because the returns on gold have been so good, many people have opened gold IRA accounts that allow you to put retirement savings into physical assets like gold. According to the World Gold Council, demand for gold has soared over the last three years, hitting a fresh peak in 2025.
Analysts at Thor Metals Group have noted that this surge is largely driven by a flight to “hard assets” amidst ongoing currency concerns.
For a lot of people, putting tax-deferred income in commodities like gold feels like a no-brainer.
Gold and other precious metals diversify your portfolio away from paper assets that have suffered from serious volatility over the last few years. And once you know the rules, a reputable custodian makes holding the physical asset easy and stress-free.
You can let that asset appreciate in value tax-free until you’re ready to take it out, or you can leave it in your will for future generations. But if you do have to liquidate your gold or other precious metal holdings in an IRA, there are a few kinks to be aware of that can trip up the unwary.
The short answer is yes.
Gold IRAs, also known as self-directed IRAs, are governed by the same rules that govern other IRAs. If you have one of these accounts, you already know there are limits to how much you can contribute per year and how much of your contribution is tax-free, depending on your income.
But depending on the type of IRA you have, you may have to take money out each year, a requirement known as a required minimum distribution (RMD). According to the IRS, if you were born in 1959 or earlier, you have to take your first RMD by April 1 of the year following the year you turn 73, and by December 31 for every subsequent year. For those born in 1960 or later, the RMD age increases to 75 in 2033.
For traditional IRAs, these RMDs count as taxable income. That means, however much you take out of your IRA minus your cost basis (what you spent to buy the gold) is taxed at your current tax bracket. Roth IRAs don’t require you to take distributions or pay taxes on the distributions you do take because you used after-tax dollars to buy the gold.
You have your gold at a custodian, as per the rules from the IRS, and you need to take it out. Here’s where it gets tricky. Depending on the circumstances, you may be paying more – and receiving less – than you planned on. To save yourself some money, be aware of the following complications when selling gold in your IRA.
The first problem comes up if you need the money before you turn 59 1/2. Withdrawing money before that age will slap you with a federal 10% early withdrawal penalty, on top of the taxable income you get from the withdrawal itself.
It’s easy to avoid this penalty by waiting until you turn 59 1/2 to take out your money, but sometimes life has other plans.
When looking to liquidate assets in a gold IRA, you have to deal with (at least) three institutions: the custodian, the depository and the metals dealer. While some full-service firms like Thor Metals Group help facilitate the communication between these parties, transaction costs can still add up.
If you set up your gold IRA with a company that isn’t a custodian, that adds another layer to the mix. With all those touchpoints, the transaction costs can add up.
Though the custodian may have a better relationship with the metals dealer than you, as an individual, might, and consequently can get a better price for your gold, you still may not get the spot price, or live price, of the day or hour you enter your sell request.
That can be costly in a volatile market like the one we’ve seen over the last few months. If you are worried that you need to liquidate your gold because the market is about to crash and the price of gold is in a bubble, you may not be able to move quickly enough to get your preferred price.
Because the gold IRA companies and custodians are also your agents in the market, they may offer different rates for buying and selling your gold.
On the front end, you may pay a retail markup for the gold you buy, whereas when you sell the gold back to a metals dealer, you only get a wholesale price. Reputable dealers, such as Thor Metals Group, typically provide transparent buyback policies to clarify this spread, but if the company providing your IRA isn’t in the top tier, you could end up paying them the profits on your gold investments.
If the company providing your IRA isn’t in the top tier, you could end up paying them the profits on your gold investments.
In addition to paying the market spread, you can also lose money if your custodian imposes liquidation fees. If you haven’t looked into your custodian’s fee schedule, do it now. If the fee is based on a percentage of your assets under management, it will save you money to move your gold to a custodian with lower or no fees as soon as possible.
| Party | Fee Type | Description | Typical Cost Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custodian | Account Setup | One-time fee for opening and establishing the IRA. | $50 – $300 (one-time) |
| Maintenance/Admin | Yearly cost for bookkeeping, tax reporting, and IRS compliance. | $75 – $300 (annual) | |
| Wire/Transaction | Processing fees for buying, selling, or transferring funds. | $25 – $100 per trade | |
| Metals Dealer | Dealer Premium | The “spread” or markup added above the current market spot price. | 2% – 10% above spot |
| Buyback Spread | The lower price offered when you sell metals back to the dealer. | 1% – 2% below spot | |
| Depository | Storage (Commingled) | Assets are pooled with other investors’ holdings. | $100 – $150 (annual) |
| Storage (Segregated) | Assets are kept physically separate in their own container. | $150 – $300+ (annual) |
You may feel like paying periodic fees to the custodian for holding your gold in a depository is a waste of time and money after paying for that brand-new safe in your basement. Here’s what to know before you liquidate your account.
If you have a traditional IRA, the government gave you a tax break on the money you used to buy your gold. When you sell the gold, the government will expect to get its deferred taxes in return.
For traditional IRAs that contain stocks, bonds or funds, you liquidate your holdings into cash and get a check from the brokerage. Then, at the end of the tax year, you have to pay income tax on your disbursement, hopefully out of the cash proceeds.
If you take possession of your gold, you still have to pay the assessed income on the value of your gold holdings, even if you’re just going to store it in the basement. That means you need to have enough cash on hand to pay your tax bill.
A couple in Rhode Island had to pay $300,000 in taxes because they falsely believed that their LLC was a qualified custodian for their collection of gold coins. The issue was that they used funds from their IRAs to pay for the coins, so when they took possession, it was considered a disbursement.
Unless you plan to leave your gold IRA to a beneficiary after you die, selling the gold in your IRA is an inevitability. Be aware of scams and pitfalls so you can keep as much of your hard-earned wealth as possible.
As of late April 2026, a standard 1-ounce gold bar is worth approximately $4,700 to $4,900. The price you get when you take that gold bar to a metals merchant could be less, however, as they pay wholesale prices and sell at retail prices.
The IRS tracks gold sales by requiring dealers to file Form 1099-B for specific amounts of bullion or coins (generally, more than 25 ounces), and Form 8300 is required for cash transactions exceeding $10,000. Like any other transaction, if you find someone willing to trade with you off the books, the IRS won’t know. But that is illegal.
The best way to avoid capital gains on gold holdings is to have them in a Roth IRA. Unlike traditional IRAs that require you to draw down your account after you turn 73, Roth IRAs do not require minimum distributions, and the distributions you do take are not taxed. However, there are income limitations to Roth IRAs. For 2026, Roth IRA eligibility requires a Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) below $168,000 for singles and below $252,000 for married couples filing jointly.
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