Gold & Silver IRA Investing

Getting Started

Open, Fund, Invest

It's simple to get started investing in physical gold and silver in an IRA. All you have to do is open your account, fund it with an annual contribution, transfer or rollover, and then select IRA when checking out at GoldSilver.com. That's it.

1. Open Your IRA

You can open an IRA with any of our supported custodians. We recommend Equity Trust for the smoothest experience; with over $25 billion in assets under custodianship, they are the leader in self-directed IRAs.

2. Fund It

An IRA must be pre-funded before you can use it to invest. You'll send those funds directly to the custodian, not to GoldSilver.com, so you can work with your custodian to pick the funding method and get that process rolling. Choose from:

• Annual IRA Contribution: You can usually complete online with an electronic transfer in a few minutes, or by sending a check or wire. There are limits on the amount you can contribute annually.
• IRA-to-IRA Transfer: Transfer if you already have an IRA with a brokerage, you can transfer part or all of your IRA's cash over to your new account.
• Rollover: If you have a 401(k), 403(b) or other eligible retirement account, you can usually roll part of your balance over into an IRA.

3. Invest

Browse GoldSilver.com's catalog of the most popular and liquid metals investment options. Add your selections to your cart. Then simply check out and choose IRA as your destination. All you'll need is the name of your custodian and the account number - we'll take care of the rest from settling payment to shipping your metals to the custodian's vault.

Common Questions

What if I already have a self-directed IRA?

Great. So long as it is with one of our supported custodians you can jump right into buying metals. Simply shop for gold and silver (only some products are IRA eligible because of IRS rules, so note that on each product's details as you browse our selection) and select the IRA option at checkout.

What is a self-directed IRA? How's it different from the one I have with my brokerage account?

There's not much difference except your freedom of choice in investment. Self-directed is a marketing term used by custodians who support investing in lots of different asset classes like physical real estate to precious metals to business loans and lots more inside the same Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Your brokerage IRA uses the same rules and regulations, but is simply limited to the investments available on their platform, usually just public stocks and bonds. This is often referred to as a "walled garden" where the selection is limited by the supplier (think of the old America Online versus the modern worldwide web). There is nothing inherently wrong with a brokerage IRA so long as you know its limitations. But with a self-directed IRA your choices are much much wider.

Funds can typically be freely transferred between IRAs with no tax consequences by simply filling out a form with your custodian, allowing to make use of both types of IRAs at the same time.

Can I use my 401(k) instead?

Yes and no. Most 401(k) accounts, like a typical brokerage IRA, are walled gardens as well. Some offer just a handful of investments selected by your company, others anything at the holding brokerage. Either way, in order to allow investment in alternatives like real estate and precious metals, you can "rollover" some or all of your 401(k) balance into a self-directed IRA to use those same pre-tax funds to make your investments.

If the 401(k) account is from a former employer, there are usually no limits on your ability to make a rollover.

If you are still employed, you'll have to consult your 401(k) provider or employer about whether they allow for an "in service rollover".

All Supported Custodians

At GoldSilver.com we work with the majority of widely trusted IRA custodians to make your investment decisions as easy as possible.

Our Preferred Provider