What fees are there for a Precious Metals IRA?
Generally, the standard fees charged by most custodians include a fee to open the account, an annual maintenance fee (including statements and filings), and a storage fee. Some custodians also charge a transaction fee to make your metals purchase. Note that the fees charged by different custodians can vary substantially.
Why are Precious Metal IRA fees sometimes higher than my regular IRA?
Most of the country’s largest IRA custodians like JP Morgan, TD Ameritrade, Edward Jones, and Merrill Lynch offer structured paper financial products like stocks, mutual funds, CDs, etc. Many of these custodians charge only nominal fees or even no direct fees for having an account with these. They are structured to make money off of the investment products they sell. As a bank, even if you only have only cash in your IRA, they can make money by lending out the deposited cash because of the fractional reserve banking system. A self-directed IRA custodian does not make money off any of the assets you own through their IRA. Therefore, they must charge a fee in order to stay in business and to provide necessary custodial services including providing IRA statements. They also need to pass on the costs of secure storage to the account holder.
Are fees to set up and maintain my Gold IRA tax deductible?
Of course, check with your personal CPA, but generally, yes, all setup and annual IRA fees are tax-deductible expenses.
What is the difference between an IRA transfer and an IRA rollover?
An IRA transfer is a direct means of transferring IRA funds from one custodian to another. It is normally done using a transfer that is first signed by the account holder and then sent from the receiving custodian to the releasing custodian requesting a partial or complete transfer of IRA funds or assets. The funds are sent straight from custodian to custodian without any tax consequences. A rollover is the preferred and most efficient method when moving from like-accounts such as from one Traditional IRA to another. There is no limit on the number of transfers that can be done in a calendar year.
A rollover is generally done when transferring between two different accounts such as from a 401(k) to an IRA. A transfer can be direct, meaning it is sent directly from one custodian to another or indirect meaning that the funds are sent from a custodian to the account holder. The account holder then has 60-days to move these funds to another retirement account such as an IRA. If the account holder fails to move the funds within 60-days they will be taxed on those funds and possibly penalized for early withdrawal. This is also known as a "60-day rollover". You are only allowed one 60-day rollover in any 12-month period.
Are the precious metal account fees paid out of my IRA or do I pay them out of pocket?
Whether you are setting up a brand new IRA or transferring funds from an existing IRA or retirement plan, you may elect to pay all start-up fees out of the assets in the IRA.