Gold IRA fees are unusually hard to pin down. Half the industry does not publish specific fee amounts on its own website; investors have to call a specialist to get numbers. The five companies that do publish schedules are not always internally consistent, with two publishing different fee amounts on different pages of their own site.
This page is the result of a July 2026 audit of ten of the largest gold IRA companies in the United States. Every figure below is either sourced from the company’s own fee page (labeled “company page”) or, where the company does not disclose specific amounts, from a third-party financial publication that names the company’s underlying custodian and cites the fee (labeled “third-party estimate”). All source URLs are listed in the methodology section.
Fee comparison, ten gold IRA companies, 2026
All fees shown in USD. “Year-1 est. for $50k” assumes a $50,000 account, non-segregated storage where the company offers both, and no first-year fee waiver. Where a company publishes only a range, the midpoint is shown.
| Company | Setup fee | Annual custodian | Annual storage (non-seg) | Minimum | Year-1 est. for $50k | Transparency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lear Capital | $80 ($50 + $30 wire) | $125 | $110 (non-seg) / $160 (seg) | $10,000 | $315 | A, full schedule published |
| Goldco | $50 | $125 * | $100 (non-seg) / $150 (seg) | $25,000 | $275 | B, two Goldco pages give different custodian fees |
| Noble Gold | $50 * | $125 | $150 (seg only) * | $20,000 | $325 | B, two Noble Gold pages give different setup and storage fees |
| Birch Gold Group | $50 + $30 wire | $125 (approximate) | $110 (combined w/ insurance) | $5,000 | $285 | B, ranges rather than fixed amounts |
| Augusta Precious Metals | Not disclosed on Augusta’s site | $75 to $150 (range) | $100 to $150 (range) | $50,000 | $175 to $300 | B, ranges, no setup fee amount published |
| American Hartford Gold | Not disclosed | Not disclosed (third-party: $75 to $125 tiered) | Not disclosed (third-party: ~$100) | $10,000 | ~$175 (third-party estimate) | D, no specific figures on AHG’s site |
| Priority Gold | Not disclosed (third-party: $50 + $35 wire) | Not disclosed (third-party: $125) | Not disclosed (third-party: $100) | Not disclosed | ~$275 (third-party estimate) | D, no specific figures on Priority Gold’s site |
| Advantage Gold | Not disclosed (third-party: ~$50) | Not disclosed (third-party: ~$100) | Not disclosed (third-party: ~$125) | Not disclosed (third-party: $5,000) | ~$275 (third-party estimate) | D, no specific figures on Advantage Gold’s site |
| Rosland Capital | Not disclosed (third-party: $50) | Not disclosed (third-party: $100) | Not disclosed (third-party: $100 to $150) | $2,500 (site-wide); $10,000 IRA (third-party) | ~$275 to $300 (third-party estimate) | D, no specific figures on Rosland’s site |
| Preserve Gold | $0 (company-stated) | Not disclosed (third-party: $100 to $175) | Waivable per company site (third-party: $100+) | Not disclosed | Variable | D, setup is $0 per company, other fees not published |
* See “Companies with internally conflicting fee pages” below for the specific discrepancies.
The transparency finding
Of the ten companies audited, only one publishes a complete, internally consistent fee schedule on its own website: Lear Capital. Every other company either omits at least one fee, publishes ranges instead of amounts, or publishes conflicting amounts across its own pages.
Broken down:
- Full schedule, no conflicts (1): Lear Capital.
- Ranges instead of fixed amounts (2): Augusta Precious Metals, Birch Gold Group. Both publish “around $X” or “$X to $Y” rather than a fixed number.
- Internally conflicting pages (2): Goldco (annual custodian fee is $125 on the dedicated cost page but ~$80 on the FAQ page); Noble Gold (setup is $50 on one page but $80 on another; storage is $160 on one page but $150 on another).
- No specific fee amounts published on the company’s own website (5): American Hartford Gold, Advantage Gold, Rosland Capital, Preserve Gold, Priority Gold. Investors have to call a specialist for pricing.
Companies with internally conflicting fee pages
Goldco. The Goldco cost-breakdown page (goldco.com/how-much-does-a-gold-ira-cost/) lists the annual custodian fee at $125. The Goldco Gold IRA FAQ page (goldco.com/gold-ira-faqs/) states the same fee at approximately $80. Both pages are current and neither corrects the other. This page uses the $125 figure as the more current since it comes from the dedicated cost resource; investors verifying Goldco fees should confirm the current amount directly.
Noble Gold. The Noble Gold IRA page (noblegoldinvestments.com/invest/gold-ira/) lists a $50 setup fee and $160 annual metals storage. The Noble Gold support page (noblegoldinvestments.com/support/) lists a $80 setup fee, $150 storage, and states the company offers only segregated storage. The IRA page’s $160 figure is described on the support page as commingled storage that Noble Gold “does not recommend.” This page uses $50 setup + $150 segregated storage as the operational combination.
What this means for a $50,000 investor
Ignoring the metals markup itself, the disclosed first-year cost for a $50,000 gold IRA ranges from approximately $175 (using American Hartford Gold’s third-party-cited figures) to $365 (Lear Capital with segregated storage). That is roughly a 2x spread on the same account size, from the same industry, on the same product. For a $250,000 account the annual custodian + storage difference compounds year over year.
The larger cost driver, however, is the metals markup, the difference between the spot price of the metal on the day of purchase and the price the company charges the investor. That markup is not published by any of the ten companies audited and is negotiated per transaction. The published-fee comparison above is only the account-holding cost. A separate audit of markup practices is a different exercise.
For an interactive fee estimate that factors in setup, custodian, storage, and dealer markup over a chosen holding period, use the Gold IRA Fee Calculator.
First-year fee waiver claims
Several companies publicize first-year fee waivers or extended fee-free periods for qualifying accounts. Verifiability varies:
- Birch Gold Group: covers the first year of fees for transfers over $50,000, stated on birchgold.com/faqs/. Eligibility at exactly $50,000 is unclear.
- Lear Capital: mentions fee waivers of one to three years for “larger investments” without stating the dollar thresholds.
- Preserve Gold: states storage fees “can be waived depending on the dollar amount being invested” without stating the threshold.
- Priority Gold: reported by LendEDU to cover the first year of administration fees, and storage for “eligible customers.” Priority Gold’s own site does not confirm this.
- Augusta Precious Metals: multiple third-party reviews mention a waiver of “some or all fees for up to 10 years” depending on investment size. This claim could not be verified on Augusta’s own site.
- American Hartford Gold: third-party reviews cite a first-year waiver and a three-year waiver for accounts over $300,000. Not verified on AHG’s own site.
Every waiver above is worth confirming in writing with the company before assuming the year-1 estimate in the table.
Methodology and sources
Each company’s public website was audited on July 23, 2026 for a specific fee schedule. Where the company published amounts, those figures are used. Where the company published only ranges, the range is preserved. Where the company published no specific amount, the most-cited third-party financial publication figure (CNBC Select, Benzinga, Money.com, LendEDU, Comparisun) is used and labeled as a third-party estimate.
Source URLs used:
- Augusta Precious Metals: augustapreciousmetals.com/gold-ira/ + augustapreciousmetals.com/faq/
- Goldco: goldco.com/how-much-does-a-gold-ira-cost/ + goldco.com/gold-ira-faqs/
- Birch Gold Group: birchgold.com/blog/retirement/gold-ira-fees/ + birchgold.com/faqs/
- American Hartford Gold: americanhartfordgold.com/faqs-about-gold-iras/ (non-disclosure); cnbc.com/select/best-gold-ira-companies/ (third-party)
- Noble Gold: noblegoldinvestments.com/invest/gold-ira/ + noblegoldinvestments.com/support/
- Advantage Gold: advantagegold.com/blog/how-to-invest-in-a-gold-ira/ + lendedu.com/blog/advantage-gold-review/ (third-party)
- Rosland Capital: roslandcapital.com/gold-iras-faq/ (non-disclosure); benzinga.com/money/rosland-capital-review (third-party)
- Preserve Gold: preservegold.com/precious-metals-ira/
- Lear Capital: learcapital.com/knowledgebase/fee-and-transparency/ + learcapital.com/knowledgebase/gold-ira/gold-ira-fee-structure/
- Priority Gold: prioritygold.com/how-to-setup-a-gold-ira/ (non-disclosure); lendedu.com/blog/priority-gold-review/ (third-party)
Fees change. The audit will be re-run quarterly; the most recent audit date is shown at the top of this page.
Related SGI resources
- Gold IRA Fee Calculator, interactive tool that projects total fees (setup, custodian, storage, markup) over a chosen holding period.
- Leading Gold IRA Companies 2026, SGI’s editorial comparison across service, reputation, and product range.
- Gold IRA Rules, IRS eligibility, contribution limits, distribution rules.
- Individual reviews: Goldco, Birch Gold, American Hartford Gold, Noble Gold, Lear Capital.
Affiliate disclosure: SilverGoldInvestment.com may earn a commission from some of the companies mentioned on this page. Compensation does not influence editorial ratings or the fee data above, which comes directly from public sources. Precious metals investments carry risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. See our full affiliate disclosure.