A Gold IRA isn’t a separate retirement account category from a “regular” IRA in the eyes of the IRS — it’s a self-directed traditional or Roth IRA that happens to hold physical precious metals instead of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. The contribution limits are identical: for 2026, that’s $7,500 per year, or $8,600 if you’re 50 or older. The real differences show up in mechanics, not tax status.

What Actually Changes

A regular IRA at a brokerage lets you buy and sell shares instantly with no physical custody question. A Gold IRA requires an IRS-approved custodian to administer the account and an approved depository to hold the metal — under 26 U.S.C. §408(m)(3), the metal cannot be held at home or in a personal safe deposit box without the entire IRA being treated as a taxable distribution. The gold or silver must also meet minimum purity standards (99.5% for gold, 99.9% for silver, with a statutory exception for American Gold Eagle coins).

Costs Are the Other Real Difference

Regular IRAs at major brokerages often carry no account fee. Gold IRAs typically layer on an annual custodian fee and a separate depository storage fee, plus a dealer markup over the metal’s spot price when you buy. None of that makes a Gold IRA better or worse — it makes it a different tradeoff: less liquidity and more fees, in exchange for owning a physical asset with no counterparty risk.

Bottom line

If you’re choosing between the two, you’re really choosing an asset class and a fee structure, not a tax advantage — the tax rules are the same either way.