Goldco Fees Explained (Texas Gold IRA Analysis)
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Short on time? The essentials
- Goldco prints zero dollar figures for setup, minimum, custodian, storage, or dealer spread on its public pages (goldco.com sitemap has no fee or pricing page, checked August 2026).
- The only depository Goldco has ever publicly named is Delaware Depository in Wilmington, on a 2021 archived version of its precious metals IRA page (per web.archive.org, checked August 2026).
- Goldco does not list the state-run Texas Bullion Depository in Leander as a customer storage option, on any live or archived page (checked August 2026).
- The custodian is not named on the live goldco.com pages; industry practice is a self-directed IRA custodian such as Equity Trust Company, which does publish a retail fee schedule at trustetc.com/fees.
- Texas has no state personal income tax, so IRA distributions are federally taxed only. That makes fee drag, not state tax, the number Texas readers must control.
Where to go next
On this page
- What Goldco actually publishes
- The four fee lines that will apply
- Texas angle: no state tax, in-state storage question
- Fee comparison method that works against any dealer
- How to pin down every Goldco fee before you sign
- Worked example: 100,000 dollar Dallas rollover
- When the fee stack makes this a bad idea
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
What Goldco actually publishes on its own site
The company runs a large marketing footprint (television, radio, direct mail, celebrity endorsements) but the fee schedule is not part of it. A live crawl of goldco.com in August 2026 returned a page sitemap with no URL containing the words fee, pricing, storage, cost, or minimum. There is no /gold-ira-fees/ page. There is no /fees/ page. The FAQ is not indexed in the sitemap either.
A Wayback Machine query for goldco.com/gold-ira-fees returns zero snapshots, ever. That confirms the URL has never existed publicly.
The live pages that are indexed do talk about pricing, but only as marketing copy. The buy-gold-silver page currently advertises a promotion of 5 percent back in free silver on 50,000 to 99,999 dollar orders and 10 percent on orders of 100,000 dollars and above. That is a metal bonus, not a fee waiver. Neither the setup, the annual custodian charge, the annual storage charge, nor the per-coin premium is disclosed anywhere on the live site.
The only depository Goldco has ever named publicly is Delaware Depository, on a 2021 archived version of its precious-metals-ira page. The current version of that page describes storage generically as an independent insured depository, without naming the vault. That means a Texas reader cannot verify, from public information, whether the metal will be stored in Wilmington, Delaware, in a Brinks or IDS vault in another state, or in Texas.
The four fee lines that will apply to a Goldco IRA
Every self-directed precious metals IRA in the United States carries the same four cost lines. Two are paid to the custodian, one is paid to the depository, and one is paid to the dealer at the point of buying the metal. Goldco's silence on all four does not mean they do not exist. It means the number is set on the intake call and is not benchmarked against a printed schedule.
| Fee line | What it covers | Goldco public disclosure | Typical published comparator |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time setup | Custodian application fee, plus any dealer intake fee. | Not publicly disclosed on goldco.com (checked August 2026). | Equity Trust retail schedule prints 50 dollars for an online custodian application. |
| Annual custodian maintenance | Recordkeeping and reporting by the self-directed IRA custodian. | Not publicly disclosed on goldco.com (checked August 2026). | Equity Trust retail schedule tiers from 225 dollars under 15,000 dollars to 2,250 dollars above 2 million dollars. |
| Annual storage | Physical vaulting of the metal in an IRS-approved depository. | Not publicly disclosed on goldco.com (checked August 2026). | Equity Trust retail schedule lists 100 dollars for non-segregated and 150 dollars for segregated. |
| Dealer buy spread | Difference between the spot price of the metal and the Goldco price on the chosen coin or bar. | Not publicly disclosed. The largest first-year line for most buyers. | Industry range publicly discussed by dealer reviews sits from about 2 percent on generic bullion to 15 percent or more on branded or proof coinage. |
Sources: goldco.com public pages, checked August 2026; trustetc.com/fees Equity Retail Fee Schedule (Rev. 12/2022), captured via Wayback July 2026.
The custodian and storage lines are, in most cases, a pass-through. Goldco is a dealer, not a custodian; the money for the annual custodian fee lands with the self-directed IRA custodian that ends up on the account. Ask on the intake call which custodian Goldco proposes today, and then look up that custodian's published retail schedule before you compare quotes.
Why a Texas reader has a specific reason to pin these numbers down
Texas has no state personal income tax on IRA distributions. That is a real advantage over California or New York. A required minimum distribution at 73 or 75, an early withdrawal at 58, or a Roth conversion at 62 all move only through the federal tax code. There is no state income tax layer on top.
That advantage is real, and it is exactly the reason fee drag matters more here than a Texan may expect. With the state-tax variable set to zero, the biggest lever left on the net-of-cost outcome is the fee stack: setup, custodian, storage, and dealer spread. A 5 percent buy spread on a 100,000 dollar rollover is 5,000 dollars. That is real money the account will never see, whether the metal price moves up or down.
The state-run Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is often raised as an in-state storage option. It is a real facility, established by law in 2015 and operated for the state by Lone Star Tangible Assets since 2017. IRA storage there is enabled through the depository's operator, which received IRS Nonbank Trustee approval in 2023. Equity Trust Company is the first custodian named as working with the depository (per texasbulliondepository.gov/ira-storage, checked August 2026).
Goldco does not name the Texas Bullion Depository on any live or archived page. If a Texas reader wants the metal physically inside Texas, that request has to be raised on the intake call. The depository swap has to be confirmed in writing before funding.
Fee comparison method that works against any dealer that does not publish
The comparison method for Goldco is the same one that applies to every dealer that keeps its schedule off the public web. Ask for the four lines, in writing, before you sign the buy direction. Convert them into a first-year total dollar amount and a ten-year total, then measure both against the balance you plan to move.
- Ask for the account minimum. Get the dollar figure the specialist will accept, and note whether the minimum is a total transfer amount, a first-buy amount, or a combined figure. Keep the emailed answer.
- Ask for the one-time setup fee. Confirm the split between the dealer intake portion and the custodian application portion. Ask which is refundable if you cancel before the first metal purchase.
- Ask for the custodian on the account. Get the custodian's legal name in writing. Look up its published retail fee schedule before you accept a custodian quote from the dealer.
- Ask for the annual storage fee, by depository. Get the storage number for each named depository the dealer proposes, plus the segregated versus non-segregated price gap. Confirm whether the depository bills separately from the custodian.
- Ask for the per-coin buy price and the same-day spot. Do this on the exact coin the specialist is proposing. The gap is your dealer spread on the buy leg, and it is the single biggest fee line for most first-year buyers.
- Ask for the same-day buyback quote on the same coin. The gap between the buy price and the buyback price is your round-trip dealer cost. Get the buyback quote at the time you buy, not at the time you sell.
- Compute the ten-year total. Sum: setup once, plus ten years of custodian, plus ten years of storage, plus buy spread once. If the total exceeds 5 percent of your intended balance in year one, ask for line-by-line justification before signing.
Texas gold IRA fee-drag calculator
Texas gold IRAs charge mostly flat dollar fees (setup, annual custodian, storage). Flat fees take a much bigger bite out of a small account than a large one. Enter your numbers to see the drag.
Estimate only. Fee amounts vary by provider and are often not published; enter figures you confirm in writing. This tool ignores metal price changes and the dealer spread, which also affect returns. Not financial advice.
How to pin down every Goldco fee before you sign
The intake call is the fee-discovery moment. Once you sign the custodian application and fund the account, changing the schedule requires either a written negotiation or a full account close. Both are more work than doing it right the first time.
Bring the seven questions above to the call. Ask for every answer to come back by email. If the specialist declines to put a specific dollar figure in email, that itself is data. Goldco does not have a written no-email policy on any public page we captured in August 2026. If a specialist wants to keep the pricing verbal, ask for a manager on the same line and repeat the request.
The custodian's published retail schedule is your reference document for the custodian and storage lines. Print it or save the PDF before the call. If the dealer's quote is above the published tier for your account value, that gap needs a specific reason: a special-service upgrade, a private storage arrangement, or a fee waiver on other lines. If no reason is offered in writing, do not sign.
Worked example: a 100,000 dollar Dallas rollover
Worked example
Take a Dallas resident, age 62, rolling a 100,000 dollar traditional IRA into a precious metals IRA. The dealer is Goldco, the custodian on the account is a self-directed IRA custodian named on the intake call, and the chosen depository is disclosed in writing before funding. The dealer buy spread on the chosen coin package is not published; the specialist quotes 5 percent on the intake call.
Year one runs at the Equity Trust published retail rate for the custodian and storage lines. That is 50 dollars for an online custodian application, 500 dollars for annual maintenance on the 100,000 to 199,999 dollar tier, and 100 dollars for non-segregated storage. Total: 650 dollars before dealer spread. Add a 5 percent buy spread on 100,000 dollars, or 5,000 dollars, and the first year lands at 5,650 dollars.
Years two through ten: 600 dollars per year in custodian plus storage (assuming the account stays in the 100,000 to 199,999 dollar tier), for 5,400 dollars across nine more years. Add the year one 5,650 dollars, and the ten-year total lands at 11,050 dollars, or 11 percent of the 100,000 dollar starting balance across ten years, before any sell-side spread at final liquidation.
Swap the 5 percent buy spread for a 3 percent quote and the ten-year total drops to 9,050 dollars. Swap it up to an 8 percent quote and the same account reaches 14,050 dollars over the same ten years, on the same balance. Those three numbers, side by side, are what the intake call is really deciding, whether the specialist frames it that way or not.
When the fee stack makes this a bad idea
Situations where a precious metals IRA at any dealer that does not publish fees does not make sense for you.
If your rollover balance is below about 25,000 dollars, the fixed custodian and storage lines swallow a large percentage. On a 20,000 dollar account, 325 dollars annual maintenance plus 100 dollars non-segregated storage is 2.1 percent per year before dealer spread. Add a 5 percent buy spread and year one lands at roughly 7 percent of the balance. That is a hard hurdle for the metal price to clear before you break even.
If you expect to need liquidity in the next three to five years, the dealer buy-and-sell spread is a real round-trip cost that a stock or bond IRA does not carry. A 5 percent buy spread and a 3 percent sell spread is 8 percent gone before any metal price move. Selling a coin back to a dealer is not the same as clicking sell on an exchange-traded fund.
If you cannot get every fee line in writing on the intake call, that is a reason to pause. Goldco does not appear to have a public policy against providing fees by email. Nobody can predict where metal prices will go. Starting a precious metals IRA without a written fee table is starting without knowing what you signed. Consult your tax advisor for your specific situation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Goldco account minimum?
Goldco does not print a dollar minimum on its public IRA pages or in its live sitemap (checked August 2026). Any minimum quoted third-party may reflect a specialist conversation rather than a written policy. Ask the intake representative for the current number on the first call, and keep the emailed answer as your record.
Does Goldco publish a setup fee?
No. There is no fee schedule and no dedicated fees page on goldco.com (checked August 2026). The Equity Trust retail schedule, which is public, prints 50 dollars for an online custodian application and 75 dollars for a paper one. If Goldco proposes a self-directed IRA custodian other than Equity Trust on your account, look up that custodian's published schedule before comparing.
What is the annual custodian fee on a Goldco IRA?
Goldco does not print a specific figure and does not name the custodian on its public pages. The Equity Retail Fee Schedule (Rev. 12/2022) at trustetc.com/fees tiers annual maintenance by account value. Accounts under 15,000 dollars pay 225 dollars, the 50,000 to 99,999 dollar tier pays 425 dollars, the 100,000 to 199,999 tier pays 500 dollars, and accounts of 2 million dollars and above pay 2,250 dollars.
What are the storage fees inside a Goldco IRA?
Goldco does not print a storage number on any live page (checked August 2026). Equity Trust's retail schedule lists 100 dollars for annual non-segregated storage and 150 dollars for annual segregated storage. The specific depository the account uses may bill additional fees. Confirm the depository name in writing before funding.
Which depositories does Goldco use?
The only depository Goldco has ever named publicly is Delaware Depository, on a 2021 archived version of its precious metals IRA page (per web.archive.org, checked August 2026). Current live pages describe storage generically as an independent insured depository without naming the vault. Ask on the intake call for the specific depository name in writing before you sign.
Does Goldco use the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander?
No public page at goldco.com, live or archived, lists the state-run Texas Bullion Depository as a Goldco storage option (checked August 2026). Texas readers who want the metal physically inside Texas need to raise that request on the intake call and confirm the depository swap in writing before funding.
How is the Goldco dealer spread charged?
The dealer spread is the difference between the spot price of the metal and the price Goldco quotes on the specific coin or bar it recommends. It is not printed on any public page. Ask the specialist for the per-coin price and the same-day spot; the gap is your spread. Round-trip cost also includes a smaller spread on the buyback side.
Does the Goldco silver bonus or 1 Day IRA setup change the fee stack?
No. The 5 percent to 10 percent free-silver promotion advertised on goldco.com/buy-gold-silver (checked August 2026) is a metal add-on, not a fee waiver. The 1 Day IRA setup speed claim addresses paperwork turnaround, not the setup dollar figure, the annual custodian fee, the storage fee, or the dealer spread. Confirm all four fee lines in writing regardless of the promotion.
How do I request the Goldco fee schedule in writing?
Call the Goldco sales line at 1-855-450-1394 (listed on goldco.com/contact-us, checked August 2026) and ask for the four-line fee schedule to be sent to your email before you sign anything. Request: account minimum, one-time setup, custodian name plus annual custodian fee, annual storage fee by depository, and buy premium plus same-day buyback quote on your chosen coin.
Sources
- Goldco, Precious Metals IRA page, generic storage description and absence of a printed fee schedule. Plaintext citation: goldco.com/gold-ira/ and goldco.com/precious-metals-ira/ (both currently 404 in live sitemap; captured via web.archive.org 20260710211239), checked August 2026.
- Goldco, live page sitemap listing 20 public pages, none of which contain the words fee, pricing, storage, cost, or minimum in the URL. Plaintext citation: goldco.com/page-sitemap.xml, checked August 2026.
- Goldco, buy-gold-silver page describing the free-silver promotion of 5 percent on 50,000 to 99,999 dollar orders and 10 percent on orders of 100,000 dollars and above. Plaintext citation: goldco.com/buy-gold-silver/, checked August 2026.
- Goldco, Contact Us page listing sales phone 1-855-450-1394 and customer care phone 1-855-472-8494. Plaintext citation: goldco.com/contact-us/, checked August 2026.
- Goldco, precious metals IRA archived page naming Delaware Depository as the storage facility. web.archive.org capture July 29, 2021.
- Better Business Bureau, Goldco Precious Metals profile listing accreditation since 12/9/2011 and business start date 10/7/2006. bbb.org profile 1216-100109958 via Wayback, captured August 19, 2023.
- Equity Trust Company, retail fee schedule PDF (Rev. 12/2022) linked from trustetc.com/fees. trustetc.com/fees via Wayback, captured July 11, 2026.
- Texas Bullion Depository, IRA storage page describing Lone Star Tangible Assets as the operator and Equity Trust Company as the first custodian working with the depository. texasbulliondepository.gov/ira-storage, checked August 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, no state personal income tax reference. comptroller.texas.gov 98-1010, checked August 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A, direct trustee-to-trustee rollover mechanics and 20 percent mandatory federal withholding on indirect rollovers. irs.gov/publications/p590a, checked August 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 408, individual retirement accounts and trustee eligibility for a self-directed IRA. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/408, checked August 2026.