Lear Capital Fees Explained

Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through links on this page. The commission has no effect on what you pay or on what we publish. We are not a financial or tax advisor; consult a licensed advisor for your situation. Last reviewed August 2026.

This page walks through the fee lines a first-time visitor can see on Lear Capital's own site, the lines the site leaves blank, and the ones a Texas retirement saver should insist on before signing. Every claim ties to a specific captured page dated August 2026, and the sources block at the bottom lists each one.

Harry's Coins has no affiliate relationship with Lear Capital. Nothing on this page routes to Lear's site, and no link on this page pays us to send you toward Lear. We publish this fee explainer as an editorial reference for retirement savers weighing Lear against neutral criteria.

What Lear publishes about fees

Lear Capital's IRA product page frames the account as a self-directed IRA that can hold gold, silver, platinum, or palladium inside the tax wrapper. The page describes a three-step opening flow: fund the account, choose the metal, and route delivery to the depository (source: learcapital.com Precious Metals IRA page, checked August 2026).

The same page names Delaware Depository as the storage facility. It describes the vault as IRS-approved and states that London Underwriters provide the insurance. Delaware Depository is a widely used facility across the sector, so its presence is a sector floor rather than a differentiator.

The Gold IRA FAQ page adds two fee-related facts. It names Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. as the custodian that holds the account, and it publishes a tiered offer where Lear covers set-up and storage fees on qualifying purchases (source: learcapital.com Gold IRA FAQ page, checked August 2026). Those are the only two fee-specific dollar anchors on the captured pages.

Lear's header also carries two self-hosted trust labels: 3 billion dollars in Trusted Transactions and BBB Accredited Business A plus rating. Neither is an audited disclosure. A reader should read them as claims Lear makes about itself, not as third-party attestations.

What Lear does not publish

The Lear pages we captured on August 2026 do not print a specific dollar figure for four fee lines that a retirement saver needs to compare across dealers.

The first is the account minimum. Lear does not state a public dollar threshold on the captured product pages for opening a precious metals IRA. That figure is quoted verbally on the sales call, and a verbal quote can move with the coin selection the specialist recommends.

The second is the setup fee. The IRA FAQ notes that Lear will cover a 50 dollar setup fee on purchases above 10,000 dollars, which strongly implies a default setup fee of at least 50 dollars. The final dollar figure the trustee actually charges is not on the captured pages.

The third is the annual custodian fee. Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. is named as the trustee, but that trustee's own current retail fee schedule is not linked as a PDF on the captured Lear pages. The custodian fee is set by the trustee, not by Lear.

The fourth is the annual storage fee. Delaware Depository is the vault, yet the annual storage fee in dollars per year is not on the captured Lear pages. Segregated versus commingled treatment is also not called out.

The tiered free-fees offer, tier by tier

Lear's Gold IRA FAQ publishes a tiered offer that covers set-up and storage fees for a set number of years, based on the size of the qualifying invoice. The offer is restricted to Limited Mintage coin purchases per the same page (source: learcapital.com Gold IRA FAQ page, checked August 2026).

• Purchases above 10,000 dollars: Lear covers the 50 dollar setup fee.
• Purchases from 25,000 to 50,000 dollars: Lear covers first-year set-up and storage. A reimbursement check follows the first month in storage.
• Purchases from 50,000 to 75,000 dollars: Lear covers set-up and storage for the first two years.
• Purchases at 75,000 dollars and above: Lear covers set-up and storage for the first three years.

Two facts a reader should note. First, the offer applies only to Limited Mintage coins, per Lear's own fine print. If a saver wants standard bullion (for example a plain American Gold Eagle rather than a Limited Mintage issue), the fee coverage may not apply.

Second, the offer covers set-up and storage. It does not cover the dealer spread on the coins Lear sells, and it does not cover the annual custodian fee that Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. charges. Those two lines can be larger than the covered set-up and storage combined.

Who charges what: Lear vs the custodian vs the depository

A self-directed precious metals IRA involves three distinct parties, each with a separate fee schedule. Under Internal Revenue Code 408(a)(2), the account must be administered by a bank, an insured credit union, an IRS-approved non-bank trustee, or a savings and loan (source: irs.gov Publication 590-A, checked August 2026).

Lear Capital is the dealer. Lear sells the metal and coordinates the paperwork between the saver, the trustee, and the depository. The main line Lear controls is the dealer spread, which is the mark up between the price you pay for a coin and the underlying spot price of the metal.

Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. is the trustee named on the Lear Gold IRA FAQ page. The trustee opens the tax-advantaged account and holds legal title. Trustee fees typically include a one-time setup, an annual maintenance fee, and transaction fees. Ask the trustee directly for the current schedule.

Delaware Depository is the storage facility named on the Precious Metals IRA product page. The depository charges an annual storage fee that varies with segregated versus commingled storage. That fee is set by the depository, not by Lear, though Lear's tiered offer can cover it for a defined stretch on Limited Mintage buys.

Storage fees at Delaware Depository

Delaware Depository is a private, IRS-approved storage facility used across the precious metals sector. Its role on a Lear account is to receive the metal after Lear ships it, and to hold the metal under the account number the trustee opens.

Two storage variables matter for the fee arithmetic. The first is whether the account is segregated (your specific coins are kept apart) or commingled (your metal is pooled with other holders of the same product). Segregated storage typically costs more per year than commingled storage.

The second is the annual dollar rate on the storage line. The captured Lear pages do not quote either figure. A written email from Lear or from Delaware Depository, dated and countersigned, is worth requesting before any funding wire moves. That written confirmation lets you calculate a real ten-year drag, not a hypothetical one.

Dealer spread, the fee no dealer prints

The dealer spread is the largest fee line for most first-year buyers, and it is not published on any Lear page we captured on August 2026. That is true across the sector: dealer spreads are almost never posted publicly, because they move with the coin selection and the metal price.

A dealer spread of 5 percent on a 60,000 dollar coin purchase equals 3,000 dollars, or roughly 5 percent of the account, on day one. A dealer spread of 10 percent on the same purchase equals 6,000 dollars. The gap between a 5 percent spread and a 10 percent spread on a mid-sized rollover is often larger than three years of custodian plus storage fees combined.

Ask the Lear specialist to email a coin-by-coin price sheet after the pricing call, listing the mark up over spot on each product. Save that sheet as a PDF alongside the trustee application before authorizing the wire. Verbal price quotes disappear; a dated PDF sits on file.

Texas readers and the fee arithmetic

Texas has no state personal income tax. That is anchored in the Texas Constitution and confirmed at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (source: comptroller.texas.gov, checked August 2026). A qualified distribution from a Texas resident's precious metals IRA is federally taxed only, with no state layer.

The state-run Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is administered by the Texas Comptroller and operated by Lone Star Tangible Assets. Its public pages describe an IRA account process for individual customers, and it does not publish an approved-dealer roster (source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked August 2026).

The captured Lear pages do not name a Texas office, a Texas hire, or a Texas Bullion Depository partnership. If a Texas reader wants metal stored inside Texas at the state facility rather than at Delaware Depository, that arrangement must be raised directly with the Lear specialist and confirmed in writing by Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. before the wire.

How to verify Lear's real fee schedule before you fund

The tiered offer on Lear's site is a public data point, but the underlying dollar rates for setup, annual custodian, annual storage, and dealer spread are not on the captured pages. Use the paperwork sequence below to force those numbers onto paper before any funds move.

1. Request the Lear fee sheet by email, on Lear letterhead, listing the account minimum, the setup fee, the dealer spread policy, and any coin-selection restrictions on the tiered fee waiver. Do not schedule a funding call before this document is in hand.
2. Ask Lear to name the self-directed IRA custodian by legal entity name in the same email. Confirm it is Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. or, if not, request the current name in writing along with a link to that trustee's IRS non-bank trustee approval (source: irs.gov Publication 590-A, checked August 2026).
3. Contact Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. directly and request the current trustee fee schedule as a PDF. The setup fee, annual maintenance fee, and transaction fee lines belong on that schedule, and they are set by the trustee, not by Lear.
4. Ask whether metal storage will be at Delaware Depository or at another facility, and whether the account will be segregated or commingled. Request the annual storage fee in dollars per year for your expected balance, in the same written email.
5. Choose direct trustee-to-trustee transfer for a 401(k) or IRA rollover, to avoid triggering the 60-day rule and the 20 percent mandatory withholding that apply to indirect rollovers (source: irs.gov Publication 590-A, checked August 2026).
6. Hold the pricing call with the Lear specialist after funds land at the trustee. Ask for the dealer spread on each coin quoted, and require a coin-by-coin price sheet by email within one business day.
7. Save the Lear fee sheet, the trustee fee schedule, the depository storage confirmation, and the coin-by-coin price sheet as one bundled PDF. Ask the trustee for a quarterly statement and an annual holdings audit going forward.

Chart: Lear's tiered fee waiver at a glance

The bar chart below shows how many years of set-up and storage fees Lear covers at each purchase bracket, per the Gold IRA FAQ page. The gold bar marks the 75,000 dollar-and-above bracket where three years of fees are covered. Every bracket is restricted to Limited Mintage coins per Lear's fine print.

The fee-drag calculator below lets a reader test a stack of dealer spread, setup, custodian, and storage fees against a chosen balance. Use the trustee schedule as your input, not the tiered offer alone.

Table: the four fee lines side by side

The table reproduces the four fee lines a retirement saver must compare across dealers, with a status column for what Lear publishes and a source column pointing back to the captured page.

When Lear's offer is a bad fit

Frequently asked questions

By Harry's Coins Editorial. Last reviewed August 2026.