Madison Trust Gold IRA Review
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 July 2026.
Short on time? The essentials
- Corporate identity per the madisontrust.com schema: Madison Trust Company, 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57103.
- Regulator: South Dakota Division of Banking, as a state-chartered trust company. CEO of record is Daniel Gleich.
- Founding pathway: the group founded Broad Financial in 2009 and received a South Dakota trust charter in January 2014 for Madison Trust Company.
- Better Business Bureau accreditation: accredited since April 3, 2015 per the BBB profile for Madison Trust Company Inc.
- Published custodian fee: $50 one-time setup, plus $110 per quarter ($440 per year) that includes holding one asset, at the February 2025 archive.
- Default gold IRA workflow: Madison Trust wires funds to Delaware Depository via FideliTrade. Texas Bullion Depository routing is not the built-in default.
On this page
- What Madison Trust Company actually is
- The Broad Financial to Madison Trust history
- The custodian role, explained plainly
- The Madison Trust fee schedule, line by line
- Flat fee versus asset-based, at your balance
- How Madison Trust is regulated
- The gold IRA workflow: FideliTrade and Delaware Depository
- How Madison Trust fits a Texas rollover
- Depository options for a Madison Trust gold IRA
- Opening a Madison Trust gold IRA, step by step
- Worked example: fee drag on a Texas gold IRA
- Balanced pros and cons
- When Madison Trust is a bad idea for you
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
What Madison Trust Company actually is
Madison Trust Company is a self-directed IRA custodian based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It holds legal title to IRA assets on behalf of the account owner, executes signed buy and sell instructions, and files the IRS reporting forms that keep the account in good standing.
The corporate address published in the site schema is 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57103. The main phone numbers on file are (800) 721-4900 and (888) 605-3047. The chief executive officer of record on the company's precious metals blog copy is Daniel Gleich.
Madison Trust does not sell coins, market gold products, or set dealer premiums. It reviews and processes the paperwork that a partner dealer prepares. That functional split is a critical thing for a first-time reader to understand before comparing this custodian to a full-service gold IRA company.
The wider self-directed IRA menu at Madison Trust goes beyond precious metals. Real estate, private lending, private equity, and single-member IRA LLCs are all supported categories. The precious metals line is one product inside a broader alternative-asset custody book.
The Broad Financial to Madison Trust history
The founding team behind Madison Trust started with a separate business first. Daniel Gleich and Mervyn Klein founded Broad Financial in 2009 to help savers open self-directed IRA LLC structures. Brian Finkelstein joined the leadership group afterward.
Broad Financial did not itself hold client assets in trust. It facilitated the paperwork while a bank or trust company acted as custodian. Public materials from the era describe the firm reaching more than 10,000 clients within its first several years.
In 2012 the three principals began the process of chartering their own South Dakota trust company. The state issued the trust charter to Madison Trust Company in January 2014, per the company's About page on the Internet Archive. That charter is what allows Madison Trust to act as an IRA trustee under federal tax law.
A sister entity called Madison Administration Company handles administration for IRA LLC structures. The two names appear on separate parts of client paperwork. Do not sign a form that is unclear about which of the two entities is the trustee of your IRA cash and metal.
The custodian role, explained plainly
Under 26 U.S.C. section 408(a)(2), an IRA can only be held by a bank, a federally insured credit union, a state-chartered trust company, or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. Madison Trust operates as the third of those categories.
The trust company opens the account in your name, receives the rollover from your prior 401(k) or IRA, and settles the buy instruction you sign. When the buy is a gold or silver order, cash moves from the IRA sub-account to the dealer. The dealer ships approved metal to an IRS-eligible depository.
The trust company does not pick the dealer for you, does not set the coin premium, and does not underwrite the buyback price. Those are dealer decisions. If the dealer runs a fair premium, the custody piece is quiet paperwork. If the dealer runs a wide premium, the custodian still processes it.
This division of labor is why the custodian question and the dealer question deserve separate scrutiny. Madison Trust can be the trustee on your paperwork while the dealer paired with your account still charges a poor premium. Vet both.
The Madison Trust fee schedule, line by line
The Self-Directed IRA Fees page on madisontrust.com published a flat custodian schedule at the February 11, 2025 Internet Archive snapshot. The schedule shows a $50 one-time account setup fee and a $110 quarterly maintenance fee. The quarterly figure sums to $440 per year and covers holding one asset.
The same fee page explicitly frames the pricing as a flat model, in contrast to an asset-based custodian charging a typical 0.26 percent per year. The page uses a $250,000 account as one reference case ($650 per year at 0.26 percent) and a $400,000 account as a second reference case ($1,040 per year at 0.26 percent).
Storage of physical metal is billed separately by the depository, not by Madison Trust. Wire fees for outbound transfers are a distinct line item as well. Ask the intake specialist to quote each line in writing before you sign, even when the total looks simple on the marketing page.
| Fee line | Published figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Account setup fee | $50 one-time | Opening the self-directed IRA at Madison Trust; charged once at account activation. |
| Quarterly maintenance fee | $110 per quarter ($440 per year) | Recurring cost of holding the account open, including custody of one held asset. |
| Additional held asset | Quoted at intake | Applies when the IRA holds more than one distinct asset; ask for the current per-asset figure in writing. |
| Wire and processing fees | Quoted per transaction | Per-event charges on outbound wires, distribution payments, and certain buy instructions. |
| Depository storage fee | Billed by the depository | Recurring physical storage cost owed to Delaware Depository or the depository named on your account. |
Source: madisontrust.com Self-Directed IRA Fees page, Internet Archive snapshot dated February 11, 2025, checked July 2026. Additional and per-transaction figures should be requested in writing before signing.
Flat fee versus asset-based, at your balance
The chart below models the difference between the Madison Trust flat $440 per year and a hypothetical asset-based custodian at 0.26 percent per year. The 0.26 percent rate and the $250,000 and $400,000 reference cases are the exact comparison written on the Madison Trust fees page itself.
The chart shows the point clearly. Below roughly $170,000 in account value, an asset-based custodian at 0.26 percent charges less than $440 per year, so the Madison Trust flat rate is not the cheaper structure at those balances. Above that break-even point, the flat rate gets cheaper as the account grows.
The comparison is only about the custodian line. It does not include depository storage, dealer premium, or wire fees. A $440 saving on custody can be wiped out by a wide dealer premium or by a segregated storage tier. Compare the full stack, not one line.
How Madison Trust is regulated
Madison Trust Company is chartered as a state trust company under South Dakota banking law. The supervising authority is the South Dakota Division of Banking, part of the state Department of Labor and Regulation (source: dlr.sd.gov/banking, checked July 2026). Chartered trust companies are subject to state examinations and capital rules.
Better Business Bureau records show Madison Trust Company Inc. has been BBB accredited since April 3, 2015, listed under Financial Services in Sioux Falls, SD. The BBB record is a supplemental data point, not a substitute for the state banking regulator or for your own tax advisor's opinion.
Madison Trust itself does not file periodic reports with the SEC, because it is chartered as a state trust company rather than as a broker-dealer or investment adviser. That is standard for the state trust custody model. Federal SEC oversight would apply only if a broker-dealer or adviser affiliate existed under the same corporate umbrella.
The federal aggregator for state financial services licensing records is NMLS Consumer Access at nmlsconsumeraccess.org. If you want a second reference point on any custodian, that database is where a state license or registration will appear when a company has been registered on NMLS.
The gold IRA workflow: FideliTrade and Delaware Depository
The Madison Trust blog post on gold IRAs describes the operational workflow in specific terms. The saver opens a Self-Directed IRA at Madison Trust, then opens an online account at FideliTrade, a Delaware Depository company. Once cash arrives, Madison Trust wires the funds to Delaware Depository (source: madisontrust.com precious metals blog).
Delaware Depository sits in Wilmington, Delaware and is one of the depositories most frequently named on gold IRA paperwork. It is IRS-eligible, insured, and has decades of operating history in bullion custody. FideliTrade is a related dealer entity that handles the buy instruction on the metal side.
This default workflow means a Madison Trust gold IRA moves your physical metal to Delaware, not to Texas. The trust in South Dakota, the dealer at FideliTrade, and the vault at Delaware Depository do not need a Texas address to serve a Texas resident, but the metal will physically sit out of state.
A Texas resident who wants the state-owned Texas Bullion Depository in Leander needs to raise that request with the dealer at intake, not with Madison Trust. Not every dealer paired with Madison Trust supports TxBD routing. Confirm the specific depository named on your buy instruction before you sign.
How Madison Trust fits a Texas rollover
Texas has no state personal income tax on wages or on retirement account distributions (source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). Federal ordinary income treatment is therefore the complete tax picture for a Texas resident rolling into a Madison Trust self-directed IRA.
The regulator that oversees the trust piece sits in South Dakota, not Texas. If you specifically want a Texas-domiciled custodian, Madison Trust is not one. The trade-off is a well-established out-of-state trust charter on one side, versus an in-state trustee preference on the other. Both are legitimate concerns.
State residency in Texas is not required to use an out-of-state trust custodian. Paperwork flows through the client portal or by mail. Your Form 5498 arrives from Madison Trust each May regardless of where you live. The client experience is uniform across states.
The larger Texas question is storage. If your goal for a Texas gold IRA includes keeping the physical metal inside Texas, ask the dealer at intake whether they will name the Texas Bullion Depository on your Madison Trust buy instruction. A yes in writing is worth more than a yes on a phone call.
Depository options for a Madison Trust gold IRA
Delaware Depository is the built-in workflow, but it is not the only IRS-approved vault a Madison Trust gold IRA can use. The specific depository named on the buy instruction depends on the dealer paired with your account. Some dealer stacks offer several depository choices; some default to one.
| Depository | Vault location | Note for a Texas reader |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware Depository | Wilmington, Delaware | Default workflow with FideliTrade for Madison Trust gold IRA; segregated and non-segregated tiers available. |
| Brinks Global Services | Multiple U.S. sites; New York and Salt Lake City historically listed | Out of state on most dealer sheets; ask which specific vault holds your metal. |
| International Depository Services (IDS) | Irving, Texas (Dallas County) | Private commercial vault located inside Texas; not state-owned; frequently paired with self-directed custodians. |
| A-M Global Logistics (AMGL) | Las Vegas, Nevada | Out of state; sometimes the default when segregated storage is elected on certain dealer stacks. |
| Texas Bullion Depository (TxBD) | Leander, Texas (Williamson County) | State-owned; confirms IRA storage on texasbulliondepository.gov; must be named on the specific dealer buy instruction. |
Source: madisontrust.com precious metals blog naming FideliTrade and Delaware Depository, plus general dealer partner disclosures naming other IRS-eligible vaults, checked July 2026. Confirm the exact depository for your account before signing any buy instruction.
Storage segregation is a second decision inside the depository question. Segregated storage means your bars sit on your named shelf, and you receive back the exact bars you shipped in. Non-segregated storage means you own a claim to like-kind metal from a pooled inventory. Both are legal; segregated costs more.
Opening a Madison Trust gold IRA, step by step
Most savers do not open a Madison Trust gold IRA by calling Madison Trust cold. The account opens as part of a dealer intake, where the dealer sends the Madison Trust application bundled with the FideliTrade order form and the buy instruction. The steps below cover the practical order of operations.
- Pick the dealer first, then the custodian. Confirm the dealer is willing to route paperwork through Madison Trust before you fill in any custodian forms. Not every dealer partners with every trust company, and the dealer runs the intake pace.
- Ask for the current fee schedule in writing. Request a PDF fee schedule from Madison Trust that applies to your account in 2026. Compare setup, quarterly maintenance, additional held asset, wire, and outbound distribution line items.
- Open the Self-Directed IRA at Madison Trust. Complete the account application with your ID, employment status, beneficiary designations, and the funding source (rollover, transfer, or new contribution).
- Request a trustee-to-trustee transfer from your prior custodian. A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer avoids the 20 percent mandatory federal withholding and the 60-day redeposit clock under IRS Publication 590-A. Do not take the check in your own name.
- Open the FideliTrade order account and name the depository. Follow the dealer's intake path to FideliTrade or the equivalent partner. Confirm on paper which depository, and which storage tier, the buy instruction will use.
- Sign the buy instruction after the cash lands. Wait for the cash to arrive at Madison Trust before signing the metal order. Signing before funding creates a settlement mismatch that both the custodian and dealer will have to unwind.
- Save every Form 5498 and 1099-R. Madison Trust files Form 5498 each May reporting the fair market value and any contributions, and Form 1099-R when a distribution occurs. Keep both for your tax file and reconcile them against your own filings.
Worked example: fee drag on a Texas gold IRA
Worked example
Consider a Houston resident, age 57, rolling $200,000 from a 401(k) into a new Madison Trust gold IRA in 2026. The known custodian fees are $50 setup and $440 per year (the flat one-asset schedule from the archived fee page). Storage and dealer premium remain to be quoted by the specific dealer at intake.
Assume a placeholder Delaware Depository storage fee of $180 per year for segregated bar storage. Combined with the $440 custodian fee, that is $620 per year on a $200,000 balance, or roughly 0.31 percent per year on custody plus storage. Add the dealer premium separately.
The Texas tax picture on a future distribution is federal only. The state adds nothing on top, because Texas has no personal income tax. That does not remove the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty under IRC 72(t) if the reader takes a distribution before age 59.5.
Use the calculator below to model your own numbers. Replace the placeholder storage figure with what the dealer quotes you in writing, and add a realistic dealer premium plus any outbound wire charges over the years you plan to hold the account.
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.
Picking a company that explains every fee up front is the first step. Get the free gold IRA company checklist.
Balanced pros and cons
What Madison Trust does well
- Chartered under the South Dakota Division of Banking as a state trust company, with the charter received in January 2014.
- Publishes a clear flat fee schedule ($50 setup, $110 per quarter, $440 per year), so the custodian line is predictable.
- Flat structure becomes cost-favorable versus an asset-based custodian at 0.26 percent above roughly a $170,000 account balance.
- Better Business Bureau accreditation since April 3, 2015 as Madison Trust Company Inc. in Sioux Falls provides a supplemental trust reference.
- Established gold IRA workflow through FideliTrade and Delaware Depository; the operational path is well-worn and documented on the blog.
Where readers should push harder
- Default depository is Delaware Depository through FideliTrade, so a Texas Bullion Depository preference must be raised with the dealer at intake.
- Flat $440 per year is not the cheapest structure at balances below roughly $170,000; a small account pays a higher percentage in custody.
- Charter sits in South Dakota, not Texas; a reader who specifically wants an in-state trustee will need a Texas-chartered custodian instead.
- Additional held asset, wire, and distribution figures are not fully spelled out on the public fee page and should be requested in writing.
- Madison Trust does not police dealer premiums, so a wide dealer premium on the coin stays wide even with the flat custody fee.
When Madison Trust is a bad idea for you
Situations where a Madison Trust self-directed gold IRA does not fit your goal or your balance.
If your rollover balance is small, the flat $440 per year plus storage plus dealer premium can create a fee drag percentage that eats the case for a gold IRA at all. On a $20,000 balance, $440 per year alone is 2.2 percent per year in custody, before any storage or premium is added.
If you specifically want a Texas-domiciled trustee holding your metal at the Texas Bullion Depository as the default, Madison Trust is not the built-in match. Its default workflow points to Delaware Depository through FideliTrade. Routing to TxBD is possible only when the dealer paperwork specifically names it.
If you expect to need the cash inside three to five years, the buy-sell spread on physical metal is a real cost that a basic ETF or bond IRA does not carry. Selling coins back to a dealer is a spread transaction, not a click. Model the round trip before opening the account.
If you are under 59.5 and considering an early distribution rather than a rollover, the 10 percent additional tax under IRC 72(t) still applies, plus ordinary income tax on the distributed amount. Nobody can predict metal prices, so early liquidation on a bad tick is a real risk. Consult your tax advisor.
Frequently asked questions
Is Madison Trust Company legitimate?
Yes, on the checkable public record. Madison Trust Company is a South Dakota state-chartered trust company, supervised by the South Dakota Division of Banking. The Better Business Bureau records show accreditation since April 3, 2015 under the Sioux Falls Financial Services category.
Where is Madison Trust headquartered?
The corporate address on the madisontrust.com schema is 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57103. Main phones on file are (800) 721-4900 and (888) 605-3047. The CEO of record on the company's precious metals blog copy is Daniel Gleich.
When was Madison Trust founded?
The founding team started Broad Financial in 2009 as an IRA LLC facilitation business. The group then began chartering their own trust company in 2012, and the South Dakota trust charter for Madison Trust Company was granted in January 2014 per the company's About page.
What does a Madison Trust gold IRA cost per year?
The archived February 2025 fee page shows $50 one-time setup plus $110 per quarter, which totals $440 per year for holding one asset. Physical storage at Delaware Depository is billed separately by the depository. Dealer premium on the coin is a separate line as well.
Does Madison Trust store metal at the Texas Bullion Depository?
Only if the specific dealer paperwork names the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander on the buy instruction. Madison Trust's default gold workflow points to Delaware Depository through FideliTrade. Ask the dealer in writing whether TxBD is available on your account before you sign.
Is Madison Trust a bank?
No. Madison Trust is a state-chartered trust company, not a bank. Under 26 U.S.C. section 408(a)(2), state-chartered trust companies are a permitted trustee category for IRAs alongside banks, federally insured credit unions, and IRS-approved non-bank trustees.
Who is the CEO of Madison Trust?
The Madison Trust precious metals blog copy identifies Daniel Gleich as chief executive officer. He was also one of the founders of Broad Financial in 2009, together with Mervyn Klein. Brian Finkelstein joined the leadership group in later years.
Does Madison Trust file tax forms for me?
Yes, for events that trigger IRS reporting. Madison Trust files Form 5498 each May reporting fair market value and contributions, and Form 1099-R when a distribution occurs. You still file your own Form 1040 and any Form 8606 basis tracking; consult your tax advisor.
If you want an outside opinion before you sign anything at Madison Trust.
The dealer we work with the most, Augusta Precious Metals, publishes a 10-point company checklist that covers fee posture, buyback structure, and legal accountability. It is a fair external benchmark for any dealer or custodian pairing you are considering, including one built on Madison Trust as the trustee.
Sources
- Madison Trust Company, corporate schema on the madisontrust.com homepage listing the corporate address 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 and founding date 2009. web.archive.org madisontrust.com 2025 snapshot, checked July 2026.
- Madison Trust Company, Self-Directed IRA Fees page listing $50 setup, $110 per quarter, and the 0.26 percent asset-based comparison at $250,000 and $400,000 reference balances. web.archive.org Madison Trust Fees page February 11, 2025, checked July 2026.
- Madison Trust Company, About Us page describing the 2009 founding of Broad Financial and the January 2014 South Dakota trust charter grant. web.archive.org madisontrust.com About page, checked July 2026.
- Madison Trust Company, precious metals blog describing the FideliTrade and Delaware Depository workflow for gold IRAs. web.archive.org madisontrust.com blog, checked July 2026.
- Better Business Bureau profile for Madison Trust Company Inc., BBB accredited since April 3, 2015, Financial Services in Sioux Falls, SD. bbb.org Madison Trust Company Inc. profile, checked July 2026.
- South Dakota Division of Banking, chartered trust company supervisory framework under the state Department of Labor and Regulation. dlr.sd.gov/banking, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A, distributions and rollover rules including the 20 percent mandatory federal withholding on indirect rollovers and the 60-day rule. irs.gov/publications/p590a, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 408, individual retirement accounts, trustee eligibility. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/408, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 72(t), 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/72, checked July 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, no state personal income tax reference. comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1010.php, checked July 2026.
- Texas Bullion Depository, official state site confirming IRA storage availability at the Leander vault. texasbulliondepository.gov, checked July 2026.