Gold IRA Minimum Investment by Company: Published Figures Compared

There is no legal minimum investment for a gold IRA. The IRS sets annual contribution limits, not entry minimums, so any purchase minimum is a dealer’s business choice, and the choices vary widely. On October 3, 2026, published gold IRA minimums ran from $5,000 at Birch Gold Group to $50,000 at Augusta Precious Metals and Patriot Gold Group. Several other nationally advertised dealers publish no minimum at all.

Key takeaways

• The IRS sets no minimum for a gold IRA; the purchase minimum is the dealer’s. Published figures read on October 3, 2026 ranged from $5,000 (Birch Gold Group) and $5,000–$10,000 (Monetary Gold) to $50,000 (Augusta Precious Metals, Patriot Gold Group).
• Eight dealers checked, including American Hartford Gold and Lear Capital, published no minimum. “Not published” describes the pages checked; it does not mean the dealer has none.
• Custodians can add a separate rule: a minimum cash balance, such as $500 at Preferred Trust Company and Madison Trust Company, that stays in the account and, at Preferred Trust, cannot pay fees.
• Flat fees weigh most on small accounts: a hypothetical $250 a year in custodian and storage fees equals 5.0% of a $5,000 account and 0.5% of a $50,000 account.

Published minimums, side by side

Six dealers state a gold IRA minimum on their own sites. The table quotes each company’s wording, with the date each figure was read.

Company	IRA minimum	Cash-purchase minimum	How the company words it
Augusta Precious Metals	$50,000	Not published	“Minimum Investment $50,000.”
Patriot Gold Group	$50,000	$10,000	“PGG has a minimum investment amount of: $10,000 Simple Cash Purchase and $50,000 IRA.”
Goldco	$25,000	Not published	“we generally require a minimum of $25,000 to start a gold IRA.”
Noble Gold Investments	$20,000	$10,000 (cash purchase with home delivery)	“One Time Minimum Investment $20,000.”
Monetary Gold	$5,000–$10,000	Not published	“The minimum amount to open a Gold IRA is $5000 to $10000, depending on the custodian’s requirements.”
Birch Gold Group	$5,000	$5,000 (per its FAQ)	“Birch Gold Group currently requires a minimum investment of $5,000, though this amount can vary depending on market conditions and product availability.” (FAQ)

All figures were read on each company’s own site on October 3, 2026. Birch Gold Group words the same $5,000 a second way on its gold IRA page: “a minimum of $5,000 is needed to really get started.” Monetary Gold attributes its range to the custodian, not to itself. Only Patriot Gold Group and Noble Gold Investments publish a separate, lower minimum for cash purchases.

Dealers that publish no minimum

Eight other dealers did not state a minimum on the pages checked on October 3, 2026: American Hartford Gold, Lear Capital, Advantage Gold, Orion Metal Exchange, Preserve Gold, Priority Gold, Gold Alliance, and Allegiance Gold.

“Not published” is a fact about the pages, not about the dealer; it does not mean the dealer has no minimum. The figure becomes available only by asking a representative, which is why it should be requested in writing before any money moves.

Custodian balance rules

Dealers set purchase minimums; custodians hold the account. Some custodians add a different requirement — a cash balance that must stay in the IRA. These are balance rules, not opening minimums.

• Preferred Trust Company: “all accounts maintain a minimum cash balance of $500.00. The minimum cash balance cannot be used to pay fees.”
• Madison Trust Company: “Madison Trust requires that all IRAs maintain a $500 minimum balance.” (2026 fee schedule)
• Equity Trust Company: its IRA application says it “may require” a minimum balance of cash and assets; no figure is stated.
• STRATA Trust Company and GoldStar Trust Company: no minimum found on their fee pages.

A $500 balance rule is small next to every dealer minimum in the table above, but it reserves cash that cannot buy metal — and, at Preferred Trust Company, cannot pay fees either.

Smaller entry points

Fidelity and physically backed gold ETFs both open lower than any dealer minimum in the table above.

A standard Fidelity IRA can hold a short list of physical metals products. Fidelity’s page, read October 3, 2026, lists a $1,000 minimum precious-metals purchase for IRAs ($2,500 otherwise) and a $44 minimum fee per transaction. Details are in Fidelity gold IRA.

Physically backed gold ETFs have an entry point of one share. On October 2, 2026, iShares Gold Trust (IAU) closed at $77.95 and SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) at $82.05, per the issuers’ pages. An ETF is a security, not metal held for the account; gold IRA vs. physical gold sets out the differences.

Minimums versus the contribution limit

The IRS limits new IRA contributions for 2026 to $7,500, or $8,600 at age 50 or older, across all of a person’s IRAs. Two published minimums fit inside one year’s contribution: Birch Gold Group’s $5,000 and the bottom of Monetary Gold’s $5,000–$10,000 range. The rest — $20,000 at Noble Gold Investments, $25,000 at Goldco, $50,000 at Augusta Precious Metals and Patriot Gold Group — require a rollover or a transfer from an existing retirement account.

That is why most gold IRAs are funded by moving existing savings, and why the funding method matters. Gold IRA rollover guide walks through the funding methods and their rules.

What a flat fee costs at each minimum

Custodian and storage fees are mostly flat dollar amounts, so they take a larger share of a small account. The table below is hypothetical: it applies a flat $250 a year — a round number, not any company’s schedule — to each published minimum.

Account size	$250 annual fee as a share of the account
$5,000	5.0%
$10,000	2.5%
$20,000	1.25%
$25,000	1.0%
$50,000	0.5%

Real schedules differ; five published custodian fee schedules are compared in gold IRA custodian fees, compared. The dealer’s premium over spot is a separate cost on every dollar invested; gold IRA spread and buyback explains that layer.

What to ask before funding

Five questions, all answerable before money moves:

• The minimum, in writing. A published page can change without notice; an emailed figure is a record.
• Whether the minimum applies per purchase or per account.
• Whether the figure differs for IRA and cash purchases. At Patriot Gold Group it does: $50,000 for an IRA, $10,000 for cash.
• The custodian’s own balance rule, requested from the custodian directly rather than through the dealer.
• The all-in first-year cost at your amount: custodian fees, storage fees, and the dealer’s premium over spot.

Related research

• Gold IRA fees, explained
• Gold IRA custodian fees, compared
• Gold IRA rollover guide
• Gold IRA spread and buyback
• Gold IRA vs. physical gold
• Fidelity gold IRA
• Augusta Precious Metals review
• Birch Gold Group review
• Goldco review
• Noble Gold review
• American Hartford Gold review
• How we review gold IRA dealers