Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: the honest test is not whether gold was a good idea. It is what it costs you to keep this position versus what it costs to leave — and those are two arithmetic questions, not a view on the metal. 🔴 The sunk markup is gone either way, and it is the single most common reason people stay in a position they would not choose again today.
The four numbers that answer it
- What you would net today. Ask the custodian or dealer for the sell-back value of everything in the account. Not the statement value — the number you would actually receive.
- The gap between that and the statement. That gap is the exit cost. How the fees and markups work.
- The annual carrying cost in dollars — custodian plus storage plus insurance — as a percentage of what you would net. This is what you pay every year to keep it.
- The share of your retirement money this represents. Not the dollar figure; the percentage.
⚠️ The sunk-cost trap, stated plainly. If you paid a large markup, that money is already spent, and it is spent whether you stay or go. Waiting until you are back to even is a decision to keep paying the annual carrying cost for the privilege of not acknowledging a cost you already bore. The only forward-looking questions are numbers 3 and 4.
When keeping it is defensible
It is a modest share of the total. A position that is a small percentage of retirement assets is a diversifier, and the carrying cost is affordable. Nothing on this page argues against owning some gold.
You genuinely want the metal, knowing what it costs. If you have priced the annual cost and the exit spread and still want physical metal, that is an informed preference and it deserves respect rather than argument.
The exit would be badly timed for tax reasons — though note this rarely applies, because selling inside the account is not a taxable event at all. The routes out.
When it deserves a hard look
- 🔴 It is most of your retirement money. Concentration is the risk that ends retirements, and it is independent of whether the asset is good.
- The carrying cost is a meaningful percentage every year and the position is small enough that fixed fees dominate.
- You cannot get a straight sell-back quote. That is information about the position, not an administrative annoyance.
- RMDs are forcing sales on someone else’s schedule — RMDs with physical metal, though aggregation often defers this.
- You were sold premium or “proof” coins rather than bullion. The spread is widest there, so the gap between statement and net is usually largest.
- You were told you could keep the metal at home. Then the priority is not this decision at all — read this first.
Where a second opinion earns its fee
This is a bounded question: what you would net, what it costs to carry, what share of the total it is, and what the money would otherwise do. It is an afternoon of work, not an ongoing relationship, and it should be priced that way.
🔴 Whoever you ask, ask what they are paid by. That applies to the dealer, to any adviser, and to us: we take no money from any metals dealer and we do not sell metals. It also cuts the other way — an adviser paid on assets they manage has a reason to prefer that your money sit with them. Neither conflict disqualifies anyone; both are worth naming out loud before you weigh the advice.
What a useful conversation sounds like: they ask for the account statement and the buyback quote before offering a view; they talk about the share of your total before they talk about gold; and they can say plainly what they would charge and how they are paid. Someone who opens by dismissing gold outright is selling as hard as someone who opens by telling you it is the only safe asset.
Whether gold was the right call is not the question that matters now.
If a large share of a retirement account is sitting in metal and you want an unconflicted read on whether to keep it, a matching service will introduce you to fiduciary advisors, and it costs you nothing to compare.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. The matching service is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here. You stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It requests contact details and phone verification by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button. Submitting the form does not guarantee an adviser or a match. We take no money from any metals dealer, and we do not sell metals.
The rest of this
Fees and markups is the arithmetic. How to get out is the mechanics. The sales patterns regulators document is worth reading if the position came from a cold call. Physical versus a fund covers what you would move to.
Sources
Selling inside an IRA is not a distribution: IRC §408(d)(1) applies to amounts distributed. Trustee-to-trustee transfers: IRS Announcement 2014-15. RMD aggregation: Treas. Reg. §1.408-8. Documented markup evidence: CFTC and FINRA joint Investor Bulletin, 20 March 2024, and CFTC Press Release 8812-23, 25 October 2023. All read 7 August 2026.
Where we stand: Clear Money Guide sells no metals and takes no compensation from any metals dealer, depository or custodian. This page describes practices documented by regulators and courts, not any particular company beyond what an official document names. General information, not legal or tax advice.