Who Can Open a Gold IRA? Eligibility and Age Rules

A Gold IRA is an ordinary Traditional or Roth IRA that holds physical metal through a self-directed custodian. So the eligibility rules are the normal IRA rules. Eligibility follows the normal IRA rules in Publication 590-A. If you're new to the idea, start with what Is a Gold IRA? How Precious Metals IRAs Work.

Eligibility is really two questions. First, can you contribute new money this year? Second, can you fund the account another way, by moving money you already have in a retirement plan? The answers are different, and many people over 60 qualify for the second even when they no longer qualify for the first.

Who can open a Gold IRA?

Opening the account and contributing to it are separate steps. IRS Publication 590-A says "You can open a traditional IRA at any time." It also says you don't have to contribute every year: "You don't have to contribute to your traditional IRA for every tax year, even if you can" (same source).

In practice, that means:

• Anyone with taxable compensation (or a working spouse, if you file jointly) can open a Gold IRA and put new money in.
• Anyone with an existing IRA or eligible workplace plan can open a Gold IRA and fund it by rollover or transfer (if the plan allows a distribution), with no compensation needed.
• Some people can do both in the same year.

The custodian must also meet IRS rules. Publication 590-A says the trustee or custodian must be a bank, a federally insured credit union, a savings and loan association, or an entity approved by the IRS (Publication 590-A). If your current IRA provider doesn't hold physical metal, you'd use a self-directed custodian that does. See what Is a Self-Directed IRA? for how those accounts differ.

Sources: Publication 590-A, Publication 590-B, IRS IRA contribution limits.

What counts as taxable compensation?

To contribute, you need taxable compensation. Publication 590-A says you can open and contribute to a traditional IRA if you, or your spouse if you file a joint return, "received taxable compensation during the year" (Publication 590-A).

The IRS puts it simply: "Generally, compensation is what you earn from working" (same source). Publication 590-A lists items that count, including:

• Wages, salaries and tips
• Professional fees and commissions
• Net earnings from self-employment
• Nontaxable combat pay
• Certain fellowship and stipend payments for graduate or postdoctoral study (see Publication 590-A for which count)

It also lists items that don't count. These include earnings from property such as rental income, interest and dividend income, pension or annuity income, and deferred compensation (Publication 590-A).

This is the rule that catches many retirees. Social Security, pension checks, required withdrawals from other accounts and investment income are not compensation. If those are your only income, you can't make a new contribution. A part-time job or consulting work can change that.

You also can't contribute more than you earned. The IRS limit is the yearly dollar cap or "If less, your taxable compensation for the year" (IRS). For 2026, the cap is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up at age 50 or older (IR-2025-111). Our guide to Gold IRA contribution limits covers the deadline, combined limits and excess contributions.

Is there an age limit for a Gold IRA?

Not for contributions, as long as you have compensation. The IRS says: "For 2020 and later, there is no age limit on making regular contributions to traditional or Roth IRAs" (IRS).

This changed recently. Before 2020, you couldn't make Traditional IRA contributions starting in the year you reached age 70½. Publication 590-A says that for tax years beginning after December 31, 2019, that rule "has been repealed" (Publication 590-A). In its Roth IRA section, the publication answers the age question with: "You can be any age" (same source).

Age still matters in other ways. Required minimum distributions apply to Traditional IRAs, including Gold IRAs, at older ages. Those rules are explained in Gold IRA required minimum distributions.

Can a minor have a Gold IRA?

The IRS test is compensation, not a minimum age. A teenager with a real job and taxable wages meets the same compensation rule as anyone else, and the Roth answer "You can be any age" applies to them too (Publication 590-A). The contribution still can't exceed what the child earned that year (IRS).

The practical side is harder. Whether a self-directed custodian will open an account for a minor, and on what terms, depends on its own policies. Ask the custodian first. Given minimum purchases and flat storage fees, a small child's IRA may not suit physical metal. See Gold IRA fees.

What is a spousal IRA?

A married couple filing a joint return can use one spouse's earnings to fund an IRA for the other. The IRS says: "Each spouse can make a contribution up to the current limit; however, the total of your combined contributions can't be more than the taxable compensation reported on your joint return" (IRS). Publication 590-A calls this the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA limit (Publication 590-A).

Each spouse needs their own account. Publication 590-A says: "You can't both participate in the same IRA" (same source). So a non-working spouse could open a Gold IRA in their own name and fund it from the couple's joint earnings.

Example. A married couple files jointly for 2026. One spouse, age 62, earns $70,000. The other, age 60, has no pay. Each is 50 or older, so each could contribute up to $8,600, for $17,200 total. That's within the $70,000 of compensation on their joint return (IR-2025-111; IRS). Roth contributions would also depend on their income, covered next.

What are the 2026 income limits?

Income doesn't stop you from contributing to a Traditional IRA. It can stop you from contributing to a Roth IRA, and it can limit whether a Traditional contribution is deductible if you or your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work.

A phase-out range is the income band where the amount you may contribute, or deduct, shrinks. Below the range, the full amount is allowed. Above it, none is. The IRS measures this with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). Publication 590-A explains how to figure it.

Sources: IR-2025-111 and Notice 2025-67.

If your income is above the Traditional deduction range, you can still contribute; the contribution just isn't deductible. The phase-out math, and how it works when you're inside a range, is in Publication 590-A. A CPA or enrolled agent can run it for your return. These limits apply to a Roth Gold IRA and a Traditional Gold IRA exactly as they do to any IRA.

Can you fund a Gold IRA without earned income?

Yes, by moving money that's already in a retirement account. The IRS says "The IRA contribution limit does not apply to: Rollover contributions" (IRS). Publication 590-A adds that a custodian generally can't accept contributions above the yearly limit, but "rollover contributions and employer contributions to a traditional SEP IRA can be more than this amount" (Publication 590-A).

The compensation test applies to new contributions. Moving existing retirement money is a different transaction with its own rules:

• Trustee-to-trustee transfer. Your current IRA custodian sends money straight to the new Gold IRA custodian. See the Gold IRA transfer guide.
• Rollover from a workplace plan. Money from a 401(k), 403(b), TSP or similar plan moves into the IRA. Check with your plan administrator whether you can take a distribution now. See the Gold IRA rollover guide and 401(k) to Gold IRA.

Rollovers carry their own limits, such as the 60-day deadline for money paid to you and the one IRA-to-IRA rollover per 12 months (Publication 590-A). Our guide to rollovers vs transfers explains which rules apply when. For the paperwork itself, see how to Open a Gold IRA.

Can you put inherited IRA money into a Gold IRA?

Only in a limited way. If you inherit an IRA from someone other than your spouse, Publication 590-B says "you can't treat the inherited IRA as your own," "you can't make any contributions to the IRA," and "you can't roll over any amounts into or out of the inherited IRA" (Publication 590-B). The same publication allows a trustee-to-trustee transfer, as long as the new IRA is set up in the deceased owner's name for your benefit as beneficiary.

A surviving spouse has more options. Publication 590-B says a spouse can treat an inherited IRA as their own (Publication 590-B), and the IRS beneficiary page lists rolling it over into the spouse's own IRA (IRS).

Many non-spouse beneficiaries must also empty the account by the end of the 10th year following the year of the owner's death (IRS). That timeline matters if the account holds metal that would need to be sold or distributed. See inherited Gold IRAs for the details.

What mistakes do people make about eligibility?

• Counting retirement income as compensation. Pensions, Social Security and investment income don't qualify.
• Assuming age stops contributions. It doesn't, since 2020, if you have compensation.
• Assuming no job means no Gold IRA. A rollover or transfer can fund the account without compensation.
• Contributing to a Roth above the income range. That creates an excess contribution, which the IRS taxes at 6% per year while it stays in the account (IRS; see also Publication 590-A).
• Trying to contribute coins you already own. Publication 590-A says contributions must be money and "Property can't be contributed" (Publication 590-A).
• Mixing inherited money with your own IRA. A non-spouse beneficiary can't roll it into their own account.

Related questions

Do I need a job to open a Gold IRA?

No. You need compensation only to make new contributions. You can open the account and fund it by rollover or transfer from an existing retirement account (IRS; Publication 590-A).

Can I contribute to a Gold IRA if I'm 75 and still working?

Yes, to a Traditional or Roth Gold IRA, up to your compensation and the yearly limit. The IRS says there's no age limit on regular contributions for 2020 and later (IRS).

Does having a 401(k) at work stop me from opening a Gold IRA?

No. Workplace plan coverage can limit whether a Traditional IRA contribution is deductible, as shown in the table above. Publication 590-A treats coverage as limiting the deduction, not the contribution (Publication 590-A; ranges in IR-2025-111).

Where can I look up IRA terms?

Our glossary defines terms such as custodian, rollover and phase-out range.