Custodian Fees - Am I getting fleeced or is this the going rate?

Kenneth Parker

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Custodian Fees - Am I getting fleeced or is this the going rate?

kenneth_parker💎Premium (500k-1m)

about 4 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•Currently doing some detailed review of my Gold IRA holdings and diving into the fee structure from my custodian.
•I've got a little over $800k in physical gold and silver allocated through them, and the annual maintenance fee is just shy of $350.
•On top of that, there's a storage fee that works out to be about 0.15% of the total asset value per year, which adds another $1200 or so.

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Currently doing some detailed review of my Gold IRA holdings and diving into the fee structure from my custodian. I've got a little over $800k in physical gold and silver allocated through them, and the annual maintenance fee is just shy of $350. On top of that, there's a storage fee that works out to be about 0.15% of the total asset value per year, which adds another $1200 or so. All told, I'm looking at around $1500-1600 annually just to hold onto this stuff.

My logistics business in Memphis has been good to me, and I'm really starting to think about succession planning for my kids, so consolidating and optimizing everything is top of mind. I initially went with this particular custodian because they were recommended by my precious metals dealer at the time, and honestly, I didn't comparison shop on the custodian side as much as I probably should have. I was more focused on the metal premiums back then, probably like a lot of first-time investors.

So, for those of you with substantial physical gold/silver IRAs, does this sound about right? Are these typical fees for a portfolio of this size ($500k - $1M)? I know some custodians offer a flat fee regardless of asset value, while others go with a tiered percentage. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the hassle of potentially moving everything to another custodian to save a few hundred bucks, or if this is just the cost of doing business for secure, allocated storage. Any insights on what others are paying or custodians worth looking into for better fee structures would be immensely helpful.

3 comments

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Best Answer▲ 10 upvotes

joseph_harris📊Growing (50-100k)

Honestly, with $800k in gold and silver, even 0.25% seems a little high for an annual maintenance fee these days, especially if it's mostly gold. I've seen some custodians offer closer to 0.15% or even flat fees that would work out cheaper for an account your size, particularly for allocated storage.

It might be worth getting a couple of other quotes. While switching can be a hassle, the savings over several years could really add up. Just make sure to factor in any transfer fees they might hit you with.

Comments (3)

joyce_cooper📊Growing (50-100k)✓ Verified•less than a minute ago

Dude, I literally just went through this. Had a similar amount, maybe a bit less, and my fees felt *way* too high. Started looking into alternatives and found some custodians with significantly lower annual fees, especially for larger balances like yours. It definitely pays to shop around; you might be surprised at the difference!

karen_robinson💼Starter (0-50k)•less than a minute ago

Hey, interesting post. You mention "physical gold and silver allocated through them." Does that mean segregated storage, or is it commingled with other investors' metals? That can sometimes impact the fees, or at least how they're justified.

joseph_harris📊Growing (50-100k)•less than a minute ago

Honestly, with $800k in gold and silver, even 0.25% seems a *little* high for an annual maintenance fee these days, especially if it's mostly gold. I've seen some custodians offer closer to 0.15% or even flat fees that would work out cheaper for an account your size, particularly for allocated storage.

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