Does Fidelity Offer A Gold IRA?

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Fidelity is a privately owned investment management company best known for its managed mutual funds and low-cost index funds. However, it offers an impressive range of services, including investment advice, wealth management, life insurance, fund distribution, retirement services, and securities execution and clearance.

Many investors choose Fidelity because of its simple, transparent prices. They do not take commissions on ETF, stock, and options trades and are transparent with their commissions, fees, and margin rates elsewhere.

So, does Fidelity offer gold IRA investments? 

Fidelity offers gold IRA investments and allows users to invest in precious metals inside an IRA. However, these individual retirement accounts are not self-directed.

We will cover what Fidelity offers gold investors, how to invest with Fidelity, your gold buying options, the trading fees, and the process of buying physical gold through Fidelity. We even talk about the fine print of gold purchases through Fidelity. Without further ado, let's get into it!

Does Fidelity Offer A Gold IRA?

Fidelity does not offer a self-directed gold IRA. They offer other gold-related investment options for retirement plans, such as paper gold assets, ETFs, funds, and stocks. You can put physical gold into a Fidelity IRA, but this account is not self-directed.

Gold IRAs via Fidelity are not nearly as common as other companies because their options are limited, their fees are higher than competitors, and the process is complex.

Here are some of the top Gold IRA Companies:

Can You Invest In Gold Through Fidelity?

You can invest in gold through Fidelity. Your options are physical gold, ETFs, stocks, or mutual funds.

Purchasing physical gold through Fidelity is not common because their fees are steep, but it is an option.

With Fidelity, investing in ETFs that own gold, mining stocks, individual mining stocks, gold futures, and gold mutual funds such as Fidelity Select Gold Portfolio (FSGAX) are much more common.

Free investment kit from the #1 Gold IRA Company

Buying Gold Through Fidelity

Fidelity requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500. You can order either whole ounces or whole numbers of coins and buy these pieces directly or purchase a select few to go into your IRA. We'll cover that in greater depth below.

Fidelity Investments offers the following:

  • Gold American Buffalo. It is one ounce and 99.99% pure with a face value of $50.
  • Gold American Eagle. It is available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. These are 91.6% pure, with face values of $5, $10, $25, and $50 USD, respectively.
  • Gold Australian Kangaroo. These are available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. Each has a face value of $10, $25, $50, and $100 AUD, respectively. They are 99.99% pure.
  • Gold Austrian Philharmonic. They are available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. Their face values are $10, $25, $50, and $100 EUR, respectively. They are 99.99% pure.
  • Gold Canadian Maple Leaf. This is 99.99% pure and available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. Face values are worth $5, $10, $25, and $50 CAD, respectively.
  • Gold South African Krugerrand. These are 91.6% purity and can be purchased in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. No face value is assigned to these coins. However, they are legal tender in South Africa by the South African Reserve Bank Act (SARBA).
  • Gold Bullion Bars. These bars range in purity from 99.5% to 99.99% and are available in one ounce, five ounces, 10 ounces, 100 ounces, 400 ounces, and one kilogram. These bars do not have a face value and are not legal tender. For obvious reasons, bullion bars are better suited to large buyers. Their values (as of August 2022) range from $1,795 for one ounce to $736,000 for a 400-ounce bar. The downside to these bars is that they are more challenging to find buyers for and, therefore, not as liquid if you ever want to sell them.

You can also purchase other precious metals through Fidelity Investments. These different metals are silver, platinum, and palladium. Here are your options:

  • Silver American Eagle. 99.9% pure, available in one ounce, with a $1 USD face value.
  • Silver Australian Kookaburra. 99.9% pure, available in one ounce, with a $5 AUD face value.
  • Silver Canadian Maple Leaf. 99.99% pure, available in one ounce, with a $5 CAD face value.
  • Silver Bullion Bars. 99.99% pure, available in one ounce, ten ounces, one hundred ounces, and one thousand ounces. These do not have a face value and are not legal tender.
  • Platinum American Eagle. 99.95% pure, available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. They have face values of $10, $25, $50, and $100 USD, respectively.
  • Platinum Canadian Maple Leaf. 99.95% pure, available in a tenth of an ounce, a quarter ounce, a half ounce, and one ounce. They have face values of $5, $10, $20, and $50 CAD, respectively.
  • Platinum Bullion Bars. 99.95% pure, available in one ounce, ten ounces, or fifty ounces. They do not have an assigned face value and are not considered legal tender.
  • Palladium Canadian Maple Leaf. 99.95% pure, available in one ounce, with a face value of $50 CAD.
  • Palladium Bullion Bars. 99.95% pure, available in one ounce, ten ounces, or one hundred ounces. They do not have value and are not legal tender.

It's important to note that Fidelity charges fees for purchasing and selling precious metals.

The fees are as follows for purchasing:

  • $0 to $9,999 has a 2.9% fee.
  • $10,000 to $49,999 has a 2.5% fee.
  • $50,000 to $99,999 has a 1.98% fee.
  • $100,000 or greater has a 0.99% fee.

And here are the selling fees:

  • $0 to $49,990 has a 2% fee.
  • $50,000 to $249,999 has a 1% fee.
  • $250,000 or greater has a 0.75% fee.

Fidelity isn't the one fulfilling the order when you "buy" or "sell" your precious metals.

Instead, Fidelity will take your order and send it to an affiliate, FideliTrade or ScotiaMocatta. One of these affiliates then makes the trade. This is where a good portion of their trade fees originate. You can read more about this in the small fine print at the bottom of this page.

If you want to avoid transaction fees, consider Fidelity's flagship gold mutual fund, Fidelity Select Gold Portfolio (FSGAX). This fund puts approximately 75% to 80% of its capital into gold-related companies and 20% to 25% directly into gold and other precious metals.

You may also purchase exchange-traded funds. The most common gold ETFs that Fidelity offers are SPDR Gold Trust, iShares Gold Trust, and SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust. They have a management fee that is included in their valuation, but on the bright side, they are traded commission-free.

Does Fidelity Investments Offer Precious Metals IRAs?

Fidelity offers precious metal IRAs but is not self-directed, and your options are limited.

You can only purchase gold ETFs, gold stocks, or a handful of precious metals in the IRA account. These metals are:

  • Gold American Eagle, in one-tenth of an ounce, a quarter-ounce, a half-ounce, and one ounce.
  • Gold American Buffalo, in one ounce.
  • Silver American Eagle, in one ounce.
  • Platinum American Eagle, in one ounce.
  • Bullion Quality Bars

You can purchase precious metals inside of a Fidelity IRA. You can also roll over your Fidelity 401(K) into a Gold IRA.

How To Buy Gold On Fidelity?

  • Open a brokerage or IRA account on Fidelity. You'll need your social security number, your employer's name and address (if applicable to you), and your bank account information to fund your account. Creating your account is free, but you need a minimum funding amount of $2,500.
  • During the account-creating process, you'll be asked for your name, social security number, birthday, citizenship status, and phone number. Then, you will need to choose your account settings and email preferences. Review and confirm the information you just gave Fidelity. Read the customer agreement, terms, conditions, the Householding of Shareholder Documents, the electronic delivery agreement, and the SPAXX prospectus sheet. Then click agree if you agree.
  • Fund your account. Do this through your bank account or another brokerage account.
  • Between the hours of 8 am and 3 pm EST, order your gold. You can only do this via phone (800-544-6666) and not through your brokerage account online. Set up your account before calling the representative to speed up and simplify the process.
  • While on the phone with a Fidelity representative, you will need to make a minimum initial investment of $2,500. You can only order whole ounces or whole numbers of coins. If you have any questions, your representative can answer them and work you through those while also explaining how their system and its processes work. Your representative can also tell you when to expect your order to go through.

Final Thoughts

While it is possible to add gold to your IRA on Fidelity, it's not necessarily the best option.

Fidelity is a powerhouse in actively managed mutual funds but does not offer a strong nor competitive gold IRA. Your purchasing options are quite limited, the account is not self-directed, the fees are much higher than what other gold IRA companies offer, and Fidelity does not execute the gold trades. Instead, the orders are passed onto their affiliates.

If you are a steadfast, loyal Fidelity user, the option stands to purchase gold for your IRA. However, we believe there are better options available to you.

About Roy Guller

I have been an investment adviser for more than 30 years and managed more than 500 million dollars for my exclusive group of clients. My expertise lies in retirement funds and I want to share my wealth of experience with you so you can make the right decisions for your future.

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