Buying gold in a retirement account: IRA / RRSP / SMSF / SIPP compared

After years abroad most people end up with two accounts: a regular brokerage account and a pension or retirement account. Gold has long since been bought in the first, while the second sits empty — not from lack of intent, but because someone said "you can't hold physical gold in a retirement account" or "you'll get penalised", so they never touched it.

The reality is both more complicated and more useful than the rumour. The same action produces opposite compliance conclusions depending on which country's retirement account it sits in: the US allows physical bars, Canada does not; Australia allows it but demands an audit; Hong Kong's MPF does not open the door at all. And whether it is allowed directly determines how much you actually receive twenty years from now.

All amounts in this article are converted from the live snapshot of 22 October 2026, Beijing time: gold at 4,139.13 USD/oz and USD/CNY at 6.6913, which is 133.08 USD per gram and 890.45 per gram locally. Scale your own figures by the same ratio.

Conclusions first, then the reasoning:

1. Buying gold in a retirement account is about tax deferral, not about gold. Gold pays no interest; all of its return comes from price movement, so which account holds it determines who takes how much of that movement.
2. If an ETF can do the job, don't use physical metal. Physical gold inside a retirement account adds a layer of storage and audit costing 0.5%–1% a year, several times an ETF's expense ratio.
3. If you are not a US person, work out estate tax before you work out returns. US-situs assets get only a 60,000 USD exemption, and that single rule does far more damage than any fee difference.

1. First, separate "tax-deferred" from "tax-free"

The two terms get used interchangeably, but their cash flows are completely different, and confusing them overstates your return by more than 20%.

Tax-deferred (traditional IRA, RRSP, SIPP, SMSF): nothing is taxed going in, nothing is taxed on trades inside the account, and everything is taxed as ordinary income on the way out. What it gives you is the right to compound a pre-tax amount for decades — not the right to never pay tax.

Tax-free (Roth IRA, TFSA): tax has already been paid going in (Roth from after-tax contributions, TFSA from after-tax deposits), and neither growth nor withdrawal is taxed again. This is the only structure where the return is genuinely yours.

How big is the gap? Take the same 100,000 USD at 7% a year over 30 years:

Assumes 100,000 USD initial, 7% annualised, constant tax rates. The taxable account is modelled as realising gains and paying 28% each year; deferring unrealised gains would lift it slightly, without changing the order of magnitude.

Tax deferral beats the taxable account by 141,370 USD, and that is the most tangible gain a retirement account offers — nothing to do with whether gold rises. But note it is still 182,695 USD short of the tax-free result, so "buying gold in a retirement account saves tax" only holds for Roth and TFSA.

2. Five jurisdictions in one table: can you actually buy it

"Yes" means permitted by regulation; the account provider's product range and the trust deed still apply. Rules change — get written confirmation from a licensed adviser or the custodian before acting.

The row worth memorising is the second: Canada is the one jurisdiction that explicitly shuts physical gold out. Many new immigrants assume "the Maple Leaf is Canadian legal tender, so of course it can go in an RRSP", then CRA treats it as a non-qualified investment, the account is deemed to dispose at market value, and tax plus penalty arrive together. Somebody makes this mistake every year.

3. United States: three routes, a tenfold cost difference

Route 1: buy a gold ETF inside an ordinary brokerage IRA (what 99% of people should do)

You already have an IRA. Log in, search the ticker, place the order, done. No new account, no custodian approval, no depository. The available products and fees:

The fee differences look like a few tenths of a percent, but they compound annually. On 100,000 USD over 20 years with gold at 6% a year:

• GLDM (0.10%): 314,716 USD
• IAU (0.25%): 305,920 USD
• GLD (0.40%): 297,357 USD

The gap between best and worst is 17,359 USD — the price of a gold bar. That is why "which ETF" deserves ten minutes more thought than "when to buy".

Route 2: a self-directed IRA (SDIRA) holding physical gold

To hold physical bars in a retirement account you need a self-directed IRA, held by a specialist custodian, with the bars stored in an IRS-approved depository. Four hard rules, and missing any one is a breach:

1. Fineness no lower than .995. Bars and rounds both follow this line.
2. Only listed products. Coins are limited to the 1 oz American Eagle (.9167, specifically exempted by statute), the 1 oz Canadian Maple Leaf (.9999) and the 1 oz Austrian Philharmonic (.9999). The South African Krugerrand is .9167 and not on the exemption list — put it in and it is a non-qualified asset.
3. You may not hold or use it. The bars cannot be shipped home, stored in your own safe, pledged for a loan or "borrowed to look at". All of those are prohibited transactions.
4. Everything settles through the custodian. Purchases, sales and storage fees must all run through the account. Buying gold on your own card and "expensing" it is equally a breach.

Costs also need costing: an SDIRA typically charges an account opening fee (50–150 USD), an annual fee (100–300 USD) and a per-trade fee (25–50 USD), while the depository charges storage and insurance, commonly 0.5%–1% a year. So 100,000 USD of physical gold costs 600–1,300 USD a year just to hold, versus 250 USD for IAU.

Route 3: don't put it in a retirement account at all

If all you want is "gold in hand", buy it in an ordinary taxable account, or buy bars and put them in a bank safe deposit box. You lose tax deferral, but you also lose the custodian, the depository and the prohibited-transaction rules — liquidity is best. None of the three routes is inherently superior; it comes down to which kind of trouble you fear more.

4. Canada: RRSP and TFSA only accept "qualified investments"

The Canada Revenue Agency restricts retirement accounts to a defined list called qualified investments. Gold ETF units are usually on it; physical bars, ingots and coins are not — even if the Maple Leaf is legal tender, that does not change its status in tax law.

In practice there is one route: buy an ETF or trust unit tracking the gold price inside the RRSP or TFSA, for example a Toronto-listed gold ETF priced in Canadian dollars. Two details to watch:

• Currency is not the issue; the product is. CAD- and USD-priced units can both be bought, but they must be fund units on the list, not a private structure where "the fund buys bars for you and gives you a certificate".
• TFSA over-contributions are penalised heavily. One percent per month on the excess, month by month, with no cap. Check your available room in the CRA account before allocating to gold — do not rely on memory.

Canada also charges GST/HST on precious metal products, though investment-grade bars (fineness ≥ .995) and specified coins are zero-rated, and selling back to a dealer is also zero-rated. This differs from the US: there is no federal VAT there, and state sales tax rules on precious metals vary, with some states exempting purchases above certain amounts.

5. Australia's SMSF: physical gold allowed, but the auditor is watching

The self-managed super fund is the structure Australian Chinese investors ask about most, because it genuinely can hold physical gold. But "can" comes with four conditions:

1. The trust deed must permit it. Many template deeds say "securities and funds" and never mention precious metals, so the deed has to be amended first.
2. The investment strategy must state it. Why gold, the maximum weight, the valuation method and the exit route all belong in the investment strategy document — the first thing an auditor reads.
3. Independent third-party custody. It cannot sit in a trustee's home or be used by members; it must be in a vault or bank safe deposit box, and insured.
4. Revalue at market every year. At audit you must be able to produce an independent quote for the date — which is exactly what the 4,139.13 USD/oz figure at the top of this article is for.

On cost: vault storage commonly runs 0.5%–1% a year, an SMSF annual audit 500–1,500 AUD, plus actuarial and reporting work. On a 50,000 AUD gold position the fixed costs alone can exceed 2%. Below a certain size, holding gold in an SMSF simply does not work mathematically — which is why many accountants talk clients out of it outright.

6. UK SIPP: investment-grade gold is VAT-free

A UK self-invested personal pension can hold physical gold, provided it is "investment-grade": bars of fineness no lower than .995, or coins issued as legal tender. Such gold is exempt from VAT — no 20% on either purchase or sale — the biggest structural advantage of holding physical gold in the UK, and friendlier than most EU countries.

The constraint sits with the provider: not every SIPP platform supports physical metal, and some allow only gold ETFs or ETCs. Ask before opening: "do you support physical bullion, and who is the custodian?" — it saves weeks of back and forth. Access starts at 55 (rising to 57 from 2028), with 25% available as a tax-free lump sum and the rest taxed as income.

7. Hong Kong and Singapore: physical metal is essentially unavailable

Hong Kong's MPF can invest only in approved funds, so physical gold cannot enter, and even gold ETFs depend on whether an individual scheme lists them — most do not. Capital gains on gold for individuals in Hong Kong are generally not taxed, so tax deferral has almost no value here: if you want to hold gold, buying it in a personal account is simpler.

Singapore's SRS likewise accepts only a designated product list, which excludes physical gold. Singapore exempts investment-grade precious metals from GST and does not tax individual capital gains, so the conclusion matches Hong Kong: the deferral advantage is thin, and there is no reason to contort your structure just to get gold "inside a retirement account".

8. The hidden cost for non-US Chinese investors: US estate tax

This section is for anyone holding a Chinese passport and buying GLD through a US broker — and it is the most overlooked part of the whole subject.

For a non-resident alien, the US estate tax exemption on US-situs assets is only 60,000 USD, with the excess taxed at up to 40%. Units of a US-listed ETF are US-situs assets. There is no estate tax treaty between China and the United States.

Two practical distinctions are worth remembering: cash in a US bank account is generally not US-situs (there is an exemption), but securities in a brokerage account are; and physical gold stored in a depository outside the US (Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich) is generally not counted as US-situs. On the same 500,000 USD of gold exposure, holding it as a US-broker ETF versus in an offshore vault can mean a 176,000 USD difference in tax on death.

This is not investment advice, it is a reminder to think about "what you hold" and "where it sits" separately. For the specific structure, consult a licensed tax adviser experienced in cross-border estate planning.

9. The total cost ledger: don't let holding costs eat the deferral

Read the table this way: physical gold costs 5–10x an ETF, and most of that is fixed. The smaller the position, the higher the fixed share — on 50,000 USD of physical gold, the annual fee plus storage alone can reach 2%, more than a year's gold price appreciation is likely to cover.

10. The five most common mistakes

1. Treating deferral as exemption. Traditional IRA and RRSP withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income — plan on 24%–30% and never treat the account balance as spendable cash.
2. "Storing" the bars yourself in an SDIRA. The classic and most expensive breach; one instance is enough to make the whole account a deemed distribution.
3. Wrong fineness or wrong coin. Krugerrands, non-exempt .9167 coins and medallions all fail the IRA compliance list.
4. Ignoring account fees. SDIRA annual fees and small-contribution dealing charges can wipe out a 0.25% fee advantage completely.
5. Trading short term in a retirement account. Most brokers do not allow CFDs in an IRA, and frequent trading triggers pattern day trader rules; the timescale of a retirement account is ten years, not ten minutes.

11. A checklist before you act

1. Is your account tax-deferred or tax-free, and at what rate will withdrawals be taxed?
2. Does local regulation permit physical gold, and does the trust deed or scheme rule actually say so?
3. If going physical, who are the custodian and the depository, and what are the annual fees?
4. Are the fineness, coin type and product code on the compliance list (in writing)?
5. On the same amount, what is the 20-year cumulative cost gap between ETF and physical?
6. Which jurisdiction's situs does this holding fall into on your death, and how is estate tax calculated?
7. Can you document the source of funds with tax receipts and bank statements? Are you ready for AML review on a large deposit?
8. If gold fell 30%, would this allocation affect your retirement plan? If yes, halve it.

Frequently asked

Q. Can I hold physical gold bars directly in a retirement account?
A. It depends on the jurisdiction. The US allows it, but only through an SDIRA plus an IRS-approved custodian, at fineness no lower than .995, and you may never touch it. Canada does not allow it. Australia's SMSF allows it with independent custody and an annual audit. The UK SIPP allows it, with investment-grade gold VAT-free. Hong Kong's MPF and Singapore's SRS essentially cannot hold physical metal.

Q. What are the hard rules on fineness and coin type for a gold IRA?
A. Bars and rounds must be at least .995 fine; coins are limited to the 1 oz American Eagle (.9167, statutorily exempt), the Canadian Maple Leaf and the Austrian Philharmonic. The Krugerrand at .9167 is not on the list. Have the custodian confirm in writing that a product qualifies before buying.

Q. How much does buying gold in a retirement account actually save?
A. On 100,000 USD at 7% over 30 years: a tax-free account delivers 761,226 USD in full; a tax-deferred account leaves 578,531 USD after 24% tax; an ordinary taxable account at the 28% collectible rate leaves 437,161 USD. Deferral beats taxable by 141,370 USD.

Q. In a retirement account, is a gold ETF or physical gold better value?
A. For the vast majority, an ETF. GLDM charges 0.10%, IAU 0.25%, GLD 0.40%, with no storage fee; physical gold carries a 3%–8% dealing spread plus a 150–400 USD annual fee and 0.5%–1% storage. On 100,000 USD over 20 years the two ends of the ETF range differ by 17,359 USD in terminal value, and physical gold usually costs more still.

Q. What should a non-US citizen watch when buying gold ETFs through a US broker?
A. Estate tax. A non-resident alien has only a 60,000 USD exemption on US-situs assets, at rates up to 40%, and US-listed ETF units are US-situs. On a 500,000 USD position the theoretical tax is about 176,000 USD; physical gold in an offshore depository is generally not counted. There is no estate tax treaty between China and the US.