How to Buy Silver With Your IRA

Silver has long played second fiddle to gold. Winners win a gold medal; runners-up get silver.

Gold jewelry doesn’t tarnish; silver does. And gold is worth over $3,300 per ounce while silver is still only pushing above $33 an ounce.

But despite gold’s clear lead over silver, silver remains popular. And one way to buy silver is through a silver IRA.

A silver IRA works just the same as any other IRA, allowing you to buy silver with pre-tax dollars while deferring taxation until it comes time to take a distribution. And with a silver IRA rollover you can roll over existing retirement assets from 401(k), IRA, TSP, or similar accounts into a silver IRA tax-free.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the economy today, what you do today could impact your financial security for years to come. And with many people expecting silver to rise in value, buying silver with a silver IRA could be one way to help safeguard your retirement savings.

3 Key Takeaways

1. A silver IRA is a self-directed IRA that allows you to own physical silver coins and silver bars while still enjoying the same tax advantages as any other IRA.
2. Silver IRA benefits include portfolio diversification, inflation hedging, and beneficial tax treatment.
3. Not all silver coins or silver bars are IRA-eligible, so it can be helpful to work with trusted partners like Goldco to ensure that your silver IRA assets are IRA-eligible.

Everything You Need to Know About Silver IRAs

A silver IRA is a type of self-directed IRA in which you are the fiduciary. You decide what kind of silver coins or bullion to buy, you determine where you want to buy that silver, and you determine which custodian stores that silver for you.

A silver IRA is subject to the same rules as a traditional IRA. Your silver IRA purchase is made with pre-tax dollars and your assets grow tax-free until you decide to take a distribution.

Taking a distribution before age 59½ can incur a 10% penalty in addition to any taxes you owe, and once you reach age 73 you’ll be required to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) each year. You can choose to take your distributions in cash or in silver.

Buying silver through a silver IRA can be one method of diversifying your portfolio. Precious metals have long been trusted to help protect wealth because they maintain their value in the face of inflation and financial distress.

And with growing industrial demand for silver providing an additional impetus for price growth, the upside for silver could be substantial.

What a Silver IRA Is

Most people understand how to open a regular IRA account. They go to a brokerage and open an account, and they’re able to buy stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all sorts of paper assets.

Because a silver IRA owns tangible physical silver coins and silver bars, setting up a self-directed IRA to buy silver requires you to pick a custodian to manage that silver. Storage of silver by yourself is not allowed with a silver IRA, nor are you allowed to purchase silver coins or bullion that you already own.

The process of opening a self-directed IRA to buy silver isn’t terribly difficult, and the experts at Goldco can guide you through the process. Once your silver IRA is up and running, you’ll be able to manage your assets, making the decisions about what to buy and when.

With the same tax advantages as any other IRA, you can let your silver keep accruing value tax-free until you decide to take a distribution.

Silver IRA vs. Traditional IRA

While most silver IRAs are set up as Traditional IRAs, and enjoy the same tax advantages such as being able to buy assets with pre-tax dollars, it’s also possible for you to set up a Roth silver IRA.

Just like a regular Roth IRA, a silver Roth IRA allows you to use post-tax dollars to buy silver, with qualified distributions then being tax-free.

Remember that the total annual contribution limit for IRAs is $7,000, or $8,000 for those age 50 or over. That is the total for all IRAs, so if you have more than one account you can only contribute $7,000 (or $8,000) across all those accounts. There is an exception, however, for IRA rollovers.

If you have money in an existing 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or similar account that you want to roll over into a silver IRA, you can roll over as much of that account as you want without having to worry about falling afoul of IRS contribution limits.

Some Advantages of a Silver IRA

Silver, like gold, is used by many people as a safeguard against economic turmoil. And buying silver with a silver IRA can offer some advantages.

1. Safe Haven Asset

Like gold, silver is often looked to as an asset to help protect wealth when the economy performs poorly. Silver is a countercyclical asset which has low correlation with assets like stocks and bonds.

During past historical crises, the silver price has risen in value, even as markets have underperformed. Silver rose at an annualized rate of over 30% per year throughout the 1970s stagflation, and in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis more than quintupled in price from 2008 to 2011.

2. Portfolio Diversification

Many people buy paper assets such as stocks, bonds, and index funds for their IRAs. Those assets can fluctuate in value based upon the health of Wall Street, the strength of the dollar, and the monetary actions of the Federal Reserve.

Because of its countercyclical nature, silver can help to diversify a portfolio. With its low correlation to stocks and bonds, silver can help alter the risk profile of your portfolio.

3. Inflation Hedge

While the US dollar has lost 88% of its purchasing power since 1971, silver has risen over 2,200% in price in that same period. That ability to gain value in the face of rising inflation and a devaluing dollar has helped make silver a popular inflation hedge.

Silver’s 30% annualized gains during the stagflation of the 1970s made for phenomenal price growth. If inflation were to rise back to 1970s levels, could silver repeat that same performance?

4. Tax Benefits

A silver IRA offers you the same tax advantages as any other IRA account. That way you can own physical silver coins or silver bars while still maintaining the same tax treatment as any other IRA account.

Distributions from a Traditional silver IRA are subject to the same tax treatment as distributions from any other Traditional IRA, and qualified distributions from a Roth silver IRA are tax-free, just as are distributions from any other Roth IRA. And you can choose to take your distributions in cash or in physical silver.

Silver IRA Rules

Not every type of silver is available for silver IRA acquisition, however. Like any other IRA, silver IRAs are prohibited from acquiring collectibles, which includes most metals and coins.

There are exceptions, however, for Silver American Eagle coins and any silver coins or silver bullion that meets the fineness requirements for a futures contract (.999 or 99.9% pure silver).

While this means that silver jewelry, silverware, and older silver coins such as the Morgan Silver Dollars aren’t IRA-eligible, there are still numerous IRA-eligible silver coin and silver bar options available.

Goldco offers IRA-eligible silver coins and silver bars from mints around the world, ensuring that the silver you buy for your silver IRA is 100% authentic.

Because silver IRAs are subject to the same rules as other IRAs, this means that they’re also subject to rules regarding required minimum distributions (RMDs). If your silver IRA is a Traditional IRA, you have to start taking RMDs at age 73; Roth silver IRAs are not subject to RMDs.

Is a Silver IRA Right for You?

By starting a silver IRA, you have the ability to diversify your portfolio and help safeguard your assets against inflation, currency devaluation, and potential recession. With so much uncertainty and fear surrounding the future of the economy, now is the time to start thinking about how you can help protect your assets.

Recession fears are growing, and many Americans are hoping that we don’t end up in another financial crisis like 2008. But ultimately there’s nothing that any of us can do to stop a possible recession.

All we can do is react, or proactively take steps to help protect ourselves ahead of time. And a silver IRA could be one tool to help you be proactive in doing that.

If you’re looking to diversify your portfolio, hedge against inflation, or help safeguard your retirement savings against economic uncertainty, silver can play a role. And the precious metals specialists at Goldco can help you.

We’ve helped thousands of Americans benefit from owning silver, and with over $3 billion in precious metals placements and over 7,000 5-star reviews from our customers, we’ve worked hard to become one of the best gold and silver companies in the country.

Don’t let your hard-earned wealth fall victim to the vicissitudes of markets. Call Goldco today to learn more about how you can put silver to work for you in helping safeguard your savings.

This article was originally published in July 2019 and was updated in June 2025.