Where can I store my gold at home?

Your home is basically a plethora of hiding spots, which can depend on your furniture, landscaping, architecture, and more. You could feasibly hide gold in many places, such as underneath floorboards, beneath an installed carpet, inside of false desk drawers, crawl spaces, attic corners, behind insulation, inside of drywall, inside of old pocket doors, behind bricks in the basement, and more. Just don’t put it in the freezer (seriously, thieves know this is an obvious spot).

Should I store gold in a safety deposit box?

Because it won’t accrue value in your IRA, there’s really no point in storing all of your gold in a safety deposit box. If you want to have some gold to easily liquidate in the event of a crisis, you can store bullion in a safety deposit box so that you can retrieve it when needed. You shouldn’t store gold bars in safety deposit boxes if you can avoid it, or put all of your investments in safety deposit box bullion.

Should I bury gold in the yard?

It’s actually not as uncommon to do this as you would think. Dig a hole in the ground at least four feet deep, wrap your gold and silver in a thick container that won’t bio-degrade (such as PVC pipe; a common option), and then cover the hole. Do your best to make sure the hole isn’t conspicuous, and find a way to mark where you put it without anyone knowing. While there are plenty of safe ways to hide gold, and this last one can seem excessive, it’s the least likely to be detected by anyone (and almost impossible to detect with metal/gold detectors).

Home Storage Gold IRA: Can I Store Gold at Home in 2025

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Storing your gold is sometimes a costly and headache-inducing endeavor, so can’t you just take the weight onto your own shoulders and store the gold at your home?

Well, you can, but there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t. Gold is an investment, but if your investment isn’t doing anything for your financial future, it’s the same as keeping tooth fairy money in a sock in your top drawer.

Home storage gold IRAs aren’t a thing, and while gold storage and gold safety can seem complicated, there’s a very thorough process at play that you can reap the rewards of. Let’s talk about those.

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Your Gold Has to be in a Secured Third-Party Facility

According to the IRS, any gold that is purchased for the purpose of your gold IRA must be stored in a third-party facility. That means you purchase it through a gold IRA firm or broker, then they put in the purchase order, and it goes from the mint to the facility, and you pay custodian fees for them to store, maintain, and safeguard it.

You never actually touch the gold. If you did, it would compromise it. This sounds like a skeptical practice until you realize that the IRA regulates this entire process, and depositories are so secured that they actually insure you from loss, generally in excess beyond what most gold investors are actually storing.

Gold Should be Purchased From Accredited Dealers

So, can you just buy gold and ship it somewhere? Not exactly. While depositories have auditors that ensure the integrity and weight of your gold (even though it comes from a mint), there is some level of trust from the source to the destination.

You can’t just buy gold from anywhere and ship it, which is why a lot of “sell and ship gold directly to your home” commercials often get a bad reputation as a scam.

They’re not, but they’re not selling you on an investment, it’s a purchase. Your gold needs to be purchased through an authorized dealer, one who has been cleared and vetted by the appropriate commissions and authorities.

Otherwise it just doesn’t make the cut. It can be vetted through the entire process, and that’s invaluable for institutions.

Your Investment Needs to Actually Count

If it’s not in a depository custodial service, then it cant be counted for your gold IRA. When it’s in a secured facility, the IRS can be 100% guaranteed that the asset is in place, untouchable by anyone that isn’t authorized (auditors, custodian services), and that it’s kept intact and undamaged.

On top of that, you can’t get insurance for the gold you store at home. When you choose a depository to hold onto your gold, they’re audited by an insurance provider of their choice (typically Lloyd’s of London), usually in excess of millions beyond what the average investor is storing in a vault.

A Lot of At-Home Delivery Options Look Really Good, But Aren’t

If any company states that you can hold onto your physical gold while it still counts in your IRA, they are trying to scam you—there’s no way to do this, and if there were, then the IRS would say so themselves.

Buying gold directly is only good if your goals are specifically to hold physical gold in the event of a catastrophe, or to be able to liquidate it in other countries instead of wire transferring cash (a risky move, but some people feel safe doing this to transfer wealth).

What the IRS Has to Say About Home Storage Self-Directed IRAs

The IRS has a lot to say when it comes to self-directed retirement accounts, such as your IRA. For one, there are specific metals you can and cannot use for your self-directed IRA, and you can find official information for that right here.

Precious metals that meet the correct finesse will be deemed as valuables, but many are collectibles, which is why gold IRAs will outperform and outclass silver and platinum IRAs for the indefinite future.

Quick Information to Know About Gold Storage

Before you fully commit to storing gold at home, knowing full-well that it isn’t IRA-ready, this is what you need to know:

Notifying the IRS: Gold sales must be reported to the IRS, even if you buy gold direct. That’s why these services exist, to do the reporting for you, and make the process simple for you. However, if you don’t ensure this when you buy gold for home storage, you could owe immense fines.
Custodians Are Insured: You’re covered under any reputable custodian, generally in exorbitant excess to what your actual gold is worth.
Depositories Are Safe: Between insurance, ultra secure facilities, and constant auditing to ensure compliance and gold weight, you’re basically getting a full-service gold custodian that operates without you having to worry about a thing.
IRA Gold Home Storage is a Prohibited Transaction: If you try to include your at-home gold in an IRA, it’s a prohibited transaction and is subject to penalties (which you really don’t want).

Should You Store Your Gold at Home?

Gold needs to be in a depository to accrue value in your IRA. While you can store gold for SHTF scenarios so that you can liquidate it rather easily, you really should utilize it as an investment, because in a worst-case scenario, the chance of being able to sell gold bullion to people on the street is unlikely already.

Buy bars through your IRA broker, store them in depositories, and try to keep your fees and transfer costs to a minimum. Control your self-directed gold IRA and make sure that you keep an eye on the gold market, and the way that gold can move in value.

Be aware, be involved.

Home Gold Storage FAQ's

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