Open the right file for the question
A search for a gold IRA guide PDF mixes company brochures with tax references. They have different jobs. A brochure explains what a seller wants to offer. An IRS publication explains account rules. A regulator's bulletin identifies sales risks. Read the latter two before deciding whether you need a company's material at all.
The links below go to the issuing agencies. We do not repackage their files or ask for contact details to unlock them. Save a local copy if useful, noting the title and edition printed inside. A year in a search-result title is less reliable than the document's own cover and revision information.
IRS Publication 590-A: putting money into an IRA
Download Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements. The file read on October 31, 2026 was the 2025 edition. Its contents include opening traditional and Roth IRAs, contributions, deductions and moving retirement-plan assets. It is not a company application package.
Use the contents entry for moving retirement-plan assets when comparing an existing account with a proposed receiving IRA. Read the surrounding conditions rather than relying on a single sentence about rollovers. A transaction involving Roth money or after-tax amounts can need a different analysis from a straightforward movement of pre-tax funds.
For a current year's contribution limit or deadline, check the IRS's current guidance and the publication's future-developments notice. This library does not convert a 2025 return guide into a 2026 personalized instruction. A tax professional should resolve questions about the actual account and year involved.
IRS Publication 590-B: taking money out
Download Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements. The copy checked was also for 2025 returns. Its traditional IRA chapter discusses distributions, prohibited transactions and investment in collectibles. The collectibles discussion appears on printed pages 23–24 in that edition; PDF viewer page numbering can differ.
Read that section when a kit claims a coin is permitted or that physical delivery is harmless. The publication identifies certain coin and bullion exceptions, while warning that an IRA's investment in collectibles can be treated as a distribution. It also covers potential additional taxes. A company's description of an item as eligible does not answer every custody question.
Keep distribution planning separate from selling an asset within the account. Selling IRA metal for cash held in the IRA and withdrawing that cash are distinct events. Our account process guide makes that separation visible before you discuss a future sale or delivery.
The IRS rollover chart: read the footnotes
Open the IRS rollover chart. Choose the source account in the left-hand column and the intended destination across the top. Read the cell and its numbered footnotes together. The chart distinguishes designated Roth accounts from pre-tax qualified plans; it does not have a separate gold IRA column.
A permitted route in the chart does not establish that your plan currently permits a distribution or that the receiving provider accepts it. It also does not choose between leaving assets in a plan and moving them. Ask the administrators to confirm those conditions before preparing instructions.
The broader rollover discussion at The Rank Sheet is optional background alongside the official chart. The Rank Sheet is our sister site; we may earn a commission if you sign up with a company through it. Its explanatory article cannot replace the chart's footnotes or your plan's distribution documents.
Publication 3125: check approval language
Read The IRS Does Not Approve IRA Investments, Publication 3125. The checked file carries a September 2017 revision date. It is short enough to read before a sales call. Its central point is that the agency does not review or endorse an individual IRA investment.
This helps untangle three claims that can otherwise blend together: an account can meet administrative requirements, a metal can fit an exception to the collectibles restriction, and a dealer can propose a purchase. None establishes that the government has judged the proposed price or recommended the transaction.
CFTC and FINRA: a metals buyer's question list
Download Ten Things to Ask Before Buying Physical Gold, Silver, or Other Metals. This joint 2024 bulletin addresses dealer checks, product pricing, spreads and costs to obtain in writing. It also discusses the use of self-directed retirement accounts in precious-metal sales.
Use the questions about purchase price and repurchase price before comparing account fees. A fee schedule alone does not tell you the price of the metal. Ask which charges are already included in a quoted figure so you do not count them twice or mistake an omitted cost for zero.
Our sister publication's discussion of account and storage charges can help organize the commercial paperwork. The public bulletin is the starting point for questions; the applicable company documents must supply the actual amounts. Our comparison worksheet lets you record what you receive without supplying assumed figures.
Keep the newer self-directed account alert beside them
The SEC, FINRA and NASAA alert dated February 7, 2023 is an HTML page rather than a required download. It warns about fake custodians, misleading descriptions of custodial responsibilities, fees and difficult valuations. Use your browser's print menu to keep it with the PDFs if needed.
If later researching a seller, the commercial company profiles are a separate reading task. A profile cannot turn a public alert into approval of that company. Keep the document author's role clear throughout: tax agency, investor educator, publisher or seller. That is more useful than treating every item returned by a PDF search as the same kind of guide.