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At Gold Investor Research, we hear this question a lot from readers who assumed their Ameriprise advisor could open a precious metals account the same way they'd open a mutual fund position.
Below, we explain what Ameriprise actually offers, why physical bullion sits outside that lineup, and which companies handle gold IRAs directly.
Key Points
- Ameriprise offers traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE plans, and 401(k)/403(b) accounts, but none of them can hold physical gold or other precious metals.
- Investors who want a gold IRA need a self-directed IRA custodian and a specialized precious metals dealer, such as Goldco, Augusta Precious Metals, or Priority Gold.
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Why Ameriprise Doesn't Offer a Gold IRA
Ameriprise Financial builds its retirement lineup around securities, not physical commodities.
According to the company's own retirement plans page, Ameriprise offers traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans for businesses, and 403(b) plans for nonprofit employers.
Inside those accounts, an Ameriprise advisor can put your money into mutual funds, self-directed brokerage holdings, annuities, certificates, or professionally managed portfolios. Physical bullion isn't part of that menu, and it can't easily be added to it.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC is a broker-dealer registered with FINRA and the SEC. Its infrastructure is built to hold and trade securities, not to store coins and bars in a vault on your behalf.
That distinction matters under IRS rules. Physical gold can only sit inside a self-directed IRA, a separate account type that uses a specialized custodian rather than a standard brokerage.
A conventional IRA custodian like the ones Ameriprise works with typically isn't set up to accept, verify, or store physical metal, so it simply doesn't offer that option. Nothing on Ameriprise's site claims otherwise.
If a representative mentions "gold exposure," they almost certainly mean a gold mining stock, a gold ETF such as SPDR Gold Shares, or a gold-focused mutual fund, not a bar of bullion sitting in a depository with your name on it.
Why You Need a Specialized Gold IRA Company
A gold IRA requires a self-directed IRA custodian and an IRS-approved depository, neither of which a traditional brokerage like Ameriprise provides.
Congress opened the door to this structure with the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which let IRAs hold gold, silver, platinum, and palladium that meet minimum purity standards.
Gold and platinum products generally need a fineness of at least .995, silver at least .999, with one notable exception: the American Gold Eagle qualifies for IRA use despite a fineness of .9167, because Congress named it specifically in the statute.
Popular IRA-eligible products also include the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf from the Royal Canadian Mint and various gold bars from refiners like PAMP Suisse.
You also can't store the metal yourself. Keeping IRA-owned gold in a home safe violates IRS rules and can trigger taxes and penalties as if you'd taken a full distribution.
The metal has to sit in an approved depository, such as Delaware Depository or Brink's, under the custodian's name for your benefit.
Setting all of this up, the paperwork, the rollover from your existing IRA or 401(k), the custodian relationship, and the actual metal purchase, is what specialized gold IRA companies do for a living.
Below are three of the more established names in that space, listed in order of how a new investor might want to evaluate them.
Most people fund a gold IRA through a direct rollover from an existing traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or an old 401(k) from a former employer.
Your current custodian sends the funds straight to the new self-directed custodian, so the money never passes through your hands and no tax is withheld.
A 60-day rollover works too, where you receive a check and redeposit it yourself within 60 days, but that route carries more risk of missing the deadline and triggering an early distribution penalty if you're under 59 and a half.
Each of the three companies below has staff dedicated to walking clients through whichever rollover method fits their existing accounts.
| Company | Founded | Headquarters | Minimum Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goldco | 2006 | Woodland Hills, CA | $25,000 |
| Augusta Precious Metals | 2012 | Casper, WY | $50,000 |
| Priority Gold | 2001 | Dallas, TX | $10,000 |
Goldco
Goldco is the name most readers will already recognize, and it sits in the middle of this group on minimum investment.
Trevor Gerszt founded the company in 2006 in Woodland Hills, California, and it has since worked with Equity Trust Company as its self-directed IRA custodian.
Goldco requires a $25,000 minimum to open a precious metals IRA, charges roughly $180 a year in administrative fees on top of separate storage costs, and waives first-year fees for new clients. The company says it has placed more than $2 billion in gold and silver since it opened.
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Augusta Precious Metals
Augusta Precious Metals is built for larger accounts and leans harder on education than the other two companies here. Isaac Nuriani founded the company in 2012, and it now runs its corporate office out of Casper, Wyoming, with a satellite office in Beverly Hills.
Before you buy anything, Augusta's Director of Education, Devlyn Steele, a Harvard-trained economic analyst, walks new clients through a one-on-one web conference covering how a precious metals IRA works and what the risks are.
The company's $50,000 minimum is the steepest of the three, which pushes it toward investors rolling over a larger 401(k) or IRA balance rather than someone testing the waters with a small account.
Priority Gold
Priority Gold has the lowest barrier to entry of the three, and it's the oldest company on this list by founding date. It opened in Dallas, Texas in 2001, and it's built a reputation for moving new accounts and rollovers quickly.
The minimum investment is $10,000, the annual IRA fee runs $125, and the company doesn't charge for shipping or insurance on qualifying purchases. In August 2025, Priority Gold landed on Inc. magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America.
"We don't believe in hype. We believe in education, transparency," said Justin Hightower, the company's National Sales Director, in the announcement about that ranking.
Conclusion
Ameriprise can help you build a retirement portfolio out of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and annuities, but it won't hold physical gold inside an IRA.
If that's what you're after, Goldco, Augusta Precious Metals, and Priority Gold each run self-directed gold IRAs, with minimums of $25,000, $50,000, and $10,000 respectively, so the right fit mostly comes down to how much you're rolling over and how much hand-holding you want along the way.