An investor who kept IRA gold in a home safe had roughly $200,000 deemed distributed by the tax court, because the Internal Revenue Code requires IRA bullion to sit in the physical possession of a trustee. That is one of several rules most gold and silver IRA holders have never read, according to Scott Schwartz, precious metals lawyer, EVP and General Counsel of FideliTrade, and newly elected President of the International Precious Metals Institute. In this Noble6 Talks episode from IPMI’s 50th Annual Conference, Schwartz covers what qualifies as bullion, why some dealers charge 100% over spot, how much metal actually goes into IRAs, and why he considers cyber risk the biggest threat to every company in the industry. He is clear that none of it is investment advice.

Can you store gold from your IRA at home?

No. Schwartz says IRA bullion must be held in the physical possession of a trustee, which the Internal Revenue Code defines as a bank, credit union, or other company supervised and examined by a bank commissioner. In the tax court case he cites, investors who kept their metal in a home safe had about $200,000 in retirement assets deemed distributed. Outside an IRA you can take possession of your metal; inside one, you don’t technically own it until retirement. FideliTrade became a trust company specifically so the metal it holds sits with a regulated custodian rather than an unregulated storage firm.

What precious metals are allowed in an IRA?

IRC Section 408(m) carves precious metals out of the general ban on collectibles, but only bullion qualifies. The 1986 Tax Reform Act allowed just gold and silver American Eagles. A 1997 amendment opened the door to any gold, silver, platinum, or palladium that meets the fineness requirements of an exchange, which brought in Maple Leafs, Austrian Philharmonics, Perth Mint Kangaroos, bars, and privately minted rounds. Krugerrands still don’t qualify on purity, even though they contain the same gold as an Eagle. Art, rugs, wine, and sports cards remain collectibles and are prohibited.

Why do some gold IRA investors pay 100% over spot?

Because some dealers sell semi-numismatic products that meet IRA purity requirements but are priced nowhere near the metal’s intrinsic value. Schwartz says court orders show predatory firms charging 100% over spot or more on coins marketed as “one of 10,000.” A product like that may have the purity of bullion, but at a certain price it stops being bullion and becomes a collectible that shouldn’t be in a retirement account. He expects more regulation of IRA metals and would welcome it, while noting the line between bullion and collectible is still blurry. His advice: know exactly what you’re buying, because people spend their whole careers building that account and discover the premium at withdrawal.

Should investors hold precious metals alongside stocks and bonds?

Schwartz won’t give investment advice, but he points to the historical case. Precious metals are a real, tangible asset that sovereign nations hold in reserves, and they have held value through the 1981 inflation spike, recessions, and the pandemic. Historically they are negatively correlated to stocks and bonds, which is why a 5% to 10% allocation is commonly cited as a diversifier. He adds a behavioral point: in a crash, investors without gold watch their whole portfolio drop and are more likely to sell at the bottom, while a metals position can keep them from acting on fear.

Are IRA investors buying gold or silver right now?

Mostly small-format silver and fractional gold. FideliTrade sees large volumes of 1 oz silver rounds, silver Eagles and Maple Leafs, and gold Eagles in 1 oz, half, quarter, and tenth-ounce sizes, plus 1 oz bars. Large silver ingots are rare inside IRAs because of price: at roughly $75 an ounce, a 1,000 oz silver bar costs about $75,000, which Schwartz says exceeds the average IRA balance of roughly $24,000. Interest in silver has risen with prices that have reached $125 an ounce, a move he says nobody predicted, though nobody predicted $5,000 gold either.

What is the biggest cyber risk for precious metals companies?

Vendor risk, in Schwartz’s view. He has spent more than five years studying cybersecurity and holds the CISSP, and he considers cyber the single greatest risk to every company, not just in metals. Companies don’t vet their vendors enough: what data they hold, how they protect it, how they’ll notify you if they lose it, and whether they can keep operating after a breach. His shorthand is KYV, know your vendor, because their internal controls are part of your supply chain. Attacks from Russia and Eastern Europe are growing more sophisticated and aren’t likely to slow given the geopolitical situation.

How should a precious metals company prepare for a breach?

Assume it’s when, not if, and have an incident response plan before it happens. Schwartz’s sequence: train staff to recognize phishing as the front line, map every asset so you know where an attacker goes after the first click, then identify, isolate, contain, and recover. If you hold other people’s data, plan for notification and credit monitoring. Every company needs this, whether it has two employees or 10,000, because a company whose service is down has costs with no revenue, which he calls a trip to bankruptcy. As a depository, FideliTrade treats data security as equal to or more important than physical security in 2026.

Who is Scott Schwartz?

Scott Schwartz has been General Counsel of FideliTrade since 2012 and also serves as Executive Vice President, handling business development alongside legal work. Before that he spent the first half of his career as a litigator in New York City. He holds the CISSP certification and published a book, Cyber Shield Protocol, aimed at small business owners, parents, and teens. In 2026 he was elected President of the International Precious Metals Institute.

What is Cyber Shield Protocol about?

It’s a practical guide to online threats for people without a security team: small businesses that can’t survive a major incident, parents, and teenagers. It includes a section on how much privacy people give up on social media and how to protect themselves. Schwartz says he finished the book after hearing about a teenager harmed by cyberbullying, which convinced him the information had to get out. The book is available on Amazon.

Why attend IPMI?

It’s the one conference where every level of the precious metals supply chain is in the same room. Schwartz describes an industry that competes for business on a Tuesday and calls each other on Saturday to flag a new risk. Even if you can’t do business with someone directly, you leave with a trusted referral network in a small, global ecosystem.

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