Holding physical metal inside an IRA creates an awkward problem once required minimum distributions begin. The IRS wants a specific dollar amount out of the account by a hard deadline, and your account holds bars sitting in a vault. The IRA aggregation rule is the way around it, and most gold IRA owners have never heard of it.
The IRA Aggregation Rule Explained Simply
Required minimum distributions start at age 73 for most people today. Those born in 1960 or later will not begin until 75 under SECURE 2.0. Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you reach the trigger age, and every RMD after that is due by December 31.
The calculation runs account by account. For each traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRA you own, you take the fair market value as of the prior December 31 and divide it by a life expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. That gives you a required amount for each account.
Here is the part that matters. Once you have those individual figures, you add them together and then withdraw the total from any one of those IRAs, or any combination of them, in whatever proportion you like. The IRS required minimum distribution FAQs set this out directly.
What this means for you: the IRS cares that the correct total dollar amount leaves your traditional IRA universe. It does not care which account it came out of.
Using a Cash IRA to Cover Your Gold IRA’s RMD
Put numbers on the idea. Suppose you are 75 and hold two accounts. Your gold IRA was valued at $200,000 on the prior December 31 and a brokerage IRA at $400,000. The Uniform Lifetime Table factor at 75 is 24.6.
- Gold IRA required amount: $200,000 divided by 24.6, or about $8,130
- Brokerage IRA required amount: $400,000 divided by 24.6, or about $16,260
- Combined requirement: roughly $24,390
You may take the entire $24,390 from the brokerage IRA and sell nothing at all inside the gold IRA. No coins leave the depository, no dealer buyback spread is paid, and your RMD obligation is fully satisfied.
Three practical points make this work smoothly.
Watch the year-end valuation. Your gold IRA custodian reports the account’s fair market value each year on Form 5498, and that number drives the required amount. Ask how they value the metal, since a valuation based on dealer bid rather than spot will produce a different figure. It is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Tell both custodians in writing. Some precious metals custodians have automatic distribution settings or will prompt you to liquidate as the deadline approaches. A short written instruction stating that the account’s RMD is being satisfied from another IRA prevents an unwanted sale.
Keep the arithmetic. Save the year-end statements and your calculation. If the total is ever questioned, you need to be able to show how each account’s share was computed and that the sum came out correctly.
The Limits Where 401(k)s and Roth IRAs Cannot Be Combined
Aggregation is generous within IRAs and strict everywhere else. The boundaries catch people out regularly.
- 401(k) plans stand alone. Each 401(k) calculates its own RMD, and that amount must come out of that specific plan. You cannot cover a 401(k) RMD from an IRA, and you cannot cover an IRA RMD from a 401(k).
- 403(b) plans aggregate only with each other. If you hold two 403(b) accounts you may total them and take the amount from one, but they never mix with IRAs.
- Roth IRAs are outside the system. They carry no lifetime RMDs at all and cannot be used to satisfy a traditional IRA requirement. Roth 401(k) accounts have also been exempt from lifetime RMDs since 2024.
- Inherited IRAs aggregate only among themselves, and only when they came from the same decedent and are the same account type. An inherited IRA can never be used to satisfy the RMD on an IRA you own outright.
If your metal happens to sit in a Roth gold IRA, none of this applies to you during your lifetime. There is no required distribution to plan around.
If the Gold IRA Is Your Only IRA
Aggregation needs at least two accounts to be useful. If the gold IRA is the only traditional IRA you own, you have two workable options.
Partial liquidation. You instruct the custodian to sell enough metal to raise the required cash. This is the simplest route, and its cost is the dealer buyback spread, commonly around 1% to 3% below spot for standard bullion and wider for less liquid products. One planning detail: you sell whole coins or whole bars, not fractions of them. Holding a portion of the account in one ounce or fractional coins rather than entirely in large bars gives you far finer control over hitting the required amount without overselling.
In-kind distribution. The custodian ships coins or bars to you instead of cash. The fair market value on the distribution date is taxable as ordinary income, and the metal becomes yours outside the IRA with a cost basis equal to that value. This works well if you want to keep the physical position and have cash elsewhere to pay the resulting tax bill.
Either route takes time. Sale settlement, insured shipping and custodian paperwork all move slowly, and December is the busiest month of the year for these requests. Starting in October or November is the difference between a routine transaction and a penalty.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
The excise tax on a missed RMD is 25% of the shortfall. That drops to 10% if you withdraw the missed amount and file a corrected return within a two-year correction window. Either way the shortfall is reported on Form 5329, and the IRS can waive the penalty entirely if you can show the failure was due to reasonable error and that you are taking steps to fix it.
Note what is not on that list of excuses. Illiquidity is not a defense the IRS recognizes. An account full of bullion is held to the same deadline as an account full of money market funds.
The Key Takeaway
Aggregation is the single most useful planning rule available to someone holding bullion in retirement. Calculate the required amount for each traditional IRA, add them together, then take the whole total from whichever account is easiest to sell. Done that way, the gold stays exactly where you put it, no spread gets paid, and the requirement is met in full.
