Madison Trust Precious Metals IRA Review

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Last updated: July 22, 2026 · By White Metal Resources Editorial

This review covers Madison Trust Company for savers weighing it as the custodian on a precious metals IRA. Madison Trust is a full-service self-directed IRA trust company, not a metals dealer. Below we cover who owns and runs the firm, the charter and regulator, the metals product line, the fee model, and the questions to ask in writing before you open an account. Every fact traces to the company's own pages or a federal source, cited inline.

Who is Madison Trust Company?

Madison Trust Company is a South Dakota chartered non-depository trust company that runs self-directed IRA accounts for alternative assets. The firm's marketing places it among the larger independent self-directed IRA custodians in the country by client count. Its home page in 2026 lists more than 20,000 clients and over $6.5 billion in assets under custody (source: madisontrust.com).

The founding team is Daniel Gleich, Mervyn Klein, and Brian Finkelstein. Gleich and Klein first launched Broad Financial in 2009, an IRA LLC facilitation firm. Broad Financial helped roughly 10,000 clients set up self-directed structures before the founders decided to build a trust company of their own (source: Madison Trust, Our Story).

Worth knowing: Madison Trust is a custodian, not a metals dealer. It holds legal title on behalf of the IRA and handles reporting. It does not select, price, or ship the coins and bars. Those choices sit with the dealer the account owner engages separately. See custodian versus dealer for how the roles split.

Charter, regulator, and legal structure

Madison Trust operates under a South Dakota trust charter granted in January 2014. That charter placed the firm under the South Dakota Division of Banking, which regulates state-chartered non-depository trust companies (source: Madison Trust, Our Story). Corporate headquarters sit at 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57103.

Administrative operations run out of Madison Administration Company at One Paragon Drive, Suite 275, Montvale, New Jersey. The public phone line is (800) 721-4900, and the firm publishes standard business hours from Monday through Friday on Eastern time. Client-facing staff are described as CISP-trained, referring to the Certified IRA Services Professional designation.

Madison Trust's role is the same as any other self-directed IRA custodian. Federal law does not care which brand name your custodian carries. It cares that a qualified trustee takes physical possession of the metal and that IRS reporting flows correctly (source: IRS collectibles snapshot).

The product menu and the metals line

Madison Trust markets several account structures. The base is a self-directed IRA that can be opened as a traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE plan. Above that sit branded product lines: a Gold IRA for physical precious metals, a Real Estate Checkbook Control IRA for direct property, and a CryptoFlex IRA for cryptocurrency (source: madisontrust.com).

The Gold IRA sits under the wider "Gold and Precious Metals" investment category on the site. Madison Trust markets the account as a way to hold physical bullion inside an IRA, though the public marketing page does not always name every eligible metal by product. Ask in writing whether silver, platinum, and palladium are supported alongside gold before you fund the account.

Broad Financial remains a related brand and provides the checkbook-control LLC structure for savers who want to sign checks from an IRA-owned LLC. That structure has its own tax risks and is a separate topic from a straight custodian-held metals IRA. See the checkbook IRA and metals for the trade-offs.

The flat-rate fee model, and what to verify

Madison Trust's core marketing message is a flat-rate fee that does not scale with the size of the IRA. Its own story page explains the origin: "Accountholders were charged a low, flat rate fee, regardless of the size of their IRA. Whether a client's account was worth $50,000 or $500,000, their quarterly fee remained the same" (source: Madison Trust, Our Story).

That structure is the opposite of a percentage-of-assets fee. On a small account a fixed fee is a bigger drag as a percent. On a large account a fixed fee is a much smaller drag. The chart below shows how the two structures diverge as an account grows.

Confirm the current dollar amounts in writing before you commit. A precious metals IRA carries four fee categories: a one-time account setup fee, an annual account or administration fee, an annual depository storage fee, and the dealer spread on the metal itself.

The dealer spread is usually the largest lifetime cost, and it sits with the dealer you pick, not with the custodian. See custodian fees versus dealer markups and silver IRA fees explained for the breakdown.

The calculator below shows how annual fees compound against an account over time. Enter a balance and a fee rate to see the drag.

Which metals qualify, at any custodian

The IRS-recognized minimum fineness values apply to every precious metals IRA, regardless of custodian. Silver must be .999, gold must be .995, and platinum and palladium must each be .9995. These figures come from commodity-market delivery standards referenced by IRC 408(m)(3) (source: 26 U.S.C. section 408).

The American Silver, Gold, and Platinum Eagles are permitted under a separate carve-out for United States coins, even when the coin itself does not meet the bullion fineness test (source: IRS collectibles snapshot). Numismatic or graded "rare" coins outside that carve-out are treated as collectibles and do not qualify.

Madison Trust does not need to relist the federal rules for you to hold eligible metals. Any bar or coin you buy through the account still has to clear the .995, .999, or .9995 threshold, and the dealer should put the fineness in writing. That is a spec check you run once per product, not a negotiation.

How to open a Madison Trust precious metals IRA

The direct-rollover route is the same at any self-directed IRA custodian, and Madison Trust runs it the same way. The steps below are the standard mechanics.

1. Open a self-directed IRA at Madison Trust. Pick the account type that matches your source money: traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA.
2. Request a direct transfer or direct rollover. Move funds custodian to custodian, avoiding the 60-day redeposit deadline and the 20 percent mandatory withholding on plan payouts.
3. Pick an IRA-eligible metals dealer. The dealer is separate from the custodian. Favor common bullion at fair spreads. Avoid pitches that push premium numismatic coins.
4. Confirm each product meets the fineness minimum. Ask the dealer for the fineness in writing and check it against .995 gold, .999 silver, or .9995 platinum or palladium.
5. Choose an approved depository. Ask Madison Trust which vaults are supported for the metals line, and decide between segregated or commingled storage.
6. Have the custodian settle the purchase. Madison Trust pays the dealer from the IRA and directs the metal to the chosen vault under the account's name.

The direct route matters. A direct transfer or direct rollover keeps the money custodian to custodian. That avoids the 60-day rule that can turn an indirect rollover into a taxable distribution on missed timing.

How Madison Trust compares to peer custodians

A short comparison helps place Madison Trust next to a familiar peer without inventing fee figures the sites do not publish.

Sources: madisontrust.com home page and Our Story; Equity Trust About Us and Precious Metals pages. Checked June 2026.

The core distinction is menu breadth versus metals depth. Madison Trust is built for a wide alternative-asset menu. A dedicated precious metals IRA custodian may publish more detail on metals-specific fees and depositories. See how to compare precious metals IRA custodians.

A vetting checklist for any custodian

The checklist below reduces the odds of a surprise later. It applies to Madison Trust and to any other custodian you evaluate.

• Verify the trust charter. Confirm the entity is a state-chartered trust company and note which state. Madison Trust's own site describes it as chartered in South Dakota.
• Ask for the fee schedule in writing. Request setup, annual account, storage, transaction, and termination fees on one page. Do not accept a verbal number.
• Ask which depositories are named for your account. Get a segregated and a commingled storage quote for each, and pick on total cost plus geography.
• Vet the dealer separately. Check the dealer's Better Business Bureau profile, ask for the spread on the exact product you plan to buy, and favor common bullion over numismatic coins.
• Confirm the metal meets fineness. Ask for each product's fineness in writing before purchase, and match it to .999 silver, .995 gold, or .9995 platinum or palladium.
• Get every promise on paper. Any "free" storage year, promotional rebate, or fee waiver should be written into the account paperwork, not a phone commitment.
• Ask about white metals coverage directly. Confirm whether silver, platinum, and palladium sit under the same Gold IRA umbrella at Madison Trust, or whether a different product form is required.

When Madison Trust is a bad idea for a white-metals IRA

A balanced review has to name when this path works against you. For several savers, routing a white-metals IRA through Madison Trust is the wrong move, and saying so plainly is part of an honest review.

It is usually a bad idea in these situations:

• A small balance against a flat fee. A flat-rate custodian fee is a mixed blessing on a small account. If the account is well under $25,000, even a fair flat fee can eat a meaningful share of the balance each year. A modest holding can struggle to ever come out ahead.
• You may need the money within a few years. Physical metal is volatile short-term, and selling means crossing the dealer spread again. Before age 59.5 you also owe the 10 percent federal additional tax on top of ordinary income tax (source: IRS Publication 590-B).
• You want a metals-only custodian. Madison Trust runs a full alternative-asset menu. If you want a firm whose main product line is precious metals and whose website details every metals fee and depository up front, a specialist custodian may be a better fit.
• You need clarity on platinum or palladium before signing. The public site groups metals under a "Gold and Precious Metals" heading. If you require named support for platinum or palladium and cannot get it in writing quickly, weigh a custodian that lists all four metals explicitly.
• You are chasing a guaranteed return. Nobody can predict where silver, gold, platinum, or palladium prices will go. A pitch that promises guaranteed gains is a warning sign, not an opportunity, and no custodian removes market risk.

If one of these describes you, slowing down is the sensible call. The custodian is only one part of the total cost, and the dealer spread you pick decides most of the rest. There is no CTA in this section on purpose.

Madison Trust questions, answered

Is Madison Trust Company a legitimate IRA custodian?

Madison Trust Company operates under a South Dakota trust charter granted in January 2014, per its own Our Story page. That places it under the South Dakota Division of Banking, which regulates state-chartered non-depository trust companies. The firm's home page advertises an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, 20,000-plus clients, and over $6.5 billion in assets under custody.

Does Madison Trust offer a precious metals IRA?

Yes. Madison Trust markets a Gold IRA on its home page, sitting under a wider "Gold and Precious Metals" investment category. Because the branded product name emphasizes gold, ask in writing whether silver, platinum, and palladium can be held under the same account structure before you fund it.

Where is Madison Trust headquartered?

Corporate headquarters are at 401 East 8th Street, Suite 200, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57103. Administrative operations run through Madison Administration Company at One Paragon Drive, Suite 275, Montvale, New Jersey. The public phone line is (800) 721-4900.

Who owns Madison Trust Company?

Daniel Gleich is chief executive officer and president. Gleich, Mervyn Klein, and Brian Finkelstein are the named founding principals on the Our Story page. Gleich and Klein first launched Broad Financial in 2009 before building the trust company, which received its South Dakota charter in January 2014.

What does Madison Trust charge for a precious metals IRA?

The site markets a flat-rate fee structure that does not scale with the size of the account. Specific dollar amounts for the metals product line are on the fee schedule page and should be requested in writing before you open an account. A precious metals IRA usually carries a setup fee, an annual account fee, an annual storage fee, and the dealer spread on the metal.

Can I hold silver, platinum, or palladium at Madison Trust?

The IRS rules allow all four metals inside an IRA as long as fineness minimums are met: gold .995, silver .999, and platinum or palladium .9995. Madison Trust's public product name is a Gold IRA, so the practical question is which additional metals fit under that structure at Madison Trust. Ask in writing before funding.

Does Madison Trust allow home storage of IRA metals?

No custodian can. Federal law requires an IRS-approved trustee to hold physical possession of IRA metal. Keeping IRA metal at home is treated as a distribution, taxable and possibly penalized under age 59.5. The United States Tax Court applied this rule against the taxpayers in McNulty v. Commissioner in 2021.

How do I move an existing IRA to Madison Trust?

Use a direct custodian-to-custodian transfer. That keeps the money inside the tax wrapper, avoids the 60-day deadline, and skips the 20 percent mandatory withholding that applies to some plan payouts. Madison Trust usually drives the transfer paperwork on your behalf once the account is opened.