Does Empower Offer a Gold IRA? What It Has Instead

What Empower Offers for Retirement Savers

Empower is one of the largest retirement services companies in the United States, primarily known as a 401(k) plan recordkeeper for employer-sponsored retirement programs. Millions of American workers accumulate savings through workplace plans administered on the Empower platform.

Beyond recordkeeping, Empower offers personal retirement accounts through its retail platform, including traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. These accounts hold conventional financial assets: stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds. Empower does not function as a self-directed IRA custodian authorized to hold physical assets such as gold bullion, silver bars, or IRS-approved precious metals coins.

If your retirement savings are with Empower, whether in an employer 401(k), a rollover IRA, or a self-managed account, none of those accounts can hold physical precious metals in their current form. This is not a policy limitation specific to Empower. Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab operate under the same structural constraint: custody of physical metals requires a specialized infrastructure that mainstream retirement platforms are not built to provide.

What a Gold IRA Actually Requires Under IRS Rules

The IRS permits certain types of physical precious metals inside retirement accounts, but only under specific conditions set out in the Internal Revenue Code. Under IRS Publication 590-A and Section 408(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, a self-directed IRA can hold gold, silver, platinum, or palladium provided the metals meet minimum purity standards and are held by an IRS-approved trustee or custodian.

The purity requirements are: gold at least 99.5% pure (0.995 fineness), silver at least 99.9% pure, platinum and palladium at least 99.95% pure. Several specifically authorized coins are exempt from strict fineness requirements. American Gold Eagles, for example, are expressly permitted by statute despite being 91.67% gold (22-karat), because they are listed in the Internal Revenue Code by name.

The key operational requirement is custody: the metals must be physically held in an IRS-approved depository by a qualified custodian. Home storage of IRA-owned precious metals is not an IRS-approved arrangement. The IRS has issued guidance making clear that an IRA owner who takes personal possession of the metals is treated as having received a taxable distribution at that point.

This custody requirement is why a physical gold IRA demands a different type of institution from a standard brokerage. The specialized firms that serve as SDIRA custodians maintain relationships with IRS-approved depositories and handle the logistics of metals purchase, transport, and secure storage on behalf of account holders.

Your Two Paths From an Empower Account to a Gold IRA

If you have money in an Empower-administered account and want to add physical precious metals to your retirement portfolio, which path you take depends on whether you are still employed at the company whose plan Empower administers.

Path 1: In-Service Rollover While Still Employed

Some 401(k) plans permit participants who are still working to roll over a portion of their account balance to an IRA while the plan is still active. This is called an in-service distribution or in-service rollover.

Whether this option is available depends entirely on your specific plan document, not on Empower as a platform. Common triggers that unlock in-service rollovers include reaching age 59½ or completing a minimum number of years of service. Some plans restrict in-service rollovers to after-tax contributions only, not pre-tax or employer match funds.

To find out if your plan allows it, review your Summary Plan Description (SPD), which your employer is required to provide on request. You can also call Empower directly and ask whether your specific plan permits in-service distributions and under what conditions. Do not assume availability without checking the plan document.

If permitted, initiate a direct rollover rather than taking a distribution check. A direct rollover transfers funds from Empower straight to the receiving SDIRA custodian, with no money passing through your hands. This avoids mandatory 20% federal tax withholding that applies to indirect distributions from employer plans and eliminates the 60-day redeposit deadline that triggers if you take personal possession of the funds.

Path 2: Post-Separation Rollover After Leaving Your Employer

The more common path becomes available after you leave the employer whose plan Empower administers, through resignation, layoff, or retirement. Once your employment ends, you are generally entitled to roll over your entire vested 401(k) balance to an IRA of your choice.

A direct rollover from an employer-sponsored plan to an IRA is not subject to the one-rollover-per-12-month limitation that applies to IRA-to-IRA rollovers. You can initiate it at any time after your separation date. There is no mandatory waiting period.

If you already have a rollover IRA at Empower and want to move it to a gold IRA, a trustee-to-trustee transfer is the cleanest approach. Empower sends the funds directly to the receiving SDIRA custodian, the transfer is not reported as a distribution, and the 60-day clock does not apply. An indirect rollover (receiving a check and redepositing at the new custodian) subjects you to mandatory withholding and the 60-day rule, which creates tax risk if anything delays the redeposit.

Consult your tax advisor before choosing between transfer methods. The IRS rules around rollovers, distributions, and withholding interact with your age, income, and account type in ways that vary significantly by individual situation.

Rolling Over to a Gold IRA: Step by Step

For a detailed walkthrough of the full account opening process, see our guide on opening a gold IRA account step by step. Starting from an Empower account, the process follows these stages:

1. Confirm rollover eligibility. Contact Empower or review your Summary Plan Description to verify you qualify for an in-service rollover (if still employed) or confirm your separation date entitles you to a full distribution.
2. Select an SDIRA custodian. Choose an IRS-approved self-directed IRA custodian that specializes in physical precious metals. Custodians differ on setup fees, annual fees, minimum account sizes, metals selection, and depository relationships. Our gold IRA custodian comparison provides an independent side-by-side review.
3. Open your self-directed IRA account. Complete the new account application at your chosen custodian. Processing typically takes one to five business days.
4. Initiate the direct rollover request at Empower. Request a direct rollover naming the new SDIRA custodian as the receiving institution. For 401(k) rollovers, Empower typically issues a check made payable to the custodian for benefit of your account (not payable to you personally), which you forward to the custodian.
5. Select IRS-eligible metals. Once the custodian receives the funds, work with their metals team to choose specific gold or silver products that meet IRS purity requirements. The custodian purchases the metals and arranges for delivery to an approved depository.
6. Receive custody confirmation. The custodian provides account statements confirming the specific metals held, storage location, and account value. Keep this documentation for your records and tax filings.

To understand how self-directed IRAs work and what to expect before opening one, read our overview of self-directed IRAs.

Tax consequences at each stage depend on your individual circumstances, including your age, income, account type, and the specifics of how the rollover is executed. Consult your tax advisor before initiating any rollover or distribution.

Understanding the Fee Difference: Gold IRA vs. Empower ETF Exposure

Before initiating a rollover, it is worth understanding the cost structure difference between a physical gold IRA and getting gold exposure inside your existing Empower account.

Physical gold inside a self-directed IRA carries fees that conventional brokerage accounts do not: a one-time account setup fee, an annual custodian administration fee, and an annual storage fee for the metals held at the depository. These fees vary by custodian and account size. Some custodians charge flat annual fees regardless of account size; others scale fees with asset value. The total annual cost for a mid-size gold IRA account is typically higher than the expense ratio of a gold ETF held inside a conventional brokerage or IRA account.

If your Empower IRA or 401(k) brokerage window provides access to ETFs, instruments like GLD or IAU offer exposure to gold prices without requiring a separate custodian or depository arrangement. These funds do not provide physical ownership of metal, but they are simpler, lower-cost, and more liquid. They are appropriate for investors whose primary goal is price exposure rather than physical possession.

Physical gold IRA accounts make the most sense for investors who specifically want direct ownership of metal, who have a long time horizon to offset the custodian and storage cost structure, and who have decided, in consultation with a financial advisor, that this approach fits their overall retirement plan. We are not financial advisors. A licensed fee-only retirement planner can help you evaluate whether the economics of a physical gold IRA work for your specific situation.

When Staying at Empower Is the Better Move

Staying at Empower may be the right choice if your 401(k) plan offers institutional-priced index funds that carry lower expense ratios than what you can access as an individual retail investor. Many employer plans negotiate pricing unavailable to retail accounts. Moving assets purely to gain gold exposure would cost you that pricing advantage and add the ongoing fees of an SDIRA arrangement.

It may also be worth staying if you are still accumulating assets below the minimums that leading gold IRA custodians require. Industry-reported minimums for established providers run from $10,000 at some smaller operations to $50,000 or more at others. Opening an SDIRA below the minimum a custodian works with is not always possible, and splitting a small account across custodians adds administrative complexity.

A partial rollover is another option: some investors keep the bulk of their 401(k) in a low-cost Empower account and roll over a portion to an SDIRA for metals exposure. This requires confirming that your plan permits partial in-service distributions or that your post-separation rollover account size justifies the setup.

How to Choose a Gold IRA Custodian

If you decide to move forward, the custodian you select determines fees, metals access, storage quality, and the quality of support through the process. Evaluate custodians on these criteria before committing:

• IRS approval and standing. The custodian must be licensed to serve as an IRA trustee. Confirm through independent sources, not just the custodian’s marketing materials. FINRA’s BrokerCheck and the BBB are useful starting points.
• Fee transparency. Request a full fee schedule in writing before opening an account. Compare total annual cost (custodian fee plus storage fee) across at least two providers.
• Depository relationships. Ask which depositories the custodian uses, where they are located, and whether storage is segregated (your metals stored separately) or commingled (mixed with other customers’ holdings). Segregated storage typically costs more but provides cleaner ownership documentation.
• Buyback policy. Some custodians offer buyback programs if you eventually want to liquidate. Understand the terms before you are in that position.
• Educational support. For investors new to self-directed IRAs, access to knowledgeable, non-pressured guidance through the setup process matters. Augusta Precious Metals, for example, provides a dedicated educator on a salaried (non-commissioned) basis who walks you through the process before any purchase decision.

Augusta Precious Metals holds a BBB A+ rating and has received recognition from Money Magazine as Best Overall Gold IRA Company. Their process is designed around education before commitment. For a complete look at their fees, structure, and customer experience, see our full Augusta Precious Metals review.

For a side-by-side comparison of multiple custodians and providers, see our gold IRA custodian comparison guide.

If you want to understand the gold IRA process before speaking with any company, Augusta provides a free educational information kit at no obligation:

Request Augusta’s free gold IRA information kit