When is home storage legitimate?
When the metal is yours personally, bought with after-tax money outside any retirement account. Plenty of owners keep some metal at home for immediate access, accepting the responsibility that comes with it.
Legitimate home storage means a real safe, discretion about what you own, and insurance, standard homeowner's policies typically cap coverage for bullion at low amounts unless scheduled separately.
Why is home storage prohibited for IRA metal?
Because the tax code requires IRA assets to be held by a qualified trustee or custodian. Metal in your closet is metal in your possession, and possession of IRA assets is a distribution, taxed as ordinary income and penalized if you're under the applicable age.
The 'home-storage IRA' pitch routes around this with an IRA-owned LLC whose metal you keep, the checkbook LLC structure. The IRS has challenged it, tax courts have ruled against careless versions of it, and the promoters rarely mention that part.
How does home storage show up in practice?
If a salesperson offers an IRA with metal delivered to your house, you are hearing the home-storage pitch. The compliant version of that desire is simple: buy some metal personally for home, and keep IRA metal in an approved depository.