What is a self-directed IRA?
Most IRAs sit at brokerages that offer stocks and funds only. A self-directed IRA sits at a custodian equipped to hold alternative assets: physical metals, real estate, private placements. The account type is the same, traditional or Roth, the menu is wider.
'Self-directed' describes who picks the assets: you do. It does not mean self-custodied, and it does not relax a single IRS rule.
Why does the structure matter for metals?
Physical metal cannot simply be dropped into a brokerage IRA, the institution won't custody it. The self-directed structure adds the two parties that make metals possible: a custodian that permits them and a depository that holds them.
That chain, you direct, the custodian executes, the depository stores, is what keeps the account compliant. Every shortcut around it is a prohibited-transaction risk.
How does a self-directed IRA show up in practice?
You open the account with a self-directed custodian, fund it by transfer or rollover, instruct the custodian to purchase metal from your chosen dealer, and the metal ships to an approved depository. The custodian reports the account to the IRS like any other IRA.