Two people decide to put $100,000 into gold.
The first one opens her existing IRA, types a ticker symbol, and buys a gold ETF. Elapsed time: four minutes. Cost: about eleven dollars of spread.
The second one calls a number he saw advertised, opens a self-directed IRA, gets assigned a custodian, picks coins, and arranges storage. Elapsed time: three weeks. Cost: roughly $6,000 in dealer premium, plus $150 setup, plus $400 a year.
Gold does the same thing for both of them. It goes up, it goes down, it does not care who owns it.
So the obvious question is why anyone picks the second option, and the obvious answer, that they were talked into it, is only partly true.
There are real differences. They are just not the ones the advertising emphasizes.
Let's lay them out honestly, in both directions.