Strata Trust Company Reviews

By Tim Schmidt

 

When I set up my self directed IRA and was in need of a custodian for gold and other investments, I looked into Strata Trust Company, a firm located in Waco, Texas. As I was seeking administration of my precious metals assets, I came across this company and made this page to outline the pro's and con's as using Strata Trust Company as your custodian.

If you have decided to use a Self directed ira services company to hold real estate, precious metals, or any other alternative and traditional assets in your retirement, you'll have to use a third party company like Strata.

So let's get right into my Strata Trust Company review.

What is the History of Strata Trust Company?

A wholly owned subsidiary or Horizon Bank, this firm was founded in 2008 and services clients who are looking to use self directed IRA accounts to hold alternative assets.

When I speak of alternative assets, I'm speaking about non-exchange traded investment options that you can add to your portfolio such as real estate investments, precious metals, or even investing in businesses.

Strata Trust Company Pro's

I dug deep into researching this firm before ultimately going another direction (Equity Trust Company) but I did find a lot to like about this company, including:

• Strong, reputable management team
• Values integrity and safety (regulated by the Texas Department of Banking)
• Firewalls, encryption technology, and multi-factor authentication ensure client data is secure
• Experience in all alternative assets
• Low fee structure
• Straight forward sign up and client onboarding process

Strata Trust Company Con's

In fairness, there are some things that I found lacking, including:

Lack of a Alternative and Traditional Assets

I'm a firm believer in the future of the blockchain and cryptocurrency is something I feel every investor should have some exposure to. There are not any cryptocurrency investing options currently available to trade.

Absence of an Individual 401 (k) option

There aren't any offerings of individual 401k investment options.

Strata Trust Company Services and Products Offered

While they do not offer 401k investing options, they do cater to most of the other retirement options such as:

• ROTH IRA's
• SEP IRA's
• Simple IRA's
• Traditional IRA's

These all allow various methods of tax advantaged growth in investments like futures, private debt, private equity, crowdfunding, real estate, precious metals like gold and silver, public investments, and structured settlements. These types of alternative investments help investors maximize their retirement goals by investing outside of the traditional stock market by offering a wide array of diversified assets.

When you start a self directed ira, you essentially choose your own path and fund non traditional investments at your own discretion. I've chosen to add real estate, cryptocurrency, and precious metals to my portfolio with this exact set-up.

Strata Trust Company Third Party Reviews

I also scanned the web to see what the client experience was like for actual customers.

The Better Business Bureau shows a rating of A+, which obviously says a lot about how investors feel about Strata.

Moving on to Trust Pilot, they have a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars for Strata.

I've also posted some of the Strata Trust Company reviews that stood out to me in the space below.

How to Get Started

Contact Strata to open an account and become your official custodian.

They will walk you through the account opening process as well as instruct you on your options to fund your account. A phone call is probably best to get the best insight as the team is knowledgable having a combined over 350 years working with investors on adding money to a self directed ira.

Should You Start a Self Directed IRA?

My website is for educational purposes and I like to help investors maximize how they can investing in alternative investments and achieve tax advantaged growth inside their retirement portfolio.

For transparency, I started a self directed ira in 2014 and it's been something helping me achieve my retirement goals. I'm up sharply on my precious metals investments and alternative investments like real estate in my IRA allow me to have a wide array of assets inside my account that a traditional retirement fund wouldn't allow me to do.

If you want any further insight on the process of setting up this IRA account, you can contact Strata Trust Company at the below information.

Name: Strata Trust Company
Address: 7901 Woodway Dr, Waco, TX 76712, USA
Phone: 866-928-9394
Fax: 512-495-9554

For more details, visit their official contact page