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- Phone : 1-888-322-6534
- URL :
- Global Rating
- Very Good
User Rating
- 0 No reviews yet!
IRA Resources launched in 2006 with the goal of giving self-direct IRA investors plenty of options for building their long term wealth. The company carries with it a strong executive team that can give you the right advice and guidance from the sales floor right on up to the top.
Pros:
- Long-standing reputation
- Many great account options
- Experienced executive team
Cons:
- LLCs discouraged
- Customer service doesn’t offer live chat
- Google reviews are low quality
IRA Resources says their mission is to help people build wealth for retirement through alternative investments at a lower cost. They accomplish this through the products and services they offer and they stack up well against other IRA providers, like New Generation Trust Company. IRA Resources does offer checkbook control and limited liability corporation registration as an option for investing and being able to withdraw from the account of your choice.
Unlike other companies, IRA Resources was actually founded by a woman. The organization runs its own trust company and believes in developing a corporate culture of growth and stability. Those are the secrets to success for IRA Resources and the reason the company manages over $1 billion in assets today.
Throughout this review we’ll explore a plethora of products and services that IRA Resources has to offer and tell you whether it’s a good provider to use for your long-term retirement planning needs. Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
The Founders and Management Team of IRA Resources
Liane Bathey is the founder of IRA Resources. Prior to launching the company, she was involved in a land syndication business. Bathey noticed that many of the clients were using their IRA is to invest in real estate so that they could realize potential gains and also get the tax benefit of write-offs. She saw an opportunity.
Liane Bathey, Founder, IRA Resources
Liane Bathey, Founder, IRA Resources
She got to know the clientele really well and when the company’s IRA custodian went into receivership, clients found themselves without options. That’s when Bathey decided to step up her own company. To help all of those investors left behind and give them a new choice. She started the journey in 1996 and obviously the company is still going strong.
Jason Craig, President, IRA Resources
Jason Craig, President, IRA Resources
Bathey is supported by Jason Craig, company President. He’s been working in finance for over 20 years and specifically working with investment retirement accounts for 10. He is a native of San Francisco and has prior experience managing over $200 million in investments.
Yvonne Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer, IRA Resources
Yvonne Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer, IRA Resources
Yvonne Garcia is the Chief Marketing Officer of IRA Resources. She has over 13 years of experience in marketing and branding. She is responsible for overseeing the company’s online presence and hails from Nicaragua.
Nicolas Acosta, Senior Operations Manager, IRA Resources
Nicolas Acosta, Senior Operations Manager, IRA Resources
Nicolas Acosta is the Senior Operations Manager. He’s been working his way up with the company for several years now.
IRA Resources and Investing Account Types
IRA Resources definitely focuses on serving a small group of investors with very specific needs. While ultimately the company is specializing in offering alternative investment opportunities, IRA Resources doesn’t offer nearly as many account types as other competitors. Still, that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth choosing the company over others. Here are the account types worth considering.
Traditional IRAs
IRA Resources’ traditional IRA account offers tax-deferred savings just like any other traditional IRA. This means you get to write off contributions while you’re contributing and you pay taxes when you’re ready to withdraw. Withdraws before the age of 59 ½ are subject to a penalty. Remember that IRA accounts are really just placeholders for investments. The accounts themselves have rules and regulations that need to be followed, and the different account types merely offer slightly different rules.
Roth IRA
A Roth IRA offers the opposite benefit to a traditional IRA. Investors don’t get to write off their contributions while they are working, but once they retire they get their balance tax-free. Somebody who wants to use a Roth IRA to their advantage has to meet certain income requirements. Not everybody can have a Roth IRA.
IRAs for Small Businesses
IRA Resources offers both the SEP and SIMPLE IRA accounts for companies and self-employed individuals as well. The SEP is for employees, employers and the self-employed investing together. The SIMPLE IRA is designed for employers managing 100 or fewer employees that want to match contributions and benefit from those contributions at tax time.
IRA Resources Fees
There are three different and distinct ways IRA companies charge fees to their clients. It’s how they make money after all. While some IRA providers charge set monthly or annual maintenance fees and others charge a percentage based on the overall value of the account, IRA Resources charges based on the number of assets a client has in their account. Take a look at the chart below to get the full list of all the fees.
Minimum Record Keeping Fee (fee includes your cash account and one asset) Example: An account with one asset is billed $99.50 semi-annually | $199 |
Additional Asset (each per year) Example: An account with two assets is billed $137.00 semi-annually | $75 |
Account Transaction Fees (buy / sell of asset) | |
| $50 | |
| $175 | |
| Account Termination Fees | |
| Full Termination* | $250 |
Other Transaction Fees
ACH transfers, incoming, and outgoing | $0 |
Wire transfers, per item, incoming and outgoing | $30 |
| Overnight delivery via FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc. | $30 |
| Checks (per check) | $7 |
Cashier’s or other official bank check | $30 |
| Special services (i.e. research of closed assets or accounts, legal research, or special handling of transactions) | $100 |
| Returned items of any kind and stop payments (per item) | $30 |
Reprocessing of incomplete documents (per item) (additional fees may apply) | $25 |
Notary service (per document) | $15 |
| Re-registration of assets* | $50 |
In-kind distributions* (per item) | $100 |
Transfer / convert existing assets (per asset) | $50 |
Partial Transfer Out* (per transfer) | $25 |
Notice that IRA Resources has a minimum record-keeping fee of $199. This is akin to that of a setup fee, but the company gives the investor a cash account plus one asset for that fee. The fee is divided into two equal payments charged twice per year.
After paying this initial setup fee, investors pay $75 per year for each additional asset they invest in. Those with a well-diversified portfolio who have five assets in their account will pay $325 in annual fees. Depending on the actual financial value of those accounts, that can be a little or a lot.
IRA Resources Investing Options
Like many other IRA providers specializing in alternative asset investments, IRA Resources focuses a lot of its offerings on real estate, promissory notes, lending deals, private placements, private stock, LLCs, and real estate investment trusts. Since most of their clients are interested in real estate let’s dive deeper into that realm. Here are the different kinds of real estate that IRA Resources’ clients can choose from:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Duplex
- International
- Beachfront property
- Land
- Mortgages
The above options give investors every opportunity under the sun to be involved in the real estate market one way or another. That said, aside from what’s listed above, there are a few other options investors can consider.
Other IRA Resources Investing Options
Here are some of the other assets investors can hold in a IRA Resources:
- Tax lien certificates
- Energy
- Oil & gas
- Secured and unsecured notes
- Building bonds
- Accounts receivable financing
- Life settlements
- Joint ventures
Between this list and the one in the section above, as you can see investors have plenty of options.
Customer Support at IRA Resources
IRA Resources has a toll-free phone number where clients and prospects can reach out to learn more about the company and its offerings. That phone number is 1-888-322-6534. The company keeps its office open until 4:30 PM Pacific Standard Time Monday through Thursday and stays open until 3PM on Fridays. There is no live chat option at IRA Resources.
IRA Resources Customer Reviews
If there’s one thing is plainly obvious about IRA Resources it’s that the company doesn’t really monitor its Google business page. How do we know? It’s because the company only has one review and it’s a negative review. It’s a rating of two out of five stars. That’s not a good look.
The company also has a one star review rating on a website called the sitejabber.com. If there is a silver lining in either one of these ratings it’s that the company is maintaining an A+ rating through the Better Business Bureau. It’s been registered through the BBB since 1999 and only had to deal with two customer complaints. That’s a really good track record!
There is certainly room for improvement on behalf of IRA Resources when it comes to addressing customer concerns, but overall the BBB rating counts for a lot so we will give IRA Resources a pass.
Next Generation Trust Company appears to be active as of Q4 2023, with new blog posts being added to the company’s blog website in December 2023. The company is also actively posting on their corporate LinkedIn profile as well as their Instagram account.
Frequently Asked Questions about IRA Resources
IRA Resources offers a thorough frequently asked questions section on the company website. Below are the top questions:
Where is IRA Resources Headquarters?
IRA Resources’ head office is located in La Jolla, California at 6825 La Jolla Boulevard.
What Does IRA Resources Do with Undirected Funds?
IRA Resources keeps cash in the clients IRA account if it is not invested. The money itself is insured by the FDIC. The insurance covers a maximum of $250,000, so anybody with more in their account than that may want to look for third-party insurance or secure the money in an actual investment.
What Investments are prohibited in a IRA Resources IRA?
IRA Resources allows LLC and check book-style IRA investing. That said, the company is legally obligated NOT to accept collectibles, life insurance policies or S-corporations as valid investment types.
What is a Disqualified Person?
A disqualified person is someone who is not eligible to deal with an IRA account. The IRS for example does not allow investors to be involved with family members, service providers where stakeholders receive direct or indirect compensation for being involved with the IRA, entities, officers or directors. These are rules outlined by the IRS, they don’t just apply to IRA Resources.
What Happens If I Need To Withdraw In An Emergency?
Anybody who takes money out of an IRA before the age of 59 ½ is subject to a 10% penalty. Qualified home buyers looking to buy their first property can withdraw without a penalty, but those situations are judged on a case-by-case basis. For more information take a look at the IRS Code regarding emergency withdrawals.
What is the Best Retirement Plan for Me?
It’s difficult to answer this question in a broad sense of course. It really comes down to individual needs. Consider your age, whether or not you run a company or a business, how often and how much you can regularly contribute to your IRA, when you want to retire and what your current income and tax situation is like in order to determine which kind of IRA is best for you.
Should You Choose IRA Resources for your Self-Directed IRA?
Usually customer ratings and reviews and review articles like this when I the first place investors look to before they decide who to choose as their provider for a new investing opportunity, whether it’s IRA investing for retirement or other forms of investing for different kinds of goals. IRA Resources is definitely one of the smaller providers, perhaps lesser-known, but they do well where it counts.
Yes, the company has negative reviews on two different review websites that we found, but it still does well with the Better Business Bureau, very well in fact.
As far as offering to go, IRA Resources competes side-by-side among many other smaller IRA providers, but it seems like the small executive team is committed to their mission and they legitimately founded the company as a way to fill a gap that many of their former clients were experiencing under a bigger brand name. That at least shows that the executive team at IRA Resources really cares.
Ultimately anybody looking to be self-directed wants to answer key questions about what their future is going to look like and IRA Resources makes itself just as available as any other provider when it comes to helping you plan for your golden years.
We would rate IRA Resources in the middle of the pack among the other IRA providers we have reviewed, and it might be the best for you depending on your individual circumstances. Continue to do your research and look at more reviews.
- Phone : 1-888-322-6534
- URL :
- Global Rating
- Very Good
User Rating
- 0 No reviews yet!
IRA Resources launched in 2006 with the goal of giving self-direct IRA investors plenty of options for building their long term wealth. The company carries with it a strong executive team that can give you the right advice and guidance from the sales floor right on up to the top.
