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- Phone : 1-866-447-6598
- URL :
- Global Rating
- Very Good
User Rating
- 0 No reviews yet!
Launched in 2009, uDirect IRA Services is based in Irvine, California. They offer all kinds of alternative assets for investment and are one of the most competitive IRA providers in America. The company offers easy-to-use online document submission.
Pros:
- Solid management team
- Lots of investment types
- Online document submission
Cons:
- No cryptocurrency offering
- Lots of terms and conditions related to fees
It’s always nice when we review an IRA provider that may be doesn’t have the same cachet as others on a national level, but surprises us with some great customer reviews and some pretty simple to understand offerings. uDirect IRA Services is one of those pleasant surprises.
The company’s website does a great job of explaining fees in a pretty straightforward manner. The customer reviews are generally positive. The ones specifically featured on the website TrustLink are particularly glowing.
uDirect IRA Services is clearly run by a small team but it doesn’t seem to matter. The organization still offers everything competitors do in a seemingly more personable way that keeps clients happy in the long run.
Being a self-directed IRA investor means taking control of one’s own wealth and having options that most large brokerages don’t offer. Many Americans have the hunger to go beyond stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other more traditional types of investment. uDirect IRA Services recognizes this and is able to give the people what they want on a consistent basis.
Feel free to check out this review of uDirect IRA Services along with the others that we have conducted and find the IRA provider that’s best for you!
The Management Team and Board of Directors of uDirect IRA Services
Kaaren Hall is the founder of uDirect IRA Services.
Kaaren Hall, Founder, uDirect IRA Services
Kaaren Hall, Founder, uDirect IRA Services
She’s a single mother with 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry and banking. She wanted to find a way to apply her experience to investing as a way to help people take control of their own retirement planning. She felt that her skills and property management in real estate would also be an asset to others.
Hall believes that not enough financial literacy is taught in schools, but it’s imperative to making us all more successful as investors. She estimates that only 4% of Americans have a self-directed IRA, which means everybody else’s trusting an institution or financial advisor and paying way too much and fees for what she deems to be mediocre results.
Apart from Hall, there are no other directors or employees listed on uDirect IRA Services’ website. It’s a bit strange but it seems the company might just be a smaller provider. Either way the rest of this review will show you how uDirect IRA Services stacks up against the competition.
Investing Account Type Options at uDirect IRA Services
uDirect IRA Services offers no less than seven different account types suitable for self-directed IRA investing:
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SEP IRA
- Simple IRA
- Spousal IRA
- Individual(k)
- IRA-Owned LLC
A Traditional IRA allows contributors to benefit from tax write offs during their contributing years. Gains in the account are tax-sheltered until retirement, where the retiree then pays income tax every year on withdrawals.
A Roth IRA is for higher income earners who don’t want to pay income tax once they retire. The trade-off is that they don’t get to except tax write offs during contributing years. This kind of account delays the tax advantages until retirement, but the savings can be very significant.
SEP and SIMPLE IRAs are for business owners with less than 100 employees. An individual (k) plan is also an option, though it’s not offered directly by most IRA competitors.
Let’s look at the fee schedule that goes along with all these accounts.
The Fee Schedule at uDirect IRA Services
Of all the fee schedules we have reviewed with regard to self-directed IRA companies and their accounts, uDirect IRA Services’ is probably the most straightforward that we have seen. There are three basic requirements for having an account with uDirect IRA Services:
- Maintain a minimum balance of $325 in your account.
- Pay a $50 setup fee.
- Pay a $275 annual fee.
Those are the basic fees for getting started. That being said, uDirect IRA Services does charge monthly fees for the storage of precious metals. That’s also based on the value of the assets being held. Those fees are between eight dollars and $15 per month depending on the type of precious metal being stored.
All of the other fees the uDirect IRA Services charges range between five dollars and $175 for things like generating checks, terminating accounts, wire transferring money etc.
Prospective clients who want the benefit of a simple and easy to understand fee structure will love going with uDirect IRA Services. It seems doing business with the company is very affordable.
With plenty of different account types available and fairly affordable fees, it would only make sense to see that uDirect IRA Services treats its customers fairly. Let’s take a look at how the company handles customer support and the reviews that uDirect IRA Services gets from its clients.
For reference, below is a chart of Other Fees that investors may incur with uDirect IRA Services taken directly from the company website:
Other Fees
| Service | Fee | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer Funds Within IRA (Can be included in 6 free life time transactions) | $25 | |||||||||||||||
| Termination of IRA, Partial (Either a rollover to another plan or a lump sum distribution) | $75 | |||||||||||||||
| Termination of IRA, Complete (Either a rollover to another plan or a lump sum distribution) | $175 | |||||||||||||||
| Roth Conversion/Re-characterization (For conversions done by uDirect) | $75 | |||||||||||||||
| Roth Re-characterization for conversions done at different custodian | $125 | |||||||||||||||
| Contributions/Dividends/Payment, for each receipt exceeding 12 per year (12 per year are free | $10 | |||||||||||||||
| Distribution / Withdrawal / Investments / Asset Acquisition / Miscellaneous (Can be included in 6 free life time transactions) | $35 | |||||||||||||||
| Distribution, Regular Retirement Stream, Each (Can be included in free, lifetime transactions) | $10 | |||||||||||||||
| Mail forwarding (charge for each piece of mail forwarded) | $5 | |||||||||||||||
| Overnight Courier Delivery, Letter Envelope (plus actual shipping costs) | $25 | |||||||||||||||
| Cashiers Check | $75 | |||||||||||||||
| Returned Check/Insufficient Funds | $35 | |||||||||||||||
| Stop Payment | $50 | |||||||||||||||
| Copy of sent or canceled checks | $15 | |||||||||||||||
| Change of account type | $50 | |||||||||||||||
| Reversal of fees for alternate payment method | $50 | |||||||||||||||
| Re-producing tax documents | $10 | |||||||||||||||
| Document Research or Production | $25 | |||||||||||||||
| Deposit Research | $25 | |||||||||||||||
| ACH Fee | $15 | |||||||||||||||
| Hourly Rate For Extraordinary Services | $150 | |||||||||||||||
| Wire Transfers – Outbound | $15 | |||||||||||||||
| Wire Transfers – Inbound | $15 | |||||||||||||||
| Document Review | $25 Min or $150 per hour | |||||||||||||||
Storage Fees
| ||||||||||||||||
| Handling Fees For In Kind Distribution Of Metals or other assets | $75 | |||||||||||||||
| Liquidation of Metals | $50 | |||||||||||||||
uDirect IRA Services: Investment Choices
Most self-directed IRA providers will bend over backwards to make sure clients are able to access the investment choices and vehicles they would like to. Of course there are certain kinds of vehicles that are not allowed by the IRS. This includes forming S-corporations, investing in collectibles like art or coins, or investing in life insurance policies.
Here’s a nice long list of all the investment vehicles uDirect IRA Services can readily support:
- Residential real estate
- Commercial real estate
- Undeveloped raw land
- Real Estate Investment Trusts
- Mortgages and deeds of trust
- Limited partnerships, companies and C-corporations
- Tax liens
- Oil and gas investments
- Private stock offerings/private placements
- Judgements/structured settlements
- Gold bullion
- Car paper
- Factoring investments
- Accounts Receivable
- Equipment leasing
Customer Support at uDirect IRA Services
uDirect IRA Services offers an option to chat live with somebody through text. That’s a good sign. Some providers don’t do this. The head office is located in Irvine, California and the main phone number is 1-714-831-1866 or toll free at 1-866-447-6598. The company can also be reached by email at info@uDirectIRA.com.
uDirect IRA Services Customer Reviews
uDirect IRA Services has been registered with the Better Business Bureau for 10 years and registered just two negative complaints. That said, nobody is love positive reviews on the website for the BBB’s five-star rating. Still the Better Business Bureau gives uDirect IRA Services an A+ rating for having dealt with the two complaints that are on the profile.
One review site that does give uDirect IRA Services a relatively glowing endorsement is Yelp. Out of 37 reviews, the company has earned a four out of five star rating which is very impressive. Yelp tends to put negative reviews at the forefront on profiles to force companies to pay for better exposure, so a four out of five rating is really good.
While the company is yelp profile is impressive, the best reviews come from the website TrustLink. 51 reviews on the website give the company an impressive 4.8 out of five star rating.
Based on these reviews overall, it seems like uDirect IRA Services is a great self-directed IRA provider to work with.
uDirect IRA Services Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about uDirect IRA Services.
Where is uDirect IRA Services’ Headquarters
As mentioned in the sections above, uDirect IRA Services is located at 8 Corporate Park #210 in Irvine, California. The zip code in 92606.
Can I Set Up an LLC With uDirect IRA Services?
Yes! Investors can set up an LLC with uDirect IRA Services. This allows the investor to have checkbook control over their account. It’s a very common desire for many self-directed investors. It basically opens up investing opportunities and allows for greater flexibility as far as the kinds of transactions that can take place.
Can I Open A Self-Directed IRA Online?
Yes you can. uDirect IRA Services offers the option to securely upload documents online to open an account as well as mailing it or showing up at the office in person to register your IRA. Opening an account with uDirect IRA Services is very convenient.
What Kinds of Investments are Not Allowed in an IRA?
Generally speaking, investors are not allowed to use their IRA to shelter profits from business operations from taxes. This means if you’re earning a recurring income from your account and finding ways to skirt taxes, you can get in trouble with the IRS. It’s for these reasons that the IRS doesn’t allow for things like investing in art or collectibles like coins. You also can’t create an S-corporation as a way to shelter you’re investing vehicles from taxes.
Should You Choose uDirect IRA Services for your Self-Directed IRA?
It’s kind of cool that a company with such great customer reviews would be headed by just one person. Karen Hall is clearly a fantastic leader that really cares about the company’s clients. Her background in her approach to structuring the investment options at uDirect IRA Services make the company very flexible in meeting the needs of clients.
Given the cumulative reviews are some of the best that we’ve seen, we have to rate uDirect IRA Services as one of the top IRA providers of all the ones we reviewed. Their name brand may not be as strong. The size of their staff may not be as evident, but at the end of the day it makes sense that the average self-directed IRA investor probably values a personal touch and one to one guidance in terms of being aware of what they can do with their account and how they can reach their retirement goals faster.
Before making the decision to commit to uDirect IRA Services as your IRA provider of choice, please do take a look at some of the other providers, like Provident Trust Group, we’ve reviewed. There are many solid options available regardless of your stage in life or what your current retirement planning goals may be.
- Phone : 1-866-447-6598
- URL :
- Global Rating
- Very Good
User Rating
- 0 No reviews yet!
Launched in 2009, uDirect IRA Services is based in Irvine, California. They offer all kinds of alternative assets for investment and are one of the most competitive IRA providers in America. The company offers easy-to-use online document submission.
