Last Updated on March 8, 2023 by George
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GoldStar Trust Company initially started issuing IRAs for clients in 1989. Custodianship and self-directed IRAs are two areas in which Goldstar positions itself as a leader.
According to the corporate website, they serve as trustees, escrow agents, and paying agents for their customers.
GoldStar Trust Company provides special investment and retirement planning options to people who want their IRA portfolios to be diversified beyond mutual funds, bonds, and equities.
34 workers of GoldStar Trust Company are listed on LinkedIn. However, it needs to be clarified how many employees work for them. The executive team that supports the workers is led by three separate people.
As we proceed through our research, potential investors will see that GoldStar Trust Company focuses on many of the same areas as different IRA competitors do but that GoldStar Trust Company needs to be more well-known.
However, the GoldStar Trust Company offers a distinctive value offering. It serves as the trustee for a 1990 acquisition of a six-employee local bank.
Before we begin this evaluation:
We know how challenging it is to choose a business you can entrust with your hard-earned savings. To offer you as much data as we can so that you can make the best decision, we produce informative and practical material.
To make comparing and selecting the company most suited to your needs as simple as possible, we’ve compiled a list of our highest-rated investment firms.
In charge of the GoldStar Trust Company are three vice presidents. Dave Schnierle, a senior vice president of business development. Matt Peakes, a vice president of business development; and John Johnson, the other senior vice president of business development.
Through real estate investments and self-directed IRAs, they have all gained experience working with various alternative investing forms.
As one of the smaller IRA providers in the nation, GoldStar Trust Company only has a small staff of executives and workers. They need to match up with the bigger businesses that we review.
However, the executive team at GoldStar Trust Company takes great pride in providing its clients with individualized services, as many small providers do.
Investing Account Types Provided by GoldStar Trust Company
GoldStar Trust Company offers investors four different kinds of self-directed IRA accounts along with a wide range of investment alternatives. Let’s first talk about the various account types:
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SEP IRA
- Simple IRA
GoldStar Trust Company Traditional IRAs
The Traditional IRAs offered by GoldStar Trust Company, like all Traditional IRAs, enable investors to delay taxable income until retirement, provided they are 59 1/2 years of age or older when they withdraw the funds.
GoldStar Trust Company Roth IRAs
Investors who think they’ll be wealthy when they retire should choose a Roth IRA. When they are still employed, those who contribute to Roth IRAs are not allowed to deduct their contributions from their income taxes.
Individuals who take money from their Roth IRA after retiring are exempt from paying taxes.
GoldStar Trust Company SEP IRAs
Employers can make retirement contributions on behalf of their employees through a GoldStar Trust Company Simplified Employee Pension. There is a clear advantage for employers, who can deduct their contribution as a business expense.
Consideration must be given to all terms and restrictions, including the 10% fee for early withdrawals. However, the GoldStar Trust Company does not impose this, and the IRS has implemented the fines.
GoldStar Trust Company Simple IRA
Employees with 100 or fewer employees may provide simple IRAs. The contributions that employers make to their employees’ pension accounts are deductible.
Additionally, employees can make a maximum $13,500 contribution to their plans in 2020.
Simple IRAs adhere to traditional IRA regulations so that contributors may deduct contributions. Taxes are also delayed until the money is withdrawn.
IRA Investing Options from GoldStar Trust Company
Including all other self-directed IRA providers, GoldStar Trust Company strives to provide a wide range of alternatives to conventional securities like mutual funds, bonds, and stocks. Here is a list of everything the business offers:
- Secured Promissory Notes
- Bank Certificates of Deposit
- Mutual Funds and Money Market
- Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
- Structured Cash Flows
- Secondary Market Annuities
- Extension Funds and Church Loans
- Charter School Boards
- Perth Mint Certificates
Many of the choices in the list above are not necessarily endorsed by other IRA firms, such as the idea of receiving a return by giving to charities or charter schools.
GoldStar Trust Company attempts to offer a wide variety of alternative or exotic solutions to differentiate itself from other competitors. The company’s decision not to advertise standard residential and commercial real estate sales is startling.
However, at the bottom of their sales page, they advise customers to contact their investor services department to learn more about the possibilities available for including certain IRA investments if they are interested in putting their money in items not currently mentioned on the website.
This is a unique method of providing customer assistance. This is a plus for GoldStar Trust Company in terms of prioritizing their clients.
Why Put Gold in Your IRA?
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) safeguard your retirement and your family’s financial stability.
You can save money in these particular accounts that are tax-sheltered for future usage.
In order to have a secure and worry-free retirement, it is crucial to invest a sizeable amount of these long-term accounts in stable and strong assets.
Cash in an IRA is possible, but it depreciates quickly, and inflation is out of control.
Gold is the only asset suitable for this because it is reliable, holds its value, and even grows.
Uncertainty is at an all-time high as the global economy struggles as a result of lockdowns, shortages, conflicts, and inflation, and investors are defending themselves by putting physical gold in IRAs.
These economic crises, which have a negative impact on the majority of other assets, benefit investments in gold.
Risk is not taking action to safeguard yourself and your family against economic threats despite being aware of them.
Safety means understanding the risks to your financial future and taking steps to safeguard it. With a Gold IRA, this is simple to do.
IRA Fees from The GoldStar Trust Company
The GoldStar Trust Company has a detailed fee schedule that is available online.
The establishment and maintenance fees for mutual funds, money market funds, and other publicly traded traditional securities are $25 initially and $65 annually.
In addition to brokerage fees, the company charges a $25 trading fee and a $50 annual hedge fund asset holding fee. Despite the wide range of prices, they are all comparably inexpensive to their rivals.
When investing in conventional assets with smaller IRA providers, paying $100 to $200 in annual fees is not unusual.
When the fees start to fluctuate, GoldStar Trust Company adopts a particular strategy for the costs it levies on non-traditional transactions. Here is a brief summary of how they distribute costs among different alternative asset types:
Real Estate
The GoldStar Trust Company’s real estate costs consist of an initial account setup fee and yearly maintenance fees based on the value of the real estate held in an IRA account.
For their initial setup fee, they demand $50. The yearly maintenance cost for residences under $200,000 starts at $200.
On investments over $200,000, the annual maintenance cost is $300. GoldStar Trust Company furthermore levies a $100 fee for the purchase or sale of real estate.
Any documents requiring additional scrutiny or expedited processing will incur an additional administrative-legal fee of $50 to $100.
Precious Metals
An IRA for precious food investing requires a $50 establishment fee. The maximum yearly maintenance charge for accounts with a value of $100,000 or less is $275. Additionally, the business levies a minimum depository storage cost of $100.
To exchange, sell, or purchase assets within the account, there are no expenses. Every distribution of precious metals comes with a $40 fee in addition to shipping fees.
Perth Mint Certificates
Perth Mint Certificates come with a $50 one-time setup charge. The account will be charged a $40 fee for trades or sales of assets, a $75 annual account maintenance cost, and a $150 annual asset holding fee as additional fees.
Annuities and Bank Accounts Located Outside of the United States
Owners may deposit money with GoldStar Trust Company into accounts outside the United States, where the assets or money can be held in an IRA account.
They charge up to $275 per year for the service based on the account’s value and $50 to $75 to surrender annuities or sell assets.
Church Bonds and Church Loans
Investors can invest in church bonds and loans through IRAs offered by GoldStar Trust Company.
As far as we know, no other self-directed IRA offers advertise this particular investment. GoldStar Trust Company charges an annual flat fee of $45 to maintain this investment.
Account maintenance or closure fees of $25 to $50 are further assessed for any transfers or in-kind adjustments.
GoldStar Trust Company Support and Customer Service
The GoldStar Trust Company’s customer care department is open from 7 AM to 5 PM CST. Call them at 1-800-486-6888 to reach them toll-free. The company’s email address is [email protected].
Customer Reviews at GoldStar Trust Company
GoldStar Trust Company is not formally certified by the Better Business Bureau, and it does, however, continue to hold an A+ grade.
It is unfortunately impossible to tell what customers who do business with the firm think of them because it seems like the company receives few online customer reviews.
However, according to their Google business page, the company only receives 1.9 out of 5 stars from its 17 customers.
Should GoldStar Trust Company IRA Be Chosen for your Self-Directed IRA?
The fact that GoldStar Trust Company is quite transparent about their fees may be the best argument for choosing them.
Many of their rivals’ websites do not prominently list their fees.
When they do, typically, only a basic version is displayed.
Each fee that GoldStar Trust Company assesses for all potential investments is disclosed on its website, and investment firms rarely disclose their fees with such frankness.
The company has a smaller market share than many of its rivals, which is a drawback of working with GoldStar Trust Company.
Compared to other companies, the company has fewer publicly accessible customer evaluations, and the majority of those reviews are unfavorable.
GoldStar Trust Company still has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau despite having a bad Google business profile.
In general, investors should compare options with a few different small IRA providers before deciding.
From an investor’s perspective, GoldStar Trust Company advertises church loans and annuities, which are unique and cannot be found anywhere else. If you are interested in these particular forms of investments, it might be beneficial to invest with them.
FAQs for GoldStar Trust Company
Where is the Head Office of GoldStar Trust Company Located?
Canyon, Texas serves as GoldStar Trust Company’s headquarters.
Which types of retirement funds are transferable to an IRA through GoldStar Trust Company?
Investors with GoldStar Trust Company have access to the following several account types:
- Simple IRA
- SEP IRA
- Roth IRA
- Traditional IRA
Possession of the Assets in My IRA Is It Possible?
GoldStar Trust Company does not provide this service, even though some IRA providers let investors manage their money using a limited liability business.
No matter how investors hold retirement-related assets in their homes, the IRS wants to take action against them. GoldStar Trust Company does not permit this.
Is a Property Manager Required to Invest in Real Estate?
GoldStar Trust Company mandates that IRA account real estate investors engage with a property manager.
Property managers must formally enter into a contract with GoldStar Trust firm in order to be recognized as property managers and to receive any gains to which they may be entitled.
Numerous frequently asked concerns are addressed on the website of GoldStar Trust Company. Most of them have to do with legal issues related to investing in real estate.
Pros 
- For more than 30 years in business
- Provides a large selection of alternative investments
- Is in charge of $2 billion in assets
Cons 
- Poor customer feedback scores
- Fees rise as the value of the account rises.
Final Thoughts – Gold Star Trust Company Review
5-20% of retirement portfolios should be made up of precious metals, according to the majority of financial experts. That accomplishes two key tasks:
Increases the value of your retirement assets in the event of a slump or recession and 2. protects against inflation.
As a result, you must exercise extreme caution while investing in this small piece of your retirement portfolio’s larger picture.
There are numerous possibilities available to you for a custodian if you wish to invest in precious metals or some other alternatives.
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