STRATA Trust Company Gold IRA Review
Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through links on this page. The commission has no effect on what you pay or on what we publish. We are not a financial or tax advisor; consult a licensed advisor for your situation. Last reviewed July 2026.
Short on time? The essentials
- Corporate identity per stratatrust.com structured data: STRATA Trust Company, 901 S MoPac Expy #100, Austin, TX 78746, phone (866) 928-9394.
- Charter: Texas-chartered trust company regulated by the Texas Department of Banking; founding location Waco, TX; parent per site metadata is Horizon Bank, SSB.
- History: business established in 2008 as Self Directed IRA Services, Inc.; rebrand to STRATA Trust Company in 2017; assets under custody crossed 1 billion in 2014 per site timeline.
- Reported scale on stratatrust.com in July 2026: 48,000-plus investors, 10 billion in assets under custody, 350-plus years of collective staff experience.
- Precious Metals tier fee schedule: 125 dollars annual account fee, plus 100 dollars commingled or 175 dollars segregated storage; 40 dollars per metals buy or sell; 35 dollars depository handling.
- Role: directed (passive) custodian only. STRATA does not sell coins, endorse dealers, or set premiums. Dealer pricing and depository selection remain the reader's job.
On this page
- What STRATA Trust Company actually is
- The directed custodian role, in plain terms
- The Texas charter and what it means
- History, ownership, and the Waco origin
- Reported scale as published by STRATA
- STRATA fees for a precious metals gold IRA
- Precious Metals tier, Basic tier, or Flex tier
- Storage options paired with STRATA
- Pairing STRATA with the Texas Bullion Depository
- How to open a STRATA gold IRA through a dealer
- Worked example: fee drag on a Texas rollover
- Balanced pros and cons
- When STRATA is a bad idea for you
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
What STRATA Trust Company actually is
STRATA Trust Company is a self-directed IRA custodian. It holds legal title to IRA assets on behalf of the account owner, executes buy and sell instructions the owner signs, and files the annual tax paperwork with the IRS. STRATA does not sell coins, market gold products, or set dealer premiums.
The corporate address published in the stratatrust.com structured data is 901 S MoPac Expressway, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78746. The main phone line listed in that same public source is (866) 928-9394. The founding location on file is Waco, Texas, and the founder listed is Horizon Bank, SSB.
STRATA also custodies non-metals alternative assets, including real estate, private equity, private debt, and public investments. The precious metals IRA piece is one of several product lines. The trust company itself is the same across all lines; only the fee tier changes with the asset mix.
The directed custodian role, in plain terms
STRATA describes itself as a directed (passive) custodian. Its disclosure text states plainly that STRATA "does not provide due diligence" on investments, platforms, sponsors, dealers, or service providers. The footer also says STRATA does not sell or endorse any investment (source: stratatrust.com disclosure footer, checked July 2026).
What this means in practice is that STRATA processes what you sign. It opens the IRA, receives your rollover money, and executes the buy order when you send it in. It does not police the coin premium, does not underwrite the dealer, and does not check whether the price you paid was fair against spot.
This division of labor is why the custodian question and the dealer question are separate. STRATA can be an efficient custodian while the dealer paired with your account still charges a rich premium. The two decisions deserve their own scrutiny.
Under 26 U.S.C. section 408(a)(2), an IRA can only be custodied by a bank, a federally insured credit union, a state-chartered trust company, or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. STRATA is a state-chartered trust company under this rule (source: cornell.edu/uscode/408, checked July 2026).
The Texas charter and what it means
STRATA states on its About page that it is a "Texas-chartered trust company" regulated by the Texas Department of Banking, with independent audits and a compliance framework (source: stratatrust.com About page, checked July 2026). The Texas Department of Banking is the state agency that supervises trust companies chartered under Texas law.
Texas-chartered trust companies operate under the Texas Finance Code, and they are subject to periodic examinations by the Texas Department of Banking (source: dob.texas.gov, checked July 2026). Capital rules, fiduciary conduct standards, and reporting duties are set at the state level.
For a Texas reader, having a Texas-chartered custodian is not required to hold a valid IRA. Out-of-state trust companies serve Texas residents every day. What the Texas charter provides is a state-level supervisory relationship that sits geographically close to the customer, if that comfort matters to the reader.
Separately, Texas has no state personal income tax on wages or on retirement account distributions (source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). That means the federal ordinary income treatment is the complete tax picture on a distribution from a STRATA IRA held by a Texas resident.
History, ownership, and the Waco origin
The company timeline published on stratatrust.com traces the business back to 2008. In that year, Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. was established, with Horizon Bank, SSB listed as the founder in the site's structured data. The founding location was Waco, Texas.
The website timeline lists a 2010 launch of institutional IRA services for investment platforms and advisors. Assets under custody are noted to have exceeded 1 billion in 2014. The Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. business rebranded as STRATA Trust Company in 2017, per the same timeline.
Later milestones on the same page list ServiceNOW form technology in 2017 and 3 billion in assets under custody in 2021. The 2025 entry reports 7 billion-plus in AUC (source: stratatrust.com About page, timeline block, checked July 2026). These are self-reported milestones captured at the time we read the page.
Horizon Bank, SSB is a Texas-domiciled state savings bank. Its name appears in STRATA's public structured data as the founder of the trust company. Ownership arrangements at trust companies can change over time; readers who want the current control structure on the record should ask STRATA directly for the current organizational chart in writing.
Reported scale as published by STRATA
The stratatrust.com homepage carries three scale figures at the top of the page. STRATA reports 48,000-plus investors served, 10 billion-plus in assets under custody, and 350-plus years of collective staff experience (source: stratatrust.com homepage, checked July 2026). These are self-reported and were captured from the live site when this review was written.
The About page adds two operational statistics. STRATA writes that 95 percent of investment transactions are processed within 24 hours, with 24 to 48 hours as the typical processing window. It also states that 70 percent of staff sit in client-facing roles, with an average phone wait time under 1 minute (source: stratatrust.com About page, checked July 2026).
Scale numbers on custody platforms move quarter to quarter. Treat these as the point-in-time snapshot the website carried when we read it. Operational maturity is a fair inference from the number of forms and tax filings processed each year; it does not certify pricing on any specific dealer purchase.
STRATA fees for a precious metals gold IRA
STRATA publishes a full fee schedule at stratatrust.com/fees/, organized in three account tiers plus a common processing and service block. The Precious Metals tier is designed for a metals-only IRA. The Basic tier supports public securities with an optional metals sleeve. The Flex tier opens the door to real estate, private equity, and other private assets alongside metals.
Annual account fees are not prorated. They are charged at account opening and then due each year on the account opening anniversary. If the account holds precious metals, an annual storage fee applies on top of the account fee. Storage runs 100 dollars per year for commingled or 175 dollars per year for segregated (source: stratatrust.com fee schedule, checked June 2026).
| Fee line | Amount | How it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Precious Metals tier annual account fee | $125 | Annual, not prorated, due each account-opening anniversary. |
| Basic tier annual account fee | $150 | Public securities focus; can hold metals; same storage-fee stack applies. |
| Flex tier annual account fee | $350 | Adds real estate, private equity, and private debt to the mix; asset-holding fees cap at 10 holdings. |
| Commingled precious metals storage | $100 / year | Standard depository storage; pooled inventory. |
| Segregated precious metals storage | $175 / year | Applies to gold, platinum, and palladium; some depository exceptions apply. |
| Account setup | $50 (waived for electronic) | One-time at account opening; waived when the application is submitted electronically. |
| Metals purchase, sale, or exchange | $40 per transaction | Applies each time the custodian processes a metals order. |
| Depository handling and processing | $35 per transaction | Custodian-side fee on the depository leg of the order. |
| Precious metals shipping | $10 + depository cost | Applies on in-kind distributions or on shipping between depositories. |
| Outgoing wire | $35 | Applies to each outgoing wire request. |
| Partial transfer out | $100 (waived for Flex) | Charged when a partial balance moves to another custodian. |
| Account closure | $250 | Full termination fee at close. |
| Distribution in-kind or reinstatement | $75 per asset | Applies when metal is shipped out of the depository to the owner in kind. |
| Roth conversion or recharacterization | $50 per asset | Charged per asset moved during a conversion event. |
| Corrected 5498 or 1099-R | $100 | Applies when a corrected IRS tax form is issued. |
| Late fee | $50 (30 days after invoice) | One-time charge if the annual fee is not paid within 30 days of the invoice date. |
Source: STRATA Trust Company fee schedule at stratatrust.com/fees/, checked June 2026. Fees are subject to change; verify the current schedule on the STRATA site before opening an account.
The fee stack is worth reading twice. The two recurring items every metals holder pays are the annual account fee and the annual storage fee. Everything else is event-driven. If you make no trades in a year, the transaction fees are zero. If you leave the account open and do nothing, the base carrying cost is the sum of those two annual lines.
Precious Metals tier, Basic tier, or Flex tier
The three-tier structure is one of the more distinctive parts of the STRATA fee schedule. Most metals-only readers land on the Precious Metals tier because the annual account fee is the lowest at 125 dollars. The Basic tier is 150 dollars, and the Flex tier is 350 dollars.
The Precious Metals tier is limited to IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion, held at a depository. If you also want to hold stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds alongside metals, the Basic tier keeps that door open at a small premium. The Flex tier only earns its higher fee when the reader wants private assets like real estate.
Picking the right tier at open is worth thinking about before the intake form is signed. Moving between tiers later is not free, and account closure carries a 250-dollar termination fee. Reader intent matters more than what the dealer defaults to on their form.
Worked example
Consider a Fort Worth resident, age 62, who rolls 100,000 dollars from a former employer 401(k) into a STRATA IRA and buys IRA-eligible gold coins with commingled storage. The Precious Metals tier account fee is 125 dollars per year, and commingled storage is 100 dollars per year.
The annual carrying cost is 125 plus 100, or 225 dollars total. Divided into the 100,000-dollar balance, that is 0.23 percent per year. That figure does not include the one-time setup fee (waived for electronic), the 40-dollar transaction fee on the buy, the 35-dollar depository handling fee, or any dealer premium on the coins themselves.
For the same reader with 250,000 dollars rolled in, the recurring carrying cost is still 225 dollars total, which lands at 0.09 percent per year. The absolute dollar cost is fixed under the Precious Metals tier, so the percentage fee drag shrinks as balance grows. This is a feature of flat-fee custody, not a promise about the metal's own price.
Estimate the annual fee drag on your own balance
Use the calculator below to enter your planned rollover balance and see the estimated STRATA annual carrying cost and fee drag as a percentage. The result is illustrative and rounds to the nearest dollar. Verify current fees at stratatrust.com/fees/ before you sign.
Texas gold IRA fee-drag calculator
Texas gold IRAs charge mostly flat dollar fees (setup, annual custodian, storage). Flat fees take a much bigger bite out of a small account than a large one. Enter your numbers to see the drag.
Estimate only. Fee amounts vary by provider and are often not published; enter figures you confirm in writing. This tool ignores metal price changes and the dealer spread, which also affect returns. Not financial advice.
Picking a company that explains every fee up front is the first step. Get the free gold IRA company checklist.
Storage options paired with STRATA
STRATA does not physically hold IRA metal itself. The trust company holds legal title to the account; the physical bars or coins are held at an IRS-approved third-party depository chosen at intake. STRATA works with several U.S. depositories, and the specific depository is named on the buy instruction you sign.
Depositories commonly named on dealer paperwork paired with STRATA include Delaware Depository in Wilmington, International Depository Services (IDS) with a Texas vault in Irving, and Brinks Global Services with multiple U.S. sites. Some dealers also route to the state-owned Texas Bullion Depository in Leander for Texas residents who ask for in-state storage.
Storage segregation matters at intake. Segregated storage means your specific bars or coins sit under your name and you get back the exact pieces you shipped in. Commingled storage means you own a claim on like-kind metal from a pooled inventory. Under STRATA fees, segregated is 175 dollars per year and commingled is 100 dollars per year (source: stratatrust.com fee schedule, checked June 2026).
| Depository | Vault site | Note for a Texas reader |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware Depository | Wilmington, Delaware | Out of state; segregated and commingled storage both available. |
| International Depository Services (IDS) | Irving, Texas (Dallas County) | Private commercial vault inside Texas borders; not state-owned. |
| Brinks Global Services | Multiple U.S. sites | Ask specifically which vault your metal will occupy under STRATA paperwork. |
| Texas Bullion Depository (TxBD) | Leander, Texas (Williamson County) | State-owned; operated by Lone Star Tangible Assets; holds IRA metal; ask the dealer whether the STRATA paperwork routes to TxBD. |
Source: STRATA disclosure text plus dealer paperwork that names STRATA as the custodian. Confirm the specific depository for your account before signing the buy instruction. Depository lineups can change.
Pairing STRATA with the Texas Bullion Depository
The Texas Bullion Depository (TxBD) is an agency of the State of Texas. It sits in Leander, north of Austin, and is the only state-administered and state-audited precious metals depository in the United States. The depository was established by law signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 12, 2015, and has been operated since 2017 by Lone Star Tangible Assets (LSTA) as the vendor.
For a Texas reader who wants the custodian, the depository, and the metal all inside Texas, the combination of STRATA (Austin) plus TxBD (Leander) plus IRA-eligible bullion is a fully in-state configuration. This is not required for a valid IRA, and it does not change the federal tax treatment.
Not every dealer pipes STRATA paperwork to the Texas Bullion Depository by default. Ask the dealer specifically whether TxBD is available as the named depository on the STRATA buy instruction, and get the answer in writing before you sign. Storage fees at TxBD are billed by the depository, not by STRATA, and they can differ from the STRATA-listed storage numbers.
The Texas advantage on the tax side is straightforward and honest. Texas has no state personal income tax. A distribution from a STRATA IRA at retirement is taxed at the federal ordinary income rate only, with no Texas state income tax layered on top (source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). Consult your tax advisor on your specific situation.
How to open a STRATA gold IRA through a dealer
The typical intake path for a STRATA gold IRA runs through a precious metals dealer that names STRATA as the trustee of record on its account paperwork. The following steps describe what happens between signing the intake form and seeing metal show up on your first statement.
- Choose your account tier and IRA type. Metals-only readers usually select the Precious Metals tier. Choose Traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE. The tier and IRA type determine your annual fee stack.
- Complete the electronic application. STRATA's online application collects identity information, beneficiary designations, and the funding source. Submitting electronically waives the 50-dollar setup fee per the current fee schedule.
- Fund the account by rollover, transfer, or contribution. A rollover from a former 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or an existing IRA can move directly to STRATA. Direct trustee-to-trustee movement avoids the 60-day rollover risk under IRC section 402.
- Send the signed buy instruction. Once funds are in cash inside the IRA, you sign a buy instruction naming the dealer, the coins or bars, the price, and the depository. STRATA does not select any of these for you.
- STRATA executes the wire to the dealer. The trust company wires funds and the dealer ships the approved metal to the named depository. Per STRATA, 95 percent of transactions are processed within 24 hours, with a 24-to-48-hour published window.
- Depository confirms receipt. The depository confirms receipt of the metal to STRATA and to you. That is the moment the account holds physical metal rather than cash.
- Review the annual statements and Form 5498. STRATA issues account statements and files Form 5498 with the IRS each May to report the account value. Form 1099-R follows in January of the year after any distribution.
Worked example: fee drag on a Texas rollover
Consider a 63-year-old former teacher in Austin who rolls 150,000 dollars from a former employer 403(b) into a STRATA Precious Metals tier IRA and buys IRA-eligible American Gold Eagles with commingled storage. Setup is submitted electronically so the 50-dollar setup fee is waived.
The first-year cost stack looks like this. The Precious Metals tier account fee is 125 dollars. Commingled storage is 100 dollars. A single metals buy carries a 40-dollar transaction fee plus 35 dollars for depository handling. That totals 300 dollars in first-year STRATA-side charges, or 0.20 percent of the balance.
Ongoing years drop back to 225 dollars per year if the reader makes no additional trades. Divided into 150,000 dollars, that is 0.15 percent per year. The dealer's own premium on the coins is separate and typically the largest single cost line in year one; STRATA does not set it and does not control it.
At the point of distribution, no Texas state income tax applies to the retiree because Texas has no state personal income tax (source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). The federal ordinary income tax rate on the withdrawal is the complete tax picture. Consult your tax advisor for your specific bracket and situation.
Balanced pros and cons
Strengths on the record
- Texas-chartered trust company regulated by the Texas Department of Banking, with independent audits per its About page.
- Published fee schedule with itemized transaction fees; no asset-based custody fee on the Precious Metals tier.
- Low flat annual account fee at 125 dollars for the Precious Metals tier, which favors mid-size and larger metals balances.
- Electronic account setup fee is waived per the current fee schedule.
- Self-reported operational scale of 48,000-plus investors and 10 billion in AUC on the homepage.
- Directed custodian disclosure is stated in plain language on the site footer, which reduces ambiguity about what the trust company does.
Trade-offs to weigh
- Directed custody means STRATA does not police dealer premiums; a poor coin choice by the dealer is not caught by the trust company.
- Segregated storage runs at 175 dollars per year, a 75-dollar premium over commingled; some readers dismiss this without comparing what it buys.
- Account closure fee is 250 dollars, and partial transfer out is 100 dollars on the Precious Metals tier.
- Corrected 5498 or 1099-R is 100 dollars per correction; incorrect first-year paperwork can be an avoidable expense.
- The Texas Bullion Depository is not the default at every dealer, so an in-state Texas storage configuration is a request, not an automatic feature.
- Nobody can predict where metal prices will go; the custody structure does not change the underlying volatility of the metal itself.
When STRATA is a bad idea for you
Not every reader belongs in a STRATA gold IRA, and this section is honest about who should walk away.
If your total investable retirement savings is under 25,000 dollars, the flat 225-dollar carrying cost eats close to 1 percent per year before you even count the dealer premium. That fee drag is hard to justify unless you have a specific reason to prefer physical metal over lower-cost retirement options.
If you need liquidity from the account within the next 5 years, the setup and closure cost stack, plus the 40-dollar per-transaction fee, plus the 250-dollar closure fee, chip into short-horizon returns. A self-directed metals IRA rewards long holding periods, not tactical trading.
If you are under age 59 and a half and might need the money before retirement, an early distribution triggers the federal 10-percent early-withdrawal penalty. Ordinary federal income tax on the distribution applies on top (source: IRS Publication 590-B, checked July 2026). Texas does not add state income tax; the federal cost still applies.
If the dealer pushes premium proof coins on the STRATA paperwork with a large markup over spot, STRATA will process the buy anyway. The trust company does not vet dealer premiums. If the premium looks rich, the fix is a different dealer, not a different custodian.
If you want a custodian that provides investment advice, STRATA is not it. STRATA's disclosure says explicitly it does not provide investment, legal, or tax advice. A directed custodian is only the right tool if you or a licensed advisor are already comfortable driving the decisions.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from Texas readers
Is STRATA Trust Company a real Texas trust company?
Yes. STRATA is a Texas-chartered trust company regulated by the Texas Department of Banking, per its own About page (checked July 2026). The corporate address on the public site is 901 S MoPac Expressway, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78746, and the founding location on file is Waco, Texas.
What is the annual cost of a STRATA gold IRA?
On the Precious Metals tier, the base annual cost is 125 dollars for the account fee plus 100 dollars for commingled storage, or 175 dollars for segregated storage. Transaction fees, wires, and shipping are event-driven and apply only when used. Verify the current schedule at stratatrust.com/fees/.
Does STRATA offer segregated storage for a gold IRA?
Yes. STRATA's fee schedule lists segregated storage at 175 dollars per year for gold, platinum, and palladium; commingled storage is 100 dollars per year. Some depository exceptions apply. The actual physical storage is at a third-party depository, not at STRATA.
Can I store STRATA IRA metal at the Texas Bullion Depository?
The Texas Bullion Depository (Leander, Texas) holds precious metals IRA assets through Lone Star Tangible Assets as vendor. Not every dealer routes STRATA paperwork to TxBD by default. Ask the dealer whether TxBD is available as the named depository on your STRATA buy instruction and confirm fees directly.
Does STRATA select the dealer or the coins for me?
No. STRATA describes itself as a directed (passive) custodian and states plainly that it does not sponsor, endorse, or sell any investment. The dealer, the coins, the premium, and the depository are the reader's choices. STRATA processes what you sign.
How long does STRATA take to process a metals buy?
STRATA's About page reports 24-to-48-hour standard processing, with 95 percent of investment transactions processed within 24 hours (source: stratatrust.com About page, checked July 2026). Actual timing depends on the completeness of the buy instruction and on the funding status of the IRA cash sub-account.
What tax forms does STRATA file for a gold IRA?
STRATA files Form 5498 each May to report the account fair market value to the IRS. Form 1099-R is issued in January following any distribution. A corrected 5498 or 1099-R carries a 100-dollar fee under the current schedule; getting first-year paperwork right avoids that cost.
Is uninvested cash in a STRATA IRA FDIC-insured?
The STRATA fee page states that uninvested cash is automatically deposited into custodial accounts with depository banks selected by STRATA, where the funds are FDIC-insured up to 250,000 dollars per depositor, pending further investment direction. Interest rates on cash are set by STRATA at its discretion.
Sources
- STRATA Trust Company home page, corporate address, phone, and reported scale figures, stratatrust.com, checked July 2026.
- STRATA Trust Company About page, Texas-chartered trust company statement, timeline, and operational metrics, stratatrust.com/about/, checked July 2026.
- STRATA Trust Company Fee Schedule, tier structure and processing fees, stratatrust.com/fees/, checked June 2026.
- STRATA Trust Company site disclosure text on directed custody role, stratatrust.com footer, checked July 2026.
- Texas Department of Banking, oversight of Texas-chartered trust companies, dob.texas.gov, checked July 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, confirmation that Texas has no state personal income tax, comptroller.texas.gov, checked July 2026.
- Texas Bullion Depository, state-run precious metals depository in Leander, Texas, texasbulliondepository.gov, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-B on distributions from IRAs, including the 10-percent early-distribution tax, irs.gov/publications/p590b, checked July 2026.
- 26 U.S.C. section 408, requirements for individual retirement accounts, law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/408, checked July 2026.
If STRATA is the trustee on your paperwork, the dealer is still your biggest cost line.
The dealer sets the coin premium, not STRATA. The dealer we work with the most publishes a 10-point company checklist that covers fees, buyback terms, and legal structure. It is a fair sheet to hold any dealer's paperwork against, including the one that paired you with STRATA.