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What types of account fees are charged at AET?

At American Estate & Trust (AET), we maintain a transparent and straightforward fee structure for our Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) accounts. Below is an overview of the fees associated with our services:

1. Account Setup Fee

  • One-Time Charge: A one-time fee of $50 is required to establish a new SDIRA account.

2. Annual Account Fees

  • Standard SDIRA Fee: $349.95 per year for accounts holding traditional assets such as real estate, private placements, and other alternative investments.
  • Precious Metals-Only IRA Fee: $195 per year for accounts that exclusively hold precious metals.

3. Precious Metals Storage Fee

  • Monthly Storage Fee: If your IRA holds precious metals, a storage fee of $12 per month ($144 annually) is charged in addition to the annual account fee.

4. Minimum Account Balance Requirement

  • General Minimum Balance: All IRA accounts must maintain a minimum cash balance of $325 to cover fees.
  • Real Estate IRA Minimum Balance: If your IRA holds real estate, you must maintain a minimum cash balance equal to 10% of the property's value. This ensures sufficient funds are available for expenses such as property taxes, insurance, and fees.

5. Transaction Fees

  • Standard Transactions: Each transaction, such as asset purchases or sales, incurs a fee of $9.95.
  • Other Transaction Fees:
    • Partial IRA Transfer: $75.00 for transferring part of your IRA to another custodian.
    • Complete IRA Termination: $250.00 for fully transferring or distributing your IRA.
    • Roth Conversion/Recharacterization: $75.00 for conversions processed by AET; $125.00 if the original conversion was done by a different custodian.
    • Wire Transfers: $33.95 per inbound or outbound wire transaction.
    • Check Writing: $13.95 per check issued.
    • ACH Transfers: $5.00 per incoming or outgoing ACH transaction.

6. Additional Service Fees

  • Courier Services: $50.00 for overnight delivery; $25.00 for 2-day delivery, plus actual shipping costs.
  • Cashier's Check: $75.00 per check.
  • Returned Check/Insufficient Funds: $30.00 per occurrence.
  • Stop Payment: $50.00 per request.
  • Document Services: $25.00 per hour for document review (minimum $25.00); $10.00 for reproducing tax documents; $25.00 for deposit research.
  • Rush Processing: $75.00 for expedited requests processed within 24 hours.

7. How Fees Are Paid

Clients have two options for paying account fees:

  1. Account Deduction: Fees can be automatically deducted from the available cash balance in your SDIRA.
  2. Credit Card Payment: Clients can link a credit card to cover account fees instead of using their IRA funds.

8. Consequences of Non-Payment

  • Asset Liquidation: If fees are unpaid and your account lacks sufficient cash, AET may liquidate assets within your IRA to cover outstanding charges.
  • Account Distribution: Continued non-payment may result in your account being distributed at its last known value, which could have tax implications.

9. Fee Adjustments

AET reserves the right to modify fees with a 30-day advance notice. Any changes will be posted on our website.