Mountain West IRA Reviews

This is a third party review of Mountain West IRA. This due diligence report reviews over 100 different data points for Mountain West IRA to provide you with a thorough due diligence report of the company to help you make a better decision. The public version provides only 20 of these data points. If you want to see the full version of this review, you can click the button below.

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Information last updated on: 11/13/2015

Company certified on: Not Certified

1

Mountain West IRA

Introduction

Mountain West IRA is an independent self-directed IRA and 401(k) administration company, specializing in record keeping services for individuals and small business owners who desire to include non-traditional assets within their tax-deferred and tax-free portfolios. With offices in Idaho and Florida, Mountain West IRA prides itself in offering self-directed retirement plans to clients nationwide at the highest level of customer service in the industry. Mountain West IRA is a former Entrust Group franchise


2

Mountain West IRA

Contact Information

Website:

Phone Number:

(866) 377-3311

Email:

Offices:

Corporate Office:

10096 West Fairview Ave. Boise, ID 83704

Business Development Office:

609 Court Street Clearwater, FL 33756

Business Hours:

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST (ID) / 10 AM - 6 PM EST (FL) (Monday-Friday)


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Mountain West IRA

Company Details

Company Classification: 

Administrator

Date Established (under current name):

April 2011 (former Entrust Group franchisee)

Type of entity:

S-Corp

Who provides custody for client assets:

Umpqua Bank

Company is registered in: 

Idaho

Primary Line of Business

Providing self-directed IRA administrative services to clients for alternative investments

Other Lines of Business:

None

Typical Client:

Retail and Institutional

Capable of working with Financial Advisory Firms

Not Disclosed

Governmental Agency Oversight: 

Not Disclosed

Company's Last Audit: 

Not Disclosed

Summary of Assets Under Custody

Number of Active Clients:

2,000

Number of Active accounts:

Not Disclosed

Amount of assets company provides custody for:

Notable discrepancy:

- Company rep claims: 2.8 Billion

- Company website claims: $175 Million

Self-Directed IRA Industry Affiliations

Self-Directed IRA industry affiliations (outside of this company):

Not Disclosed

Ownership of industry related websites:

Not Disclosed

Industry related company affiliations:

Not Disclosed

Industry related non-profits:

Not Disclosed

Industry related associations:

Not Disclosed

Industry related board of trustee positions:

Not Disclosed

Industry related publications:

Not Disclosed


4

Mountain West IRA

Fee Schedule

Account Setup Fee:

$50

Account Termination Fee:

$150

Service Fee Classification: (flat, transaction-based, asset-based, hybrid)

Choice of Asset-based or transaction-based fees

Company Fee Schedule:

* Use the Mountain West IRA Fee Calculator (click button below) to calculate your estimated fees based on the company's published fee schedule. This is a useful tool when comparing different custodians based on your cost to use them. Please note, if you have never before used a self-directed IRA custodian or administrator to administer your account, the fees will be different than most broker dealers that provide transactional services for stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.


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Mountain West IRA

Available Account Types

Type of Account:

Available at Mountain West IRA

Traditional IRA

Yes

Roth IRA

Yes

SEP IRA

(or SERSEP)

Yes

SIMPLE IRA

Yes

Individual 401(k)

Yes

Defined Contribution Plan

(Group plan e.g. 401k, 403b 457)

No

Defined Benefit Plan

(pension)

No

ESOP

(Employee Stock Ownership Plan)

No

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Yes

Education IRA (ESA)

(Coverdell Education Savings Account)

No

Non-Qualified Account (Individual)

No

Non-Qualified Account (Joint Tenants)

No

Trust Account

No

Partnership / Limited Partnership

No

UTMA / UGMA Custodial Account

No

C-corp, S-corp, or LLC account

No

Other:

N/A


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Mountain West IRA

List of Allowable Assets

Type of Asset

Allowed For Custody?

Real Estate

Yes

Private Placement (Reg A)

Not Disclosed

Private Placement (Reg D)

Not Disclosed

Private Placement

(e.g. REIT, BDC, etc)

Not Disclosed

Precious Metals

Yes

Futures or Managed Futures

Not Disclosed

Options or Hedges

(non-publicly Traded)

Not Disclosed

Bitcoin (or other virtual currency)

Not Disclosed

FOREX

Not Disclosed

Hedge Funds

Not Disclosed

Limited Partnerships

Yes

Single-member LLC

(or Checkbook LLC)

Not Disclosed

Multi-member LLC

Yes

REITs

Not Disclosed

Annuities (fixed or Variable)

Not Disclosed

Viaticles or Life Settlements

Not Disclosed

Insurance (other)

Not Disclosed

Trust Deeds

Yes

Tax Liens

Yes

Private Lending (Unsecured Notes)

Yes

Private Lending (Secured Notes)

Yes

Private Company Stock

Yes

Public Company Stock (or ETFs)

Not Disclosed

Publicly Traded Options

Not Disclosed

Church Bonds

Not Disclosed

Mutual Funds or Closed-End Funds (CEF)

Not Disclosed

Livestock, Horses, or similar animals

Not Disclosed

Business Development Company (BDC)

Not Disclosed

International Real Estate

Not Disclosed

International Asset (other than real estate)

Not Disclosed

Other

Not Disclosed

 

Does Mountain West IRA sub-custody certain assets at other firms:

Not Disclosed

Does Mountain West IRA provide sub custody services to other firms:

No

Asset Specialization:

Not Disclosed

Most popular assets held:

Not Disclosed


7

Mountain West IRA

Operations

Client account title format:

Mountain West IRA, Inc. FBO: [ Client Name] IRA

Number of full-time employees:

11

Process for setting up a new account:

(Not Disclosed)

Process for adding a new asset to client account:

(Not Disclosed)

Procedures in place to protect client information

(Not Disclosed)

Procedures for annual valuations

(Not Disclosed)

Procedures for when an investment is suspected to be or is found to be fraudulent:

(Not Disclosed)


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Mountain West IRA

Technology

Does company participate in DTC system:

Not Disclosed

Details of DTC:

Not Disclosed

Does company accept Fed Funds wires:

Not Disclosed

Fed Funds wire details:

Not Disclosed

Client account access: 

Not Disclosed

Accounting:

Not Disclosed

Account reporting:

Not Disclosed

Trading investments:

Not Disclosed

Safekeeping of client assets:

Not Disclosed

Record keeping of client assets:

Not Disclosed

Document storage:

Not Disclosed

Compliance:

Not Disclosed

Security and client information protection:

Not Disclosed


9

Mountain West IRA

Management Team

  • Jon Galane, Principal
  • Lisa Galane

Access Company Management Profiles

Glassdoor Ratings: (How company rates as an employer) (profile not available)


10

Mountain West IRA

Client Protection

Insurance coverage limits for client assets:

Not Disclosed

Coverage for uninvested cash balances:

Not Disclosed

Errors & Omissions coverage (E&O):

Not Disclosed

Additional or supplemental insurance coverage for client accounts:

Not Disclosed

Have any owners or managing members of the company been charged with a felony, theft, or fraud:

Not Disclosed

Has the company itself ever been investigated, charged, or convicted of a felony, fraud, theft, or industry related violation:

Not Disclosed


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Mountain West IRA

Customer Satisfaction

Better Business Bureau: (click to review BBB overview)

Accredited Business since:

Not Accredited

BBB Rating:

A+

Yelp Ratings: (click to review yelp ratings)

Number of people on customer service team:

Not Disclosed

Number of people on the "premier" or " institutional" customer service team:

Not Disclosed

Number of people on the team that performs investment reviews for client assets:

Not Disclosed

Average turnaround time for a client's new investment (assuming all documents required have been send in by client):

Not Disclosed

Average turnaround time for setting up a new client account (assuming all documentation required has been sent in by client):

Not Disclosed

Method of client account access:

Online access or quarterly paper statements

Is client education provided by company:

(Not Disclosed)

Is financial advice provided by company to client:

No


12

Mountain West IRA

Self Direct Your Retirement Transparency Index

The Self Direct Your Retirement Transparency Index is a metric we have developed to indicate how transparent self-directed IRA custodians and administrators are about their company. We value transparency as an ideal trait from a company that is providing custody or administration of your retirement accounts. It shows that the company has nothing to hide about their activities. You should consider this when you are making your choice.

The Self Direct Your Retirement Transparency Index is split into two parts. The first part is whether they voluntarily provided this information to us or whether we had to find this data on our own. Companies that provided us with the data were given the "company certified seal". If they did not participate, the seal does not show up in their profile. The second part of the index is how transparent the companies were in providing us with this information. A higher transparency number indicates a more transparent company. A number above 80% is ideal. There may be legitimate reasons companies do not want to share certain information, but you should consider this when making your decision.

Below the seal, we have listed the last time the company provided us with information. As long as the company has the certified seal, the information should be considered up-to-date. We contact the company periodically to ensure the information is accurate. If the company chooses not to verify the information, then we remove the seal. Transparency is only one factor you should consider when choosing a self directed IRA custodian or administrator.

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Willingness to provide information - Extremely Low

Company Information Not Certified

Information last updated on: 11/13/2015


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Mountain West IRA

Compared to Peers

Visit the Self-Directed IRA custodian & administrator comparison page to see how Mountain West IRA compares to its peers.


14

Mountain West IRA

Company Spotlight - Industry Trends

We asked Mountain West IRA to provide their individual insight into the following questions. This section is a bit more personal. The idea is that it will give you more insight into the company you are considering to provide custody of your investments. 

What trends do you see in the self-directed IRA industry?

(Not disclosed)

What trends in asset types do you see at your firm?

(Not disclosed)

What is your firm's biggest concern about the self-directed IRA industry?

(Not disclosed)

Please list some additional concerns your firm has about the industry?

(Not disclosed)

Do you see any changes in regards to what investors want from custodians and administrators?

(Not disclosed)

What are your company's biggest challenges?

(Not disclosed)

What are the self-directed IRA industry's biggest challenges?

(Not disclosed)

What needs to be changed in the Self-Directed IRA industry?

(Not disclosed)

How could the Self-Directed IRA Industry improve?

(Not disclosed)

What is the biggest reason for the company's success?

(Not disclosed)

Company's view of important of the following items (ranked in order of importance)?

(Not disclosed)

Other relevant information:

(Not disclosed)


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Mountain West IRA

Conclusion

We are not able to make a reasonable assessment of this administrator due to their lack of transparency. It is hard to truly know what you are getting from an administrator who is administering your investments if they are unwilling to disclose even basic information about themselves to potential clients. While the company might be suitable for your investing needs, you should exercise caution unless they are willing to disclose all the information you need to make a reasonable decision.

If you find a company that is not willing to be transparent to you as a potential customer of their services, then you should reconsider them as a potential choice for your retirement funds. Ultimately, your personal retirement investing needs will determine whether Mountain West IRA is a good fit for you. Transparency is only one metric which you should consider in your due diligence process. Please use our Self Directed IRA Custodian & Administrator Comparison Tool to help you make that determination.


One of the biggest areas of frustration we see from self-directed IRA investors is when they realize they have chosen the wrong self-directed IRA custodian or administrator. It takes time to set up an account and fund your investment. The last thing you want to do when you are trying to fund your investment is to think about changing to a different custodian. Choose your Self-Directed IRA custodian or administrator wisely. If you put the time in now to find the right company, you will save time, money, and aggravation later. Read our Choosing a Self-Directed IRA Custodian report for more information.

Next Steps... Once you have located your ideal Self-Directed IRA Custodian or Administrator, you will be on your way to self-directing your retirement. If you decide that this process seems too complex and you need assistance or financial advice, feel free to contact us. Our firm specializes in providing financial advice pertaining to alternative investments held in self-directed IRAs and 401ks. We are fiduciaries and provide unbiased financial advice to our clients. Contact us if you want to learn more about our wealth management services.


Copyright 2025 Self Direct Your Retirement LLC

 

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