Closely-Guarded Secrets Big Financial Institutions Don't Want You to Know About Retirement

Most people looking for a retirement account go for the traditional 401k, simply because that is all they know and that is everything they have been taught by the people before them, and they just do not know any better. It is the employer that has to do most of the work in setting up the account and all the retiree has to do is collect the small profits. But you don’t have to settle for that. You can do so much more for yourself by getting self-directed IRA. But the reason this particular retirement plan is not so much in the mainstream is that its advantages, all of them authorized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), are well hidden by the big time financial institutions. Below is a list of the facts, you probably didn’t know about self-directed IRAs.

You can own real estate in a retirement account

The folks with a 401k wouldn’t believe this because, well, it is true in their case. You are not allowed to invest in anything other than stocks, bonds, mutual funds and treasuries if you have a 401k. With a self-directed IRA, however, you can invest in anything that you want (except collectibles, alcohol and a few other items). Think gold bullion will earn you a good profit? Invest in it. Small business? Check. To invest in real estate, just start up a self-directed IRA account and start. What is more, you get to keep the money in your account on a tax-free basis.

You can open up more than one self-directed IRA

Suppose you screw up one of your accounts by making an illegal transaction and end up having to pay taxes and penalties on the entire amount you have on that account. Nobody wants to be in that situation. Be on the safe side and start a couple of accounts just to keep away from the penalties that you could be liable to pay.

You can borrow money from your self-directed IRA

Many people think that once you transfer funds to a self-directed IRA, you are not allowed to withdraw from it until the age of retirement. That is not true. You can borrow money from the account as and when you please by paying the custodian a small percentage of the fee. Also, the money that is out of your account will be taxable, so you might want to return it at the earliest.

You don’t need to pay transaction fees

Unlike most of the traditional retirement accounts, you don’t have to pay fees to conduct transactions for the purposes of investment. You can choose to have control of your own checkbook and invest whenever and wherever you like, without asking for approval from your custodian. There is however, a nominal annual fee that you cannot do away with.

After knowing about these secrets, there doesn’t appear to be any reason why not to open up a self-directed IRA account and start reaping the benefits.

Closely-Guarded Secrets Big Financial Institutions Don't Want You to Know About Retirement