lundi 13 novembre 2017

Main Benefits Of A Self Directed IRA

By Carolyn Russell


When investing for retirement, people often have three main objectives. First, they want to preserve their savings. Secondly, they want to grow their savings. Lastly, they want to pay as little tax as possible. Unfortunately, most retirement plans expose savers to a lot of risk, mainly the volatility of the markets. A self directed IRA, however, seems to be the exception.

Between 2006-2008, consumers learned a lot of things. First, they leaned that fund managers and trustees often make poor investment decisions. After all, there are investors who lost everything during the crash. Secondly, investors learned that real estate is not as safe as most people thought. The main lesson that people took from the experience is that it is better to manage your own money than let another person do it for you.

In a traditional IRA, the trustee picks the funds or assets to invest in. This means that any poor decision on their part will affect the value of your retirement portfolio. A self-directed IRA eliminates this risk by allowing account holders to invest in asset classes they are comfortable with.

There are many types of secure, but high-yield asset classes that you can invest in through a self-directed IRA. For instance, you can invest in precious metals, blue-chip stocks, real estate or REITs among other things. You have complete control over what you can invest in. This is the main benefit of these self-managed individual retirement accounts.

It is important to note that the assets you invest in are not yours. They belong to your IRA. This means that you cannot use them for personal gain. For instance, if you own a house through the IRA, you cannot live in it. If you rent it out, the rent must go to your IRA account. Consequently, the account will cater for the property tax and any maintenance costs.

When you decide to buy physical gold, you cannot keep the precious metal in your home or bank safe. You have to find a licensed custodian to keep the assets on behalf of your IRA. There are many licensed custodians out there, so you only need to compare the storage fees they charge to choose the right firm.

It is important to note that this type of account gives the investor complete control over their retirement savings. They can team up with friends and relatives to invest in bigger assets with higher returns. For instance, they can invest in a multi-story commercial property in a strategic location for retirement purposes.

Diversifying your portfolio is a great way to hedge your investments from the volatility of the market and inflation among other risks that your portfolio may face. Ideally, you should apportion small fractions of your portfolio, say 10 percent each, to different asset classes. This will help to ensure your portfolio continues to grow regardless of market conditions.

The main benefit of managing your own retirement account is the cost savings you stand to make. This is because you will be able to avoid brokerage fees and account management fees. This will help you to free up some cash, which you can invest in your IRA and grow your portfolio.




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