If you’ve got an IRA it must be a self-directed IRA. And choose your custodian wisely.
Here’s some scary information. The Social Security Administration, in a recent study, found that by 2014 social security will be in negative cash flow. That’s 6 years away.
And by 2040 it won’t be able to pay full retirement benefits. That’s even scarier. So if you’re retiring at some stage in the future, as we all are, you need to be prepared. Or potentially retire in poverty.
You simply MUST have your own IRA (Individual Retirement Account) and you must make it a self directed IRA, otherwise known as a self managed IRA.
Why? Because a self managed IRA allows you so much more flexibility on where, and how, to invest your retirement funds.
And because the tax advantages to using an IRA for retirement investing are so big you’d be mad to try and invest for your retirement any other way.
You see a custodian of a traditional IRA will usually limit your range of investment options, and usually direct them to their own products. That’s fine by them, they benefit. But you may not.
Not that you don’t get any return from the products offered by traditional IRA custodians, you do. But chances are it will be 7% or thereabouts. Not a lot and not likely to produce significant retirement income if you are only getting a ROI of 7% or thereabouts. But your custodian is happy.
But if you have a self directed IRA, and select your IRA custodian after establishing that they will allow you a wide range of investments for your IRA, you will be able to make a long term return on your investment that should do better than that.
The custodian you choose must allow you to invest your retirement funds in real estate. Real estate is the vehicle that, it is estimated, has produced 80% of the wealth in this country. Real estate is the single best investment vehicle, even now in tough times.
Provided you know where to look for a solid investment opportunity in good quality real estate, no money down. And if you do it right guaranteed as well.