IRA Financial Trust can help you set up and manage your Self-Directed IRA, offering checkbook control to you, as you manage your own retirement funds. This means you can fund alternative investments with your assets. You never need custodial consent. Invest in what you want, when you want!
A financial trust that offers checkbook control, IRA Financial Trust is a “financial technology” non-banking IRA Trust Company that is responsible for administering Self-Directed retirement accounts, primarily Self-Directed IRAs. We’re proud to offer Checkbook IRA custodial services along with full-service IRA administration services, all for one low price without any transaction or asset valuation fees.
What is a Trust Company?
A trust company is a legal entity that acts as a fiduciary, agent, or trustee on behalf of a person or business for the purpose of administration, management…
Investopedia
As far as the IRA Financial Trust Company goes, we’re all about self-directed retirement plans. Before IRA Financial Trust was founded, clients needs to find his or her own trust company after opening a plan at our sister company, IRA Financial Group. Now, IRA Financial can handle every clients’ needs within one company. Moreover, we have a special partnership with Capital One bank to facilitate the banking aspect of the plans. You can even go through the entire process online, or with our new and improved mobile app!
Essentially, IRA Financial Trust’s main goal is to ensure your account remains IRS-compliant. The last thing we want is for a client to disqualify his or her retirement plan. The IRS rules and guidelines for retirement plans are quite complicated. One false step, and you lose the tax benefits of the plan. Our experts are always here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you!
The Self-Directed IRA
A Self-Directed IRA refers to an IRA account which is permitted to be invested in traditional assets, such as stocks, as well as in alternative assets, such as real estate or even cryptocurrencies. In the last several years, the number of Self-Directed IRA accounts has grown significantly, per the IRS.
The best part of using a Self-Directed IRA is that you get to invest in what you know and understand. In addition, Self-Directed IRAs are often considered a valuable diversification option and hedge against inflation.
A Self-Directed IRA is formed, creating an LLC. The Self-Directed IRA LLC structure gives you “checkbook control” over your retirement funds. With checkbook control, you can make any IRS approved investment as easily as writing a check or wiring funds from the LLC bank account. You act as the trustee, and are therefore allowed to make investments whenever you see fit.
Benefits of the Self-Directed IRA
If your knowledge of the stock market is tremendous, you can use your Self-Directed IRA to invest in traditional assets, the same as a regular IRA. But beyond that, you can choose to invest in those stocks which matter most to you, make a difference to causes you champion, or otherwise impress you, especially if they haven’t taken off yet.
However, unlike most other financial institutions, you can broaden your retirement holdings with alternative investments. IRA Financial Trust Company will never tell you what you can (and cannot invest in). If you want to invest in an alpaca farm…go for it! Who are we to say no? Unlike banks, we don’t make money on your investments. We don’t care if you have one transaction every year or dozens. It is important that you work with a financial planner to choose investments based on your goals and experience.
Popular Investments
If the stock market doesn’t appeal to you at all, you can use your Self-Directed IRA to invest in other areas, including non-traditional ones. These are known as “alternative assets.” Below, are some of the most popular ones.
Real Estate
The most popular investment for Self-Directed IRA investors is real estate. Real estate investing has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. This type of investment can help diversify your portfolio and may better protect you against market volatility. Rental properties, condos, franchises, and more are available to invest in, and can offer excellent financial benefits to IRA holders.
A rental property gives you the opportunity to create passive income. The right property and tenant makes this an easy investment. On the other hand, you may look at fix and flips for a big score. This can create more capital for the next project (and bigger returns!). Real estate is essentially a safe investment, especially during global unrest.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, are an emerging asset class. The “blockchain” technology has expanded beyond virtual currency. Right now, cryptos are seen as an investment. However, the future may change how cryptos are viewed in the marketplace.
Be wary, cryptos are very volatile. You don’t want to put all your funds in an as-yet unknown asset class. We’ve seen Bitcoin jump to nearly $20,000 per “coin” and then watched as it tumbled back down to Earth. It hasn’t been immune to the current Covid-19 pandemic either. However, unlike other assets, it’s still in its infancy and may see another meteoric rise.
Peer-to-Peer Lending and Crowdfunding
Another popular way Financial Trust has seen its clients invest in is with peer-to-peer lending. This is also known as hard money lending with the IRA holder acting as the “bank.” You can loan money to a friend, neighbor or colleague with your IRA funds. You set the interest rate and repayment terms. It’s a great way to help someone out if they cannot go through a regular bank to get the capital they may need.
Thanks to platforms like GoFundMe, crowdfunding has become increasingly popular as well. This is also true for Self-Directed IRA investors. Use your IRA funds to invest in a product or other business ventures. In fact, you can now invest in real estate projects as well. A perfect solution for those who want to invest in real estate, but don’t have the capital to make a huge investment.
Business Funding
Lastly, we wanted to talk about private business funding. Instead of loaning money, why not invest in a popular business that may need funding. It’s important to remember you cannot be personally involved in such a business. It’s against the prohibited transactions rules to do anything with a business held in your IRA.
However, you may know of a local business that’s doing well and looking for investors. On the other hand, maybe you know someone who has a brilliant idea, but lacks capital. Why not enjoy the tax benefits of your retirement plan to invest in a business? Remember, all income generated by your investments go back into the IRA without tax. You only pay taxes once you distribute the assets from the plan during retirement. Further, if you have a Self-Directed Roth IRA, qualified withdrawals are tax free!
Expertise – Ours and Yours
Your expertise means you can bring your greatest gifts to bear on your retirement funds. Investing in your retirement is a way of investing in yourself, and it matters a great deal when you have the knowledge and the tools to use your gifts. IRA Financial Trust provides an IRA trustee, or custodian, allowing you checkbook control. Your gifts and talents matter to you, and to your retirement. And IRA Financial Trust can help you use them to get to your retirement goals.
IRA Financial Trust Company is staffed with experts in all facets of the self-directed retirement industry. It’s our goal to ensure every clients’ continued success by helping you with the complexities of the plan. There’s never a need to navigate the Internal Revenue Code by yourself. Even the slightest mistake will cost you in the long run.
If you have any questions about IRA Financial or want more info about self-directing your retirement, please give us a call @ 800.472.1043.
