This blog begins a 4-part series on the real estate investing technique of self-direction, which creates the ability to use retirement accounts for real estate investments. This first blog will cover retirement accounts generally.
NOTE: Self-direction is an advanced real estate investing technique with a lot of nuances. This blog is meant as general information and not legal, tax or investing advice. You will certainly need more education and advice to truly understand this amazing technique.
Self-direction is when a person uses their retirement account money in investments outside of typical brokerage investment products. It is often used by real estate investors looking to use their retirement money to invest in real estate, which is not offered by their broker. In other words, they have greater ability to “direct” their money into different investments. Self-direction, then, requires more work and education on the part of the investor.
Really, any kind of retirement account can be self-directed: IRAs, 401Ks, SEPs, SIMPLEs, 403(b)s and the like. Because most Americans have IRAs and 401Ks, those are the two that will be the focus of this blog. First, let’s talk Roth v. Traditional accounts.
The terms “Roth” and “Traditional” are applied to many types of retirement accounts. Both IRAs a
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