Everything You Need to Know About Self-Directed IRAs, with Edwin Kelly

Do you have money in a retirement account that you wish you could use to invest in real estate?  Today, we’re talking about self-directed accounts and investment strategies, with Edwin Kelly, the CEO of Specialized Trust Company.  

So, if you want to know how to best use qualified plan money to help you reach your financial goals and invest in real estate, figure out if you should continue funding self-directed IRAs, and maximize the ability to use your money and minimize taxes so you can best use every dollar towards creating time and money freedom, tune in now!

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Who Is Edwin Kelly?

Edwin Kelly is America’s leading expert on Self Directed Retirement accounts and self-directed investment strategies. He has more than 24 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry. He worked for such notable companies like UBS and BISYS. Edwin is a Founder and currently serves as CEO of Specialized Trust Company. 

Prior to founding Specialized Trust Company, Edwin helped grow one of the largest Self-Directed IRA Custodians in the industry. 

Edwin is an avid educator. He adds value to clientele by developing significant knowledge assets at every company he has worked with. His passion for helping others learn about their Self-Directed IRA options has made Edwin a popular and engaging speaker. He is frequently invited to speak at seminars and workshops, in webinars, and as a radio guest. Edwin has made several special appearances on the Money Show, and his work and ideas have been featured in major national magazines and newspapers throughout the United States.

Topics he is frequently asked to speak about include:

• What the average person can do to take charge of their finances so they can stop worrying about money and look forward to a comfortable retirement.
• Little-known investment strategies that have helped people retire sooner than they expected.
• Completely legal secrets to growing wealth tax-free.

Specialized Trust Company is a member of RITA (The Retirement Trust Association). Edwin attended The Ohio State University and holds an MBA from Franklin University. He is the co-author of the bestselling book Leverage Your IRA. He is currently writing his next two books: The Retirement Dilemma and 7 Specialized Strategies You Can Implement to Solve It, as well as The Shift.

Self-Directed Account Topics Covered:

• The basic difference between plain vanilla qualified plans and self-directed retirement plans.
• How self-directed accounts provide a way to invest money inside a 401(k), 403(b), IRA, TSP, 529, Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, or Simple IRA into alternative investments like real estate, notes, precious metals, bitcoin, etc.
• Self-directed IRAs can be tax deferred or tax-free.
• Three steps to self-directing.
• The difference between tax deferral and tax free accounts.
• The types of alternative assets you can invest in with a self-directed account.
• Why you want to keep all self-directed investments at arms length to avoid self-dealing.
• When you would want to invest in real estate inside a self-directed IRA, and when you would want to invest in real estate outside a self-directed IRA.

Self-Directed IRA Top Takeaways:

1. Self-directed accounts are government-sponsored plans. If you use them, you have to play by the government’s rules.
2. If you defer a tax, you lose control because you postpone taxes to an unknown future tax environment.
3. When deciding whether to invest in real estate inside or outside of a self-directed plan, you need to consider your goals. You can invest for appreciation inside a self-directed plan, but not for cash flow. That’s because, inside a self-directed plan, you cannot depreciate real estate and you cannot personally receive the real estate cash flow. However, at the sale of the property, all income goes back into the self-directed account and you avoid capital gains taxes. So if you are investing for cash flow today to increase your net investible income, you would not want to use a self-directed IRA.
4. Self-directed retirement plans are accumulation plans, with the objective to accumulate a dollar amount that will provide future income. This is in contrast with our cash flow goal to maximize your cash flow today.
5. Comparing a Roth Self-Directed Account vs. Privatized Banking (also known as the Rich Man’s Roth), both are tax advantaged. Here are the advantages of Privatized Banking: you can put in as much as you want, control the terms, invest how you want, and receive the cash flow. And Privatized Banking gives you the leverage to earn a return on the same money in two places at the same time. It also gives you a death benefit. No retirement plan allows you to do that.
6. Depending on how much freedom is important to you, a self-directed account can be a good option to be able to use dollars you’ve already set aside in qualified accounts, if you don’t want to pay the tax. However, if you want to continue building investment capital, our philosophy is that we would rather store money in Privatized Banking, where we can be the banker and have maximum safety, liquidity, and growth.

Self-Directed IRA Links and Mentions

• Specialized Trust Company
• Leverage Your IRA

Find Out Your Next Step to Time and Money Freedom

If you would like to assess your complete financial picture and find your personal best strategy to maximize your cash flow and control, we can help.

By the way, we have a free Quick and Easy Privatized Banking Guide that outlines just how Privatized Banking gives you the most powerful storage tank for your cash, PLUS it boosts investment returns, so you can more quickly get to the point where you never run out of cash.

If you are ready to personally implement Privatized Banking, alternative investments, or cash flow strategies to keep more of the money you make, book your strategy call with The Money Advantage advisors today.

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