An Individual Retirement Account has become one of the most important financial tools any savvy hard-working American should look into, as it is one of the most practical ways to save for your retirement. We are going to discuss important details you must know about your IRA, what you can use your IRA Funds for and what you cannot use your IRA Funds for.
There are many forms of Individual Retirement Accounts, a Roth IRA, traditional IRA, deductible IRA, etc. I have written several articles about how an IRA might be extremely useful if you wish to retire abroad, but many Americans are still resisting the idea.
They believe that there is some kind of international law that will make it hard for their money to transfer into foreign currency. This fact is wrong, and it is one of the many details that people get wrong about how an IRA works.
Do You Know Everything About an IRA
Some aspects of an Individual Retirement Account are only known by a handful of Americans because their IRA expert might omit a few details, or does not find reason in their client knowing every detail. These are some additional details that you must know if you wish to start looking into taking advantage of your Individual Retirement Account.
As I mentioned beforehand, there are many aspects that one should consider and apply to take into full effect all of the benefits that having an IRA include. It is highly recommended to hire a third person to help you with this process.
An IRA expert will help you with many key details such as creating an annual valuation of your IRA, sending the annual report to the IRS, and keeping all of your books and records in check and safeguarded.
What Assets are Not Allowed in your IRA
One important thing to know regarding the correct use of your Individual Retirement Account is that there are some assets that are not allowed to be taken into consideration as income for your IRA. These assets include:
- Life Insurance Contracts
- Artwork
- Rugs
- Antiques
- Certain Metals
- Stamps
- Gold if it is not 99.5% pure
Certain persons and actions are disqualified if you have an IRA. Before you use your IRA to help your family and close friends financially, you must know that this is not an option. Lending to yourself and your immediate family by using an IRA is prohibited.
What Else is Prohibited in Your IRA
Another thing that is prohibited when it comes to using an IRA is lending to a company if you own a stake greater than 50%. Same goes if you have a high position in the company, such as an officer, director, or highly compensated employee.
It is also important to know that you can use your IRA for buying property, but you require a couple of extra steps to accomplish this. Let’s say that you wish to buy a parcel of land that is worth $200,000 dollars, and you have an IRA worth $100,000 dollars. There are 3 ways that you can use your IRA to make these happen.
- By partnering your IRA funds and your personal cash
- Partnering your IRA with personal finance
- Getting a nonrecourse loan IRA for the difference
What Can I Invest My IRA Funds In
Besides real estate, there are also a number of things that you can invest your IRA funds in, such as:
- Mortgage Loans
- LLC’s
- Building Lots
- Foreign Currency
- U.S. Stocks
- Foreign Stocks
- IPO’s
That is just a small list of things that you can invest in, but there are more options that you can think of. It is easy to remember, if it helps you with your retirement then you can use your IRA funds to invest in it.
Buying a retirement house with your IRA funds is also highly recommended and it is accepted. Using the same funds to renovate and improve the house is also allowed. The owner of the house would be the IRA.
Related Articles
Please enjoy this article written by David Drummond from Georgetown Trust about Self-Directed IRAs As A Tool For Greater Financial Agency
I know you’ll love this article written by Michael Cobb from ECI Developments on The Essential Do’s And Don’ts Of IRA Investment
Conclusion
I hope you’ve found this article on your IRA to be helpful. We talked about; important details you must know about your IRA, what I can use my IRA Funds for and what I cannot use my IRA Funds for. For more information, or for assistance forming an offshore self-directed IRA an LLC or connecting with a qualified custodian, please contact us HERE
