Take Control of Your Retirement Investments with a Checkbook IRA

Do you know what your retirement accounts are currently invested in? The likelihood is that you probably don’t. You are not alone because many people have no idea what their IRA or 401k are invested in. This may or may not bother you. If it does bother you and you would like to take control of your retirement and investments there is a great option available to you. A checkbook IRA will allow you to take control of your retirement so that you can invest in the things you wish. You may want to purchase real estate, gold, or some other type of investment that suits you. You can do it all with a checkbook IRA.

What is a Checkbook IRA?

A checkbook IRA is the same thing as a regular IRA except that the custodian allows you to take control of the checkbook for the IRA. What does that exactly mean? With a regular IRA, you have to go through your custodian when making any investments for your IRA. If you wanted to purchase gold with your IRA you would have to contact your custodian and let them know what you are wanting to do. Then you would have to work with them to finalize the investment. If you have a checkbook IRA, instead of going to the custodian to make the investment happen, you do it yourself.   It means that you will not have to seek the consent of a custodian to make an investment. Typically you won’t be subjected to excessive fees because of different transactions that were made.

Time is Money

Many times when investing time is crucial. If you know of a real estate investment that is going up for auction you may not have the time to consult your custodian in order to make the purchase happen. With you the checkbook IRA you skip the custodian step and can make things happen very fast.

How Are Checkbook IRAs Set Up?

Another popular name for a checkbook IRA is a self-directed IRA LLC with checkbook control. It is called this because to establish a checkbook IRA you must establish a limited liability company (LLC) that is owned by the IRA and managed by you the account owner (you). Then the IRA owner’s funds can be transferred by the custodian to the new IRA LLC bank account. Because you are the manager of the IRA LLC, you will have the authority to make investment decisions on behalf of the IRA. With this authority, you then have the ability to write checks from the IRA LLC bank account for your investments.

If you haven’t heard of a checkbook IRA then hopefully you have learned a thing or two. If you still have questions or are interested in a checkbook IRA feel free to contact us for account setup or questions.

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