Insight & Updates

Why Tax Free Growth Matters More Than It Sounds Tax-free growth isn’t just a nice perk. It can completely change how people think about investing for retirement. With a traditional retirement account, part of your balance isn’t truly yours yet—future taxes will take their share when you begin taking distributions. With a Self-Directed Roth IRA, …

The “free lunch” in investing is often considered a myth. But when it comes to tax-free retirement income, the Self-Directed Roth IRA might be the closest thing available. A Roth IRA is one of the most powerful tax-advantaged retirement accounts available today. It allows you to contribute after-tax money (meaning contributions aren’t tax-deductible) and grow …

Imagine a retirement account where you can contribute far more money than you might expect. Now imagine one that also allows you to invest in a wider range of assets. Enter the Self-Directed SEP IRA—a powerful opportunity for entrepreneurs and self-employed investors who qualify. It’s not something every investor can use, but for those who …

Imagine being heavily invested in gold or silver during the precious metals surge of 2025. Not a bad thing to imagine, right? Precious metals performed strongly throughout the year. The rally was significant enough that many long-time precious metals investors saw returns that rivaled gains in other asset classes. But that introduces a new question: …

Let’s say you’re used to flipping houses. You take a hands-on approach to your investments: buy a property, fix it up yourself, sell it for a quick profit—you know the tricks of the trade. But what if you’re trying to use a Self-Directed IRA to invest in real estate without that experience? First-time investors may …

Maybe you’ve read a lot about Self-Directed IRAs. You know the idea: invest in more alternative assets within a retirement account, and maybe you won’t always have to worry about what the stock market is doing. Using a Self-Directed IRA opens up those alternative asset classes quickly and easily. But maybe you’ve also dismissed the …

If you read a lot about Self-Directed IRAs, it’s easy to get caught in a specific way of thinking: “Self-Directed IRAs vs. traditional brokerages.” You might start to believe that you have to choose between investing in alternative assets or stocks, with nothing in between. But the truth is that you can use a Self-Directed …

Income is the name of the game if you want financial independence. If you own enough income-generating assets to pay your bills in retirement, you’ve gotten there—goal achieved. But how does it work along the way? What if you own, say, a single-family rental home within a Self-Directed IRA? Can you personally access that income …

The SEP IRA isn’t too hard to understand. If you’re self-employed or own a business, it’s one of the simplest ways to put money aside for retirement. It also comes with high contribution limits, which is especially helpful if you’re trying to catch up on retirement savings. But let’s look at this at a basic …

Be honest. When you first hear about Self-Directed IRAs, your first instinct might be to get a little carried away. Investments of almost any type, wrapped in the tax protections of a retirement account, can sound too good to be true. And in some ways, it is—at least if you misunderstand how these accounts really …