2008 marked the collapse of some of our largest financial institutions and most of us have seen our retirement accounts shrink significantly as a result of the unprecedented stock market decline in recent history.
There are about 55,000,000 IRAs and a staggering 95% of the trillions of dollars in those IRA funds are invested in Wall Street. In the wake of the market turmoil, what we are beginning to see is that a growing number of investors are deserting Wall Street and deploying their funds to truly self- directed retirement plans. As a result of poor performance in the stock market, more and more IRA holders are seeking direct control and empowerment of their retirement investments.
What is the benefit of making such a move? The main advantage of a truly self-directed IRA is that it allows the account holder flexibility to invest in all "allowable" assets, not just securities. That includes both "traditional" investments such as stocks, bonds, CDs and "non-traditional" investments such as real estate, trust deeds, notes, private stock, LPs, futures in addition to so much more. Currently, the retirement portfolios held in ‘traditional" IRA accounts in banks and brokerage firms offer only a limited menu of financial products with the incentive of making commissions. However, an Administrator of a self-directed IRA account like Entrust does not sell or promote any product and all fees are only made by doing the administration and record keeping of the IRA account.
So why limit your investment choices in your retirement plan? Take control of your financial future and expand the wealth generating potential of your assets with a truly self-directed IRA.
Munzer Ghosheh, Business Development Manager
mghosheh@theentrustgroup.com