Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Trouble With IRA Custodians

Since this blog is based on mostly tropical things and my affliction with JBS (or Jimmy Buffett Syndrome), and with the presidential election behind now for another 4 years, I wanted to share this note I received from my friend Thom over at IRAAssets.com; because in my mind, using any way possible to achieve a tropical lifestyle (even if only a few weeks or months out of the year) is worth passing along.

There has been a great deal of interest, and I'm certain there will be more interest now, in utilizing your retirement funds to own property, or other tangible stuff...Thom's web site has a great resource for the ins and outs of how to self-direct your retirement account...so here is the note I received yesterday from Thom...do with it what you will...but if you speak with Thom (and I recommend it) please let him know that SkipJack recommended you contact him...

Bob,
 
Self Directed IRA custodians aren't getting a lot of love from their clients lately, based on the calls I've received this week.
That's unfortunate because without them, we'd be stuck with holding nothing but paper assets like mutual funds, CDs or annuities in our retirement plans, instead of real estate, precious metals, mortgages or pre-IPO stock in our retirement accounts.
I consider some of these IRA custodians my friends, so when I get a call asking for our Custodian List because the investor has had it with the high fees or lack of friendly service, I realize that for every investor that's pissed enough to take action & transfer their account elsewhere, there must be 10 more that feel the same way.

No one is ever happy when the occasional mistake occurs that delays our hard earned profits from getting into our retirement plan. It makes you wonder if your custodian really values our business at all.


Today the problem is two-fold. Custodians are being hit with wave after wave of new regulations since they are trustees for your retirement savings, while at the same time they are watching their customer base double every few years.

Most of them tell me their biggest challenge is constantly hiring and training a larger staff.

The alternative for many investors is to switch to what is often called a
Check Book IRA or 401(k) plan where the account owner takes over much of the custodians work and manages their own funds.
Click here watch the recorded webinar on Check Book Retirement Plans.

Basically, you become the record keeper for your retirement plan as well as hold your IRA-or-401(k) funds at your local bank, so you are the only person having check book access to your retirement funds.

Let me know if this was helpful.


Best regards,


Thom

Publisher:

Diversify Magazine
IRA Assets News.com
800-914-2689

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune ~ Jim Rohn