Jeff Nabers’ Self Directed IRA & Solo 401(k) Blog

With gas prices and virtually every other cost of living rising, responding to the declining dollar is something we all have probably thought about by now. One option available to us all is precious metals: namely gold, silver, and platinum.

The trick with getting metals into a retirement plan is in the Internal Revenue Code section that deals with collectibles. Strangely enough, it’s not in section 4975 (which deals with prohibited transactions); it’s in 408 which deals with IRAs. Even more odd is the fact that one part of this section is applicable to self directed qualified plans (like a Solo 401k) with no reference to its applicability within the code sections for qualified plans. This is why tax attorneys have work to do.

In 408(m)(2), they prohibit investment into collectibles and further define collectibles to include any metals or coins. 408(m)(3) goes on to exclude certain coins and bullion from being defined as “collectibles” for the purposes of disallowed investments. It breaks these “certain coins and bullion” down into two categories. (A) is essentially American Eagle coins minted by the United States. (B) is bullion that that meets or exceeds the fineness required by regulated futures contracts if such bullion is in possession of a custodial account at a bank or trust company.

So when it comes to Self Directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s, it appears that American Eagle coins are allowable for (more…)

In case you are new to the blogosphere (the world of blogs), this will serve as an introduction. Blog is short for “weblog”. At first glance, a blog is almost like a journal, but it is also much more.

The popularity of blogs is on the rise because they have become useful in some ways that regular web pages and email are not.

• Blogging is interactive. Instead of publishers having to guess what readers want, they can just read comments. At the bottom of every blog post, there is a spot where anyone can post a comment to the blog. This can be in the form of questions, suggestions, or feedback of any kind. This results in higher quality content being published.
• Updates are instant. Instead of having to come back and check a blog to see if there are any new posts, you can simply subscribe via RSS and be instantly notified as soon as there is an update to the blog. For more info see www.whatisrss.com.
• No junk. Subscribing via RSS is very different from receiving an email update. Email is like a box that anybody can put anything in. Because of this, you can’t stop people from placing junk in there. RSS is like a little gnome that goes out to fetch only the information you want from the sources you choose. He checks for updates several times per minute, and any time you want to stop receiving RSS feeds you can truly unsubscribe from the source. Unlike email where you hope the sender stops sending, with RSS you are telling your little gnome to stop getting info from that source, and nobody else has the ability to place anything in your RSS.
• Integrity. Because blogging is interactive, it makes it easier for the reader to separate fact from fiction. Imagine Al Gore has a blog, and in a post he claims that he invented the internet. Because anyone can comment, somebody can expose the misinformation for all other readers to see. When reading a blog, be sure to also read the comments for the full story.

Steps to using my blog:

1. Download an RSS reader program and use it to subscribe to my RSS feed.
2. Read my posts.
3. Add comments to help me provide the quality information that you want.

The intent of this blog is to share information relating to:

• Self-Directed IRAs
• Solo 401(k) plans
• Private investments
• Raising capital
• Making your money work for you
• Taking control of your investments

In 2003, I started what grew into the IRA Association of America, an educational nonprofit association dedicated to providing the most comprehensive educational materials on the aforementioned subject matter. Over the past several years, I have been working to integrate all of the relevant information into a format that makes sense and minimizes misinformation.

In a nutshell, I’ve spent 5 years helping some people invest with their self directed IRA/401k. I don’t run 401k or IRA accounts for anyone, I just enable people to run their accounts themselves without limitations on investment choices. The investment decisions are always up to the accountholder, so I’ve done a lot of watching, and believe it or not my conclusion is:

Most self directed IRA/401k investments involve common, avoidable mistakes.

Future posts will aim to to spotlight these avoidable mistakes as well as offer alternative solutions that have helped to make self directed investing safe, effective, and profitable for those who’ve used them.