IRA Financial’s Adam Bergman Esq. discusses why financial institutions don’t want you to self-direct your IRA and invest in alternative assets, and why it’s all a lie.
Guess what? Financial institutions are lying to you about your IRA! That may be a bit of an overstatement, but they are definitely not telling you the whole story. Why would they lie? Easy answer is they want your money. They don’t want you searching around for other IRA providers. They want you to invest with them. If you knew the whole truth, chances are you wouldn’t open your IRA with them. In this episode of Adam Talks, Adam Bergman explains what they aren’t telling you and gives you the total scoop. That way, you can make the most informed decision about where to open your IRA.
IRA Lies
We’ve seen a lot more of these IRA lies going around and we wanted to clear the air. This is not a sales pitch! Of course, Mr. Bergman would love for you to become a client of IRA Financial. We feel we are the nation’s top provider of self-directed retirement plans. The purpose of this podcast is to simply educate the populace about IRA accounts. If you go to your local bank and ask about setting an IRA, they will do whatever it takes for you to sign the papers. The more money they bring in, the fatter their wallets get.
Mr. Bergman, a tax lawyer, didn’t know the benefits of the Self-Directed IRA early on in his career. However, when tasked with a potential investment a client wanted to make, he quickly learned everything about them. After figuring out about the benefits, he decided he wanted to educate everyone about the powers of self-directing. Let’s address the IRA lies your financial institution or advisor are telling you.
What are the lies that IRA providers are telling you?
You Can’t Invest the Way You Want
Assets Under Management, or AUM, is the number one reason financial institutions and some financial advisors won’t tell you the whole truth. Fees are generally based on AUM. Banks and fee-driven advisors make their money by charging fees on your assets held by them. They push financial products on you that make them money. Guess what? You can invest in just about anything you want to with your IRA.
They will tell you you can only invest in traditional assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs. Why? Because that’s where they make their money. The IRS Code dictates what you can and cannot invest in with your IRA. Simply put, you cannot invest in collectibles, life insurance or perform a prohibited transaction. An example of that is you cannot buy a house with your IRA and then live there. However, there’s nothing in the code that prohibited you from buying real estate with your IRA. The same goes for precious metals, private businesses, Bitcoin, race horses, a dairy farm, hedge funds, private equity etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
Some advisors may even say it’s illegal to invest in alternative assets. However, millions of Americans are investing billions of dollars in nontraditional investments. And, it’s perfectly legal! So long as you are not doing anything nefarious with your funds, and you are following the rules set forth by the IRS, you are good to go.
Too Much Risk
Another one of the IRA lies you might hear is that it’s too risky. “Why would you use your retirement funds and invest in an income property?” is something you might hear. Stick to the proven track record of the stock markets. You will get such and such a return over a certain time period. There’s no denying that! We can all look at historical data and see the returns on publicly traded stocks. Mr. Bergman stresses in the podcast that he believes in the stock market. Everyone should have money there. However, the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P 500 are not without risk.
They are just as volatile, if not more so, than alternative investments. Twenty, thirty years ago, investing in real estate may have been seen as a risky investment. However, times change. Real estate will always be around. Yes, there will be dips, but they always bounce back. Just as the stock market does. Can you imagine if you purchased $1,000 worth of Bitcoin in an IRA a few years ago? You could legitimately have millions of dollars worth of the popular cryptocurrency in a tax-advantaged retirement plan.
What Has Changed?
Time changes everything. Mr. Bergman uses a music analogy in the podcast. Remember when bands like Pearl Jam were the outliers of the music scene. The grunge scene was born and soon, Pearl Jam, and bands just like them, were getting nationwide exposure. They were no longer the outliers. They were mainstream. Just like using an IRA to invest in real estate was decades ago. Now, with the advent of the internet, anyone can go online and learn the facts.
Another more recent factor has been the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors got scared on the onset of this virus. Stock markets tumbled. Americans lost a lot of money. Thankfully, the markets have rebounded and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. What it did do was open investors’ eyes to other ways to invest their money.
More people have been looking at alternatives. More IRA lies are being spread. People like Adam Bergman are out here putting the kibosh on these lies. You don’t have to invest your IRA in stocks and bonds. You can invest in real estate and other alternatives. It’s perfectly legal. It’s up to you, the investor, to decide where you want to put your money. Alternatives help you properly diversify your retirement holdings. Diversifying is a huge part of retirement planning. Don’t let the IRA lies tell you otherwise!
Thanks for Listening
As always, we appreciate everyone out there who takes time to listen to the podcast. Of course, you can find them on YouTube, SoundCloud, or right here on the IRA Financial blog. Check us out each week for a brand new episode.
Remember, Adam Talks offers one man’s opinion. Be sure to do your own research before investing your retirement funds. Work with a competent advisor and a trusted IRA administrator!
