When you see an investment you want, simply write a check or wire the funds from your self-directed IRA LLC bank account. Your Self-Directed IRA LLC is seen as a business entity, therefore it can establish its own bank account, which gives you the ability to directly access the funds you need. Within minutes, the investment is yours.

Because you’re the manager of the Checkbook IRA LLC, you don’t need to pay a custodial fee for each IRA investment, or the transaction fees applies whenever you make a transaction through a custodian. So this last benefit of the Checkbook IRA is that you simply make a one-time establishment fee.

Whether it is through retirement investments, such as IRAs or 401(k) plans, or personal savings, many of us have most of our savings connected in some way to the stock market. In fact, over 90% of retirement assets are invested in the financial markets. Investing in non-traditional assets, such as real estate, offers investment diversification from the equity markets. In general, the more diversified your portfolio, the greater the chance your assets will offer lower correlation, meaning they are less likely to move in the same direction.

With the Checkbook IRA, you benefit by investing in assets you understand. Don’t understand Wall Street? Don’t invest in Wall Street. With complete control of your IRA, you can invest in real estate, tax liens, precious metals and many other popular investment assets. Additionally, you no longer need to wait for a custodian’s approval.

Many alternative assets, such as real estate and precious metals, are tangible, hard assets that you can see and touch. With real estate, for example, you can drive by with your family, point out the window, and say, “My IRA owns that.” For some, that’s important psychologically, especially in times of financial instability, inflation, or political or global upheaval.

Many Americans became frustrated with the volatility of the equity markets. Many Americans are somewhat shell-shocked from the market swings and not 100% sure what exactly goes on in Wall Street and how it all works. Real estate, for comparison, is easier to understand. Real estate is quickly becoming a mainstream asset category and one of the most trusted asset classes for Americans. The same goes for cryptocurrencies, which is based on the blockchain – a new and exciting  technology – which many investors wish to gain exposure to in a tax-friendly account.  It is, of course, not without risk, however, many retirement investors feel more comfortable understanding the real estate market and buying and selling real estate than they do stocks.