Buying real estate with your self-directed IRA is quite simple to do once you know the proper steps.  Many people are unaware that they can fund IRA and direct it to buy real estate on their behalf.  Below are the steps you need to take if you wish to purchase real estate with a self-directed IRA.

Step #1 – Establish An Account With A Trust Company – You can find several trust companies who manage self-directed IRA’s by going online and typing the words “self-directed IRA.”  Setting up an IRA with a trust company usually takes only minutes by completing a simple application.

Step #2 – Fund Your Account – Now you have to fund the account, which is just as easy as opening the self-directed IRA.  The main ways to fund your account are by check, wire transfer or rollover.  If you have an existing retirement plan such as an IRA, 401k, or 403b these funds can be transferred to a self-directed IRA allowing you to make real estate IRA investments.  Check with your current or previous employers regarding transferring such qualified plans. Read the rest of this entry

Consider making a retirement annuity an integral part of your over investment portfolio.  Planning for your retirement can prove to be a very tiring task but making the right decisions before you hit the critical retirement age is no excuse for not learning all the things that you need to know about securing this later stage of your life.

Life insurance, social security and even the more classic individual retirement account (IRA) will help you through your retirement age. Counselors from these departments are better equipped with procedures on assisting clients with questions regarding the odds related to your life’s most challenging part.

In addition, the individual retirement annuity may work well with you if you intend to use your savings for yourself while living with a partner. In either case, the amount you will get from the accrued earnings and contributions you get from this type of social retirement contribution provides you, your partner and your relatives in turn for a more secure future through continued financial stability through receiving fixed payments, yet economically sufficient. Read the rest of this entry

First things first, you should have a will.  Making a will not only does the obvious:  distribute wealth and possessions to loved ones; they also leave an impression on how carefully one has managed his or her estate especially for those left behind.  The last thing you want is to leave your family trying to figure out what you wanted done with your estate.

The following are 5 must know things you should and should not do in making a will:

Must Know # 1 – Do update your will

Everything changes.   Possessions, money can increase or decrease.  Estate tax laws change in a whim thanks to Congress.  The IRS can just as well alter these laws depending on whose side they are on and how they interpret it.  There are varying laws in each state.  It is important to evaluate every major change in your life.  Doing so could change your will for the better and your death a lot more peaceful. Read the rest of this entry

IRA contributions is one of the best ways for you to build a large retirement nest egg.  Below are four ways that contributing to an IRA can benefit you.

1) Compound Interest + Tax Deferred Profits = Lasting Wealth

Compound interest when understood and used properly is the most powerful force on earth.  Here’s why.  Compound interest occurs when you not only earn interest on your original investment sum, but also on the interest earned on the original sum.

For example, beginning at age 25, you take $4 you spend each day for coffee and put it towards retirement.  At that rate, you’d save $121 a month.  If you received 9% in compounding interest each year, you’d have $23,415 after 10 years.  After 20 years, you’d have $221,520 and after 30 years, when you are 55, you’d have an amazing $566,440.

The power of compound interest is multiplied in tax-advantage accounts, such as IRAs.  For example, if you were to contribute $4,000 a year to a tax-advantaged account (such as an IRA) and assume an 8% compound interest rate of return for 30 years, you self-directed IRA would be worth $449,133 at the end of year 30. Read the rest of this entry

If you are looking at investing into an annuity you may have heard the term surrender penalty thrown around a few times.  In fact you may not be clear exactly what it is and how it could affect you.

In this article you will learn what an annuity surrender penalty is and how to deal with them.

What Is A Surrender Penalty

First off, what is an annuity surrender penalty?  This is a penalty to protect the company from having people cash out their annuities.  Typically annuity companies will have fees they need to collect on policies but usually they are spread out over a long period of time, this way they don’t have to collect all the fees up front.

If someone were to cash out their policy before they were able to collect on all of the fees the insurance company would lose out, so they have a surrender penalty in place just in case someone does decide to close their account. Read the rest of this entry

The IRS 401(k) retirement plan is funded by employee contribution and a matching employer contribution. The major feature of the plan is that the contributions are taken from pre-taxed salary. The fund accumulates tax-free until it is withdrawn. Most businesses and tax-exempt organizations can create these retirement plans.

The 401(k) takes its name from the IRC (Internal Revenue Code) of 1978. The operation of the 401(k) is administered by the EBSA (Employee Benefits Security Administration) of the Department of Labor.

The IRS 401(k) plan has a lot of advantages. First and foremost is that the employee can contribute pre-tax money that reduces the tax paid in each paycheck.  Also, the company contribution and any growth in the fund is free of tax until withdrawn.