Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Basics of Roth IRA Investing

Questions about the best Roth IRA investments are common. Under the Roth IRA limits or guidelines, there are plenty of investment options. In order to diversify as much as possible, you need to open a self-directed account. Account custodians are not allowed to give investing advice, so they can not answer questions about the best Roth IRA investments.

The rules for a Roth IRA limits only the amount of qualifying contributions that you can make into an account during a tax year. There are no limits on the number of investments that you can make during a year. But, sometimes, you may need some advice.

You will find that opinions vary about the best Roth IRA investments. Usually it depends on who the advice is coming from. Bankers suggest certificates of deposit. Stock brokers suggest mutual funds. Financial planners suggest diversification.

If you have the funds available, invest in some of each. If you have a self-directed account, don't forget real estate. There are some Roth IRA limits or rules when it comes to real estate investments, having primarily to do with transactions that are considered self-dealing or indirectly beneficial to the account owner (you). But, the trustees are also prohibited from benefitting from a transaction. Do you remember the movie "Ghost"? The villain was about to be caught under the self-dealing rules and he would have ended up owing a lot of people money and going to jail. That's why custodians avoid giving advice about the best Roth IRA investments. They never want any of their actions to be suspect.

Custodians can offer education within the Roth IRA limits. And, education is always important. Whether you are an experienced investor or just started out, the more information and assistance that you have at your disposal, the better off you will be.

Many of us consider houses and rental units some of the best Roth IRA investments, particularly those that can be directly purchased with funds from the account. Financing is an option, but profits are subject to "unrelated business income" taxes, when financing is used.

Under the Roth IRA limits, you may purchase commercial or residential property, as long as you and other disqualified persons do not reside or have office space in the properties held by your account. Because, of the tax-free status of profits made within the account, it is possible to increase your profits on real estate deals by about 30%, depending on your tax bracket and other issues.

Currently, the Roth IRA limits for contributions are $5000 per year and that amount will go up another $500 every year due to inflation. So, by making the maximum contribution, you can very quickly amass sufficient funds to delve into the real estate market.

Your primary goal for your retirement account should be to create a passive flow of income into the account, with minimal costs involved. By definition, those are the best Roth IRA investments to make. If you find the right deals, you may be able to build your account more quickly than you thought possible.

Ronald D. Frommert is an advocate of using a self directed IRA for real estate investments to maximize returns. To learn more about the advantages of IRA investing in real estate visit http://www.ilocusa.com

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Since all of these retirement accounts have both short-term and long-term tax implications, the Internal Revenue Service has outlined some rules to make sure abuses do not take place.

Roth IRA rules are pretty straightforward because they fall into just a couple of categories that follow the typical scenarios that might happen along the way - eligibility, contributions, transfers, and withdrawals. That's really just about all of the Roth IRA rules you'd encounter.

Nick said...

Thank you for that comment.