Here’s a true story I heard from a CRS agent recently: Two years ago, the agent went to her financial professional and told him that she was interested in investing in real estate with her IRA. Her financial professional said, “Don’t do it,” and she took that advice.
Today, her retirement savings account is not doing so great. She lost 40 percent of her retirement portfolio in the stock market. On the other hand, her local real estate market is doing well. “I wish I’d never followed that advice,” she told me. “I don’t understand stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. I do know and understand real estate.” After all, she is a CRS agent with a lot of experience and can identify a good deal when she sees one.
Financial professionals will sometimes talk their clients out of investing in real estate with their IRA. Depending on how the financial professional is compensated, they may see a Real Estate IRA as competition. Or perhaps they don’t understand Real Estate IRAs.
The moral of the story is, learn about your options and invest in what you know and understand. In a Real Estate IRA, you choose the investment instead of having someone choose for you. If you know real estate and can identify a good deal, why wouldn’t you invest in what you know?
Investing in real estate with an IRA is not too different from your last real estate transactions but with an important and lucrative twist: Your investment is in a tax-deferred environment where it can supercharge your retirement savings.
Find out how you can generate more referrals, leads, and repeat business with your free download of How to Help Your Clients Invest in Real Estate Tax-Free.
For more information, visit www.theentrustgroup.com and our online Real Estate IRA Center.