A self-directed IRA gives you the freedom to invest in almost anything, tax-free.
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We’ve been an industry leader in self-directed retirement since 2010, helping over 25,000 clients save money on taxes and grow their retirement portfolios.
Leverage our deep industry knowledge to make informed investment decisions.
You decide where your money goes. Invest in alternative assets including businesses, real estate, and crypto.
Our services are fully compliant with financial regulations, giving you peace of mind.
| IRA Financial | Other Providers | |
|---|---|---|
| Flat Annual Fee | Yes | No |
| $0 Setup Fee | Yes | No |
| $0 Check Fees | Yes | No |
| $0 Investment Fee | Yes | Yes |
| $0 Asset Valuation Fee | Yes | No |
| $0 Roth Conversion Fee | Yes | No |
| Guaranteed IRS Audit Protection | Yes | Yes |
| Annual Tax Consulting | Yes | No |
| Annual Reporting & Filing Service | Yes | No |
Get started in minutes with our simple online app.
We’ll guide you through setting up your IRA account.
Transfer funds to your account and start investing in your future.
With a custodian-controlled IRA, you tell us the investments you want to make, and we’ll do all the work. Invest in traditional and alternative assets, like real estate.
Pricing: $0 setup fee, $495 annually
By utilizing the IRA LLC structure, you have total “checkbook control” to make investments when you want, without custodial consent.
Pricing: $999 setup fee, $495 annually
Best retirement plan if you are self-employed. Enjoy high annual contributions, Roth and loan features, and unlimited investment opportunities.
Pricing: $999 setup fee, $399 annually
With the all-new IRAfi Crypto™ trading app, you can now buy, sell, and trade the most popular cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP, for a low, annual fee of just $100.
Pricing: $0 setup fee, $100 annually, 1% fee per trade
An IRS-approved structure that allows you to use retirement funds to start your own business or raise capital for an existing business.
Pricing: Starting at $3,500 setup fee, $1,200 annually
A regular IRA, oftentimes referred to as a traditional IRA, is generally overseen by a broker or investment advisor. The IRA funds are restricted to traditional investments, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. While Self-Directed IRAs also allow you to purchase stocks, you can also invest in hard assets, such as real estate, cryptocurrencies, gold and other precious metals, hard-money loans, and more!
Of course, “traditional” simply means it was the original IRA (as opposed to the Roth, which came along after). Basically, it refers to a pretax IRA. All contributions are made with pretax funds and no taxes are due until you withdraw from the plan. This is known as tax deferral.
All pretax IRAs, whether they are self-directed or not, are considered traditional plans. For the purposes of this article, we are using the terms regular and traditional interchangeably, since many people often confuse the two! Everything boils down to where you open your plan and how much freedom they offer you.
The majority of Americans wealth is invested in traditional equities and fixed income markets. There are approximately 60 million IRAs worth approximately $12 trillion dollars. It is estimated that close to 94% of IRA assets are invested in traditional investments, like stock. Since the creation of IRAs in 1974, alternative investments such as real estate have always been permitted to be invested by IRAs. But few people seemed to know about this option until the last several years. So why can’t you invest your IRA in alternative assets at a bank or traditional brokerage firm?
Not surprisingly, the answer comes down to money. Traditional brokerage firms make money and fees on your cash and from selling traditional investments, like stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. They do not generate any revenues or profits when your IRA invests in alternative investments, such as real estate. Hence, it is not in their financial interest to publicize the fact that the IRS allows all IRAs to invest in alternative assets, such as real estate, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, private placements and much more.
Many IRA investors believe they must invest their IRA in stocks, bonds and bank CDs. Fewer investors know that they can invest in real estate, tax-liens, precious metals, cryptocurrencies and other non-traditional assets. However, the IRS permits non-traditional assets to be held inside IRA retirement accounts. These investments with a Self-Directed IRA, or Self-Directed IRA LLC are fully permissible
The main benefits of a self-directed IRA are:
Investing in what you know and understand.
You can make virtually any type of investment with a Self-Directed IRA. There are very few investments you cannot make with your IRA funds. The IRS says you cannot invest in life insurance or collectibles, such as art and rugs. Essentially, everything else is permitted so long as you don’t break the prohibited transaction rules. Your Self-Directed IRA investment can only benefit the plan itself, and not you (or any disqualified person) personally.
Popular investments in a Self-Directed IRA include:
A Self-Directed IRA LLC offers you the ability to use your retirement funds for almost any type of investment without custodian consent. The IRS only describes prohibited investments, which are life insurance and collectibles.
IRA Financial Group is the only company where you can set up a Self-Directed IRA directly from our mobile app. That means you can do everything from our app, set up and account, fund the account, invest, and establish a Self-Directed IRA. It’s very simple to set up. All you need to do is set up an account with IRA Financial, roll over funds into your new Self-Directed IRA or make an initial contribution. After setting up your Self-Directed IRA, you will be able to invest in alternative and traditional investments such as real estate or stock directly from your account. You’re able to open the account directly from our app, never leave your house, no need to ever go to a bank.
For 2025, you can contribute up to $7,000 plus an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution if you are age 50 or older. IRA contributions can be made in pretax, after-tax and Roth.
Take control of your retirement by investing in alternative assets like real estate, cryptocurrency, businesses, and more. Start creating wealth today by opening an account.