Self‑Directed IRA growth and savings calculator
See how your alternative and traditional assets could grow inside one tax-advantaged account, based on the contributions, timeline, and fees you choose.
Your investment & timeline
Your strategy
Want to see how this works for your situation?
- →The solid line is your Self-Directed IRA. It grows tax deferred and pays a flat annual fee instead of a percentage of your balance.
- →The dashed lines are the alternatives. The same assets in a taxable account with a percent of assets fee, and a taxable S&P 500 portfolio, both after fees and capital gains tax at sale.
- →Set your own expected return. Pick assets for a sensible starting point, then type the return you actually expect from the deal you are considering. It is your assumption, not a prediction.
- →Fees you could save compares a flat annual fee to a percent of assets fee on the same investments. Over decades that gap compounds.
For illustration only. This is not investment, tax, or legal advice, and IRA Financial does not provide investment advice or sell investments. Projections use hypothetical, constant annual returns and simplified fee and tax treatment, and actual results will vary. Losses are possible and alternative investments can be illiquid and carry risk. The return you enter is your own assumption. Prefilled per asset rates are long-run historical averages, not forecasts (real estate: NCREIF Property Index; private equity: Cambridge Associates; precious metals: World Gold Council; crypto set well below its historical rate). The Self-Directed IRA is shown as a tax deferred balance. A Roth Self-Directed IRA would be tax free at qualified withdrawal, while a Traditional Self-Directed IRA is taxed as ordinary income at withdrawal, which this view does not deduct. *Taxes deferred shows capital gains a taxable account would owe at sale. Contribution limits reflect 2026 IRS figures and may change.