Timothy Sumer

Self Directed IRA - Gold, Precious Metals A self-directed IRA is an individual retirement account that some financial institutions in the United States provide. This gives you access to alternative investments for retirement savings. A few examples of alternative investments are: real estate private equity, stock, private mortgages, limited partnerships, precious metals such as gold and silver, and other IP. The IRS's regulations require that a qualified trustee or custodian hold the IRA assets on behalf of every owner. The trustee or custodian provides: custody of the assets, processes the transactions, maintains the records and files, and much more, all while doing everything on behalf of the IRA account owner. With regular IRAs one would invest in stocks bonds and mutual funds. With a self-directed IRA there is a much larger range of investments with which the owner can participate in. There are prohibited asset types such is life insurance and other collectibles.