How an investment is structured affects what you owe at tax time, how you report it, and how much of your return you actually keep. These articles cover the tax treatment of debt instruments versus equity ownership, how self-directed IRAs and other retirement accounts can be used to invest in private real estate funds, and how to think about account selection when building a tax-efficient portfolio.
Most people researching self-directed IRA rules have a specific plan in mind: buying a rental property with retirement money, often through a setup called a checkbook IRA. Your IRA is allowed to own that property. What costs investors their tax protection is who the IRA does business with after it
If you’re an accredited investor, there’s a good chance you have retirement money sitting in index funds or a money market account, earning modest returns and following the stock market wherever it goes. Many investors assume those are their only options inside an IRA or 401(k). They’re not. Your retirement
