What Does My IRA Say About Custodians?
Lack of industry knowledge is often cited by IRA account holders, and custodians should be forthcoming with pricing arrangements and make it clear when fees will apply.
Explore investment custodians that provide access to an extensive variety of marketable securities, mutual funds and ETFs as well as non-traditional investments such as real estate and private companies for maximum returns.
What Does the I in IRA Stand For?
Most banks, brokerage firms, mutual fund companies and trust companies act as custodians for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). Usually they restrict investments within these accounts to relatively safe marketable securities such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETF), bonds and publicly traded stocks.
They may also prohibit alternative assets like real estate and precious metals from being included in an IRA account due to additional paperwork requirements and not trading on a central exchange.
Many self-directed IRA custodians, such as IRA Financial, specialize in alternative assets and can enable you to invest in them. Plus, their fees tend to be lower and they have extensive experience dealing with this kind of investment strategy.
Other custodians, such as banks, may not be suitable to serve as custodians of an IRA account. Banks tend to limit investment options and restrict use of non-marketable securities; they also tend to charge higher fees than dedicated custodians – annual account maintenance fees, loads charged on mutual funds and commissions charged for trading may all increase fees significantly.
IRAs are Individual Retirement Accounts
An Individual Retirement Account, commonly referred to as an “IRA”, is a tax-deferred investment plan established for the benefit of an individual or family. Contributions can be made tax-free while earnings withdrawn tax-free upon retirement. There are various types of IRAs including Traditional, Roth, myRA SEP IRA plans as well as 401(k).
Custodians of Individual Retirement Accounts are entities responsible for safeguarding assets held within an IRA plan while following IRS regulations. Custodians do not approve investments held within an IRA nor provide advice regarding them.
When choosing an IRA custodian, choose a company with an extensive selection of investments – this will increase potential returns and lower fees such as maintenance and commission costs. Also find out what fees the custodian charges annually or per trade/sale and whether or not non-traditional investments such as real estate or private companies are offered by each custodian.
IRAs are Self-Directed
Most IRA custodians only allow traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds to be made in an IRA account. For those wanting to invest in alternative assets such as real estate, precious metals or cryptocurrency through an IRA account, a self-directed IRA provider (typically banks or trust companies approved by the IRS for non-traditional investments) should be used instead.
Self-directed IRA providers do not provide investment advice and are only required to ensure compliance with government reporting regulations and other rules. As such, they do not investigate or verify pricing information contained in account statements for self-directed IRA owners.
When choosing a self-directed IRA custodian, make sure you understand their fee structure and how it’s calculated. Stay away from providers that charge asset valuation fees on every transaction and try to find an IRA custodian like IRA Financial that does not charge such fees; our aim is to provide exceptional service at an affordable cost for everyone!
IRAs are Tax-Free
Custodians are financial institutions approved by the IRS to manage an IRA and distribute account statements as required. They must also comply with all regulatory requirements while offering investment management services for their IRA investors.
Finding a custodian who allows alternative investments and provides knowledgeable specialists to handle more complicated transactions such as inherited IRAs, rollovers and self-directed IRAs is essential. A good custodian should also maintain open channels of communication either online or by telephone in order to address investor inquiries promptly.
Custodians must offer transparent pricing arrangements for their services. They should make clear the fees that will apply when buying and selling investments, such as administrative and transaction charges. A flat annual fee, which could significantly eat into retirement savings accounts, should not be levied against you either. Furthermore, disallowed transactions such as investing with family or disqualified investors such as spouses should be explained upfront as well.
Comments are closed here.