Tired of watching your IRA and 401K go up and down with the ebb and flow of traditional investments — not to mention the paltry return?
Why not take charge of your retirement! Because you can leverage your existing IRA or 401k into an Alternative IRA — by self-directing your retirement accounts into alternative investments. The potential exists to experience returns far higher than from your traditional volatile market investments. . .
Secure your Alternative IRA with Trust Deed investments collateralized by Real Estate. Our Custodian is IRA Services Trust Company, a leader in the self-directed IRA field with more than 30 years’ experience and upwards of 40,000 account-holders. IRA Services Trust Company is well-versed in the whole range of alternative investments, with the expertise to confidently transact our clients’ Trust Deed and related real estate opportunities. Meanwhile, any uninvested cash in your Alternative IRA will still be secured by the same FDIC coverage you’re used to at the traditional IRA custodians.
Contact us by email to learn more on how you can earn substantial returns as a Private Money Lender, by self-directing your Alternative IRA account.
Forms & Documents
Funding Your Account
There are three methods with which to fund your account. You can:
- Make a contribution;
- Rollover funds from a qualified retirement plan such as a 401k, 401k, 403b, 457, defined benefit plan, profit sharing plan, etc.; and/or
- Transfer funds from another IRA
Important: We have a minimum balance requirement of $500 that must be maintained in your custodial cash account at all times. We recommend that you fund your account with at least $700 or more than your intended investment amount so there are sufficient funds to cover the amount of your investment, our $500 minimum balance requirement, and any additional transaction fees you may incur. Your investment funds will not be released if you have insufficient funds in your account to cover fees and the $500 minimum balance requirement.
Contribution:
Please consult your tax advisor if you are eligible to make a contribution, and to determine your contribution limit. To make a contribution, please write a check made payable to “IRA Services Trust Company” and submit it with a Deposit Form.
Timeline: Contribution checks are held for 5 business days per our funds hold policy.
Rollover:
Please consult your tax advisor and Plan Administrator if you are eligible to do a rollover. If you are, you must initiate the rollover with your Plan Administrator. A cash rollover can be done in two ways depending on how your Plan Administrator chooses to handle your request:
- Indirect Rollover in which they will send a check made payable to you. In the case of an indirect rollover, please deposit the check into your personal bank account and write a check made payable to “IRA Services Trust Company”. Please submit a Deposit Form with your check. You may submit this form and the check with your account application, or after your account has been established.
- Direct Rollover in which they will send a check directly to IRA Services Trust Company; please submit a Deposit Form once you have confirmed that your Plan Administrator will send a check directly to IRA Services Trust Company. You may submit this form with your account application, or after your account has been established.
You may also rollover funds from another IRA, however you will have to initiate the rollover process with your financial institution. If you choose to rollover IRA funds, please submit a Deposit Form with the rollover check. Please note: You are only allowed one IRA-to-IRA rollover in any 12-month period.
Important: Please note that if a rollover is executed, your Plan Administrator and/or financial institution will issue a Form 1099R that you must report in your tax filings. In order for the funds to remain tax-free, you must send in your rollover check to IRA Services within 60 days of issuance by your Plan Administrator and/or financial institution. We will provide you with a Form 5498 to offset the Form 1099R at the beginning of the year following our receipt of your rollover funds. The year-end statement you will receive from us is a substitute Form 5498 which you may submit with your Form 1099R. For more information on tax implications, please contact your tax advisor.
Timeline: Varies depending on how long it takes your Plan Administrator to issue your rollover check. Rollover checks may be held for 3-5 business days per our funds hold policy.
Transfer:
To initiate an IRA-to-IRA transfer of funds from another financial institution with IRA Services Trust Company, you must complete the Account Transfer portion of the application process. A Transfer Authorization form will be generated at the end of the application process, on which you will need to provide your original ink signature. You will need to submit your signed Transfer Authorization form with your most recent account statement from the financial institution from which you are transferring.
Mail the Transfer Authorization form and your statement (along with all other required account acknowledgment documents) to one of the addresses provided below. We will take care of contacting your financial institution to transfer your funds.
Regular mail:
IRA Services Trust Company
Service Center
PO Box 7080, San Carlos, CA 94070
Overnight/courier mail:
IRA Services Trust Company
Service Center
1160 Industrial Rd, Suite 1, San Carlos, CA 94070
Timeline: Transfers can take 2-4 weeks or more to complete, depending on how fast your financial institution can process the transfer request.
Making Your Investment
When you are ready to make your investment, complete and send the following forms to IRA Services Trust Company:
- Investment Authorization
Timeline: Investment requests take 3-5 business days to process. Your funds will be released once your investment documents have been reviewed and approved, and your account is sufficiently funded.