Self-Directed IRA
ACCREDITED INVESTORS ONLY

With Brick and Equity as the custodian of your Self Directed Retirement Account,
you are in the driver’s seat, and hold the power and decision making
role in your retirement planning.

Fill out our application now and see if you qualify.

Embrace the power to take an active role in your retirement planning. It’s NEVER too early to start planning for retirement!

A Self Directed IRA is an individual retirement account that gives you complete control over your investment choices.

Unlike other IRAs, you’re not limited to stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. You can take advantage of investing in alternative assets – such as trust deeds, mortgages, real estate, precious metals, limited partnerships, and more – with your Self Directed retirement account.

Self-directed IRAs provide a new and versatile way to invest in your future. Though SDIRAs are similar to IRAs, they also provide account holders with a variety of investment options, increased savings, and control over their assets.

Opening an IRA Account

A Traditional IRA is an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that is held at a custodial institution and may be invested in anything that the IRS allows (see Investments). If your employer does not offer a retirement plan, then a traditional IRA is generally your best option for saving pre-tax money for retirement. Depending on whether or not you are married, and if your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, you may be subject to income limitations. If you are not currently self-directed, you can take your current IRA or 401(k) and roll it over into a Self Directed IRA. It is a simple process, and there is no penalty for doing it. You are not taking a distribution; you are simply changing the administrator so that you are allowed to decide where your money goes.

A difference from the Roth IRA, the only criterion for being eligible to contribute to a Traditional IRA is sufficient income to make the contribution. However, the best provision of a Traditional IRA — the tax-deductibility of contributions — has strict eligibility requirements based on income, filing status, and availability of other retirement plans (mandated by the Internal Revenue Service). Transactions in the account, including interest, dividends, and capital gains, are not subject to tax while still in the account, but upon withdrawal from the account, withdrawals are subject to federal, state, and local income tax, if applicable. The money in the account grows tax-deferred. Any interest or capital gains from the investments are not taxed when the gains are realized. Instead, they are deferred until money is withdrawn from the IRA, at which point the money is taxed as ordinary income. This is in contrast to a Roth IRA, in which contributions are never tax-deductible, but qualified withdrawals are tax free. The Traditional IRA also has more restrictions on withdrawals than a Roth IRA. With both types of IRA, transactions inside the account (including capital gains, dividends, and interest) incur no tax liability. The primary benefit of a traditional IRA is that you can contribute up to $5,500 a year ($6,500 if you are age fifty or older) to this account, which for many people is tax deductible.

Using your IRA for Home Purchase

Real estate purchased in a self-directed IRA can have a mortgage placed against the property, thus lowering the amount of total cash needed for a purchase. Business investments may include partnerships, joint ventures, and private stock. This can be a platform to fund a start-up business or other for-profit venture that is managed by someone other than the account owner of the IRA.

Real estate and/or real property includes non-traditional assets, such as single-family and multi-unit homes, apartment buildings, co-ops, condominiums, improved or unimproved land (leveraged or unleveraged), commercial property, and more. A Self-Directed IRA gives you the freedom to invest these types of properties. The purchase of real estate through a self-directed retirement plan is a popular investor choice.

SDIRA Accounts Made Easy

A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (or a SIMPLE IRA) is a retirement account that gives employers an easy way to make contributions toward their own retirement, as well as toward the retirement of employees. A SIMPLE IRA is designed for small businesses with 100 employees or less, as well as self-employed individuals. If you are self-employed, you are considered both “employer” and “employee” under the terms of the plan.

Investing with a Self Directed IRA isn’t much different than investing outside of an IRA. There are a few minor differences and some rules to be aware of, but the team at Brick and Equity guarantee to make the process as easy and painless for you.

There are 6 basic steps to using a Self Directed IRA Account.

Step 1:

Establish and Fund your account with a Self Directed IRA Custodian – For most accounts with a Self Directed IRA Custodian, all you’ll need is a signed application, copy of your driver’s license, signed disclosure forms, and method of payment for your contribution. To fund your account, deposit new cash or move funds from an existing 401(k), IRA or other retirement savings plan to your new account.

Step 2:

Identify Your Self Directed IRA Investment – Once you’ve identified an investment you’d wish to make with your Self Directed IRA account, the next step is to contact Brick and Equity, and fill out the direction of investment form. Let us know where you’d like to invest. Our team will assist you in getting everything filled out correctly and quickly for your investment.

Step 3:

Do your homework on the Investment – Before investing make sure you know and understand Self Directed IRA rules and regulations and then make sure you have the correct title on your investment; remember the investment needs to be titled in the name of your Self Directed IRA and not your name personally.

Step 4:

Request the Funds to Purchase your Investments – Brick and Equity or the SDIRA Custodian of your choice, will review and process your direction of investment form, we send funds from your SDIRA to purchase the investment of your choosing, per your instructions.

Step 5:

Maintenance – You must maintain your investment. All expenses and profits related to your investment, must be made from and to your Self Directed IRA account.

Step 6:

Sell Your SDIRA Investment – When the time comes to sell your investment, you will need to negotiate the terms of the sale, and complete the investment forms instructing, Brick and Equity, to sell on behalf of your Self Directed IRA. The profits from the sale return to your Self Directed IRA, either tax-deferred or tax-free, and they are available to you to use again for future investments.

 
 

How Do I Open a Self-Directed Account?

When you are ready to open your Self-Directed IRA the thing to remember is: Not all Self-Directed IRA Custodians are created equal.

When opening a SDIRA means that you will have to use a special type of IRA Custodian. Each Custodian in the field of Self-Directed accounts, has a different amount of experience, services, and fee schedules. Ultimately, you should choose a custodian that you feel comfortable with and have done research on. As much as we’d like you to choose us, Horizon Trust, the choice is ultimately yours.

Choose the Custodian that has the most to offer to YOU!

Step 1: Select a Self Directed IRA custodian

In most cases, your current IRA or 401K provider does not allow for a Self Directed IRA option. That means that in order to have a Self-Directed IRA, you will need to select a new IRA provider that does, in fact, offer the Self Directed IRA.

Step 2: Liquidate your current account

Once you have a Custodian picked out, the next step will be to liquidate your current IRA or 401k. This generally means to remove the money in the account from being invested in any active investments like a mutual fund or any stocks. This usually requires some paperwork to be filled out and a phone call to be made to your current custodian. This is one of the benefits of working with us at custodian like Horizon Trust.

Not only do we help you fill out the paperwork correctly (which saves you a ton of time and headache) we will also make the phone call to the current custodian with you to ensure all questions are answered and that the liquidation takes place correctly. The liquidation process can take about an hour or a couple of days depending on what paperwork has to be returned and what calls need to be made.

Step 3: Open your Self Directed IRA

Well, step 2 and 3 actually happen at about the same time. Once you have initiated contact with a Self Directed IRA custodian and begin the liquidation process you will then start setting up your new Self Directed IRA. Generally, there is an account set up fee and an annual maintenance fee charged when you open the account. Most Custodians allow you to pay that fee with the money from the IRA that you are transferring over or from a credit card. The advantage of putting the fee on the card is that you keep more money in your Self Directed IRA and that fee is tax deductible. Once your Self Directed IRA is open there is usually a waiting period for your funds to completely transfer over which depends on your current custodian. Every custodian is a little different and generally, transfer periods could last 7 to 45 days.

Step 4: Invest

Once your account is set up and the funds have arrived then there is no time to waste, start earning interest!

When working with Brick and Equity, as your Self Directed IRA Custodian, we make funding your new account a seamless progress. We will help you to get your account funded by the funding option of your choice, be it rolling over an old retirement account, transferring funds from a current account, or making contributions via check or credit card.

Our team will get you all the correct paperwork you need to get the ball rolling on funding your account.

 
 

To receive funds from your Self Directed IRA without penalty, you must reach the age of 59 ½ (the Roth IRA also requires that the account has been open for at least five years).

Required Minimum Distributions

Traditional IRA, SEP, SIMPLE and Solo 401(k) account holders must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMD) from their accounts beginning April 1st of the year following reaching age 70 ½.

RMD is calculated by special formula relating to life expectancy; please consult with IRS Publication 590 and/or a tax consultant. RMDs are calculated for each account, which means if you have multiple accounts you are required to take distributions from each account.

Special Note on Premature Distributions

You can generally withdraw funds from a Traditional or Roth IRA without penalty at any time after you have attained the age of 59 ½. If you decided to withdraw money from your Traditional or Roth IRA account prior to reaching age 59 ½ you will be subject a 10% early distribution penalty tax (with the Roth IRA, you can withdraw any contribution as long as it has been in the account for 5 years).

Are there exceptions to the 10% early distribution penalty tax?

Yes, there are several exceptions to the 10% early distribution penalty tax. Among the exceptions recognized under the Internal Revenue Code are the distributions due to the following events:

  • Death
  • Disability
  • Qualified higher education expenses
  • The distributions are part of a series of substantially equal payments
  • Unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income
  • Medical insurance premiums
  • Expenses associated with buying or building a first home
  • Payment of any IRS levy and
  • Qualified reservist distribution.

Accredited Investor Form

We are required to restrict access to information to only accredited investors. Please read the following carefully and fill out the form below.