Investing in Commercial Real Estate through Your Retirement Account
Shake Up Your IRA with a Dash of CRE
Depending on your appetite, the right amount of commercial real estate (CRE) can serve as a low-correlated diversifier to spice up a traditional stock and bond combo.
Why Commercial Real Estate?
Why should an investor consider CRE? We did a pretty substantial breakdown of the top reasons to invest in commercial real estate in another blog post, but the top four boil down to:
- CRE Investors are Directly Exposed to the Strong US Economy
- CRE Offers Comparatively High Income Returns
- CRE Adds Portfolio Diversity While Lowering Risk
- CRE is the Third Largest Asset Class in the US
If you’re new to the world of commercial real estate and want to learn more about this asset class, we highly advise you read this blog post and also download our e-book.
Once you’ve educated yourself, head on back over here to read more about how you can access CRE investments in your retirement portfolio.
And for those of you already convinced that CRE is an asset class you want to read about, keep scrolling!
Take Control and Self-Direct Your Retirement Funds
People often refer to retirement investment products as “vehicles,” yet most investors are more than happy letting someone else jump in the front seat and drive said vehicle for them.
If you had a $2.3 million car, would you just sit in the backseat and let the guy from the dealership drive you around all day? Probably not.
But that’s what happens with many retirement accounts. Some investors work for decades to save up as much money as they can.
Then, after all that hard work, they usually do one of two things: they turn investment decisions over to an advisor; or, if they’re managing their own accounts, then end up investing in mutual funds where a fund manager is making decisions for them.
That said, for investors who don’t want to be so passive with their retirement savings, there are alternatives.
Instead, investors can choose to work with a custodian to directly manage their retirement funds using a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA).
What is a SDIRA?
Rather than being limited to the traditional stocks, bonds and mutual funds available from their online brokerage account, an investor has the freedom to put their money into a far wider range of asset classes.
With their SDIRA, an investor can invest in real estate, private securities, limited partnerships, precious metals, commodities, crowdfunding investments and more.
Recognizing some investors might prefer to have the flexibility to direct their retirement savings in the specific way they see fit, iintoo has decided to work with a custodian to provide our members with this SDIRA option.
Defer Taxes
Now instead of being limited to only investing new funds into properties on our iintoo platform in a taxable account, members can rollover their IRA funds into a SDIRA and can start investing with the tax-deferred benefits of a retirement account.
That means if you have gains or dividends on any of your real estate investments, you’ll be able to defer taxes until withdrawal. Which for some investors is decades away. So any gains (if there are any; all investing comes with risk!) can compound for years before a tax bill comes due.
Of course, when the time comes, you’ll still want to consult with your tax professional, but until withdrawal any gains can be reinvested into your investment to potentially grow tax-free.
Get an extra level of equity protection* on your retirement portfolio
If you decide to invest with iintoo, not only can you choose which specific real estate properties you invest in, but you can also choose to diversify into one fund with a mix of different commercial real estate asset classes handpicked by our expert team.
With our epiic L.P. 1 fund, you can gain direct access to premium real estate investment opportunities with equity protection*.
*There are risks associated with investing and principal loss is possible. Certain restrictions and limitations apply. Refer to our full disclaimer.
Go here to learn more.
Learn more about our epiic fund
Enjoy Smart, Strategic Retirement Benefits
When you self-direct your retirement funds to commercial real estate investments with iintoo you’ll enjoy several benefits.
Insurance on Your Investment
Backed by an affiliate of the Everest Re Group, Ltd. (NYSE: RE), if you invest in our epiic fund you’ll receive equity protection* on your investment.
Handpicked & Monitored
The iintoo team reviews hundreds of properties but only selects a handful that meet our standards. But we don’t stop there. After funding, we continue to monitor to ensure your investment and its team are doing their job.
Tax-Advantaged Account
If you use a qualified tax-advantaged account, you’ll be able to defer taxes owed on any potential gains and dividends. Plus, you’ll be able to use any gains to re-invest back into your holdings.
Diversification
A well-balanced portfolio holds a mix of asset classes. Adding commercial real estate to a collection of stocks and bonds can help to add one more asset variable to further diversify your portfolio.
How to Start Investing in a Commercial Real Estate SDIRA
You don’t have to be a Wall Street wizard to open up an account with iintoo and begin the process of self-directing your retirement funds into commercial real estate. Once you reach out to us, we’ll help walk you through every step of the process.
Open an iintoo account
Any individual who qualifies as an accredited investor is able to open a free account with iintoo and begin investing. Either in a retirement or a normal taxable account.
Direct funds through an intermediary custodian
To invest in a retirement account, you’ll direct any existing retirement funds from your existing IRA to our intermediary custodian. We’ll be able to walk you through this quick and easy process. We can work with any custodian, or can recommend our partner, Madison Trust.
Funds held in secure safekeeping account
The custodian will then hold the funds on your behalf until you’re ready to invest them.
Choose your investment
Once you’re ready, you’ll direct the custodian as to how you want to invest your funds with iintoo. They’ll then coordinate your investment with us. As appropriate, we’ll make any income and principal repayments to the custodial account
Review & Reinvest
For any monies you collect, you can reinvest into new investments. Throughout the life of your investments, both you and the custodian will receive ongoing reports so you can always keep track of investments in real time through our online platform.