Getting Around Prohibited Transactions August 31, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , 15comments
Prohibited transactions is a chief topic when exploring self-directed IRA & Solo 401(k) investing. When a person first discovers that his retirement accounts have been chained to Wall Street brokerages without necessity, his mind starts to imagine the possibilities.
Real Estate? Yes.
Private Businesses? Sure.
Precious Metals? Absolutely.
Getting my hands on my retirement money now? Slow down there.
There are two types of limitations on the average retirement account. One is an unnecessary restriction of investment options to securities products. That can be eliminated through restructuring your accounts and funds. The second limitation is legal and cannot be removed.
Setting up a self-directed IRA or 401(k) is about removing limitations. Once you have it setup outside the nearly monopolistic network of securities dealers, you can invest in almost anything… but you must fully understand the legal limitations.
The general premise behind prohibited transaction rules is that the government wants you to grow your retirement account as big as possible because they plan to tax it later on when you distribute the funds to yourself for spending. Without prohibited transactions rules, anyone in their right mind would (more…)
Hiring new liberty-oriented PR specialist immediately! August 18, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , add a comment
Our publicist has done a great job getting the word out about Self-Directed IRAs, and my various writings and products related to independence, economics, investing, and freedom.
But, alas, the time has come to replace our publicist. So here’s what we’re looking for:
- Very freedom/liberty-oriented and passionate
- A basic understanding of Austrian economics and the free market
- An unlimited mindset—one that fully accepts that anything is possible and our results are up to us… only we can decide what we CAN and CAN’T accomplish together
- A realistic understanding of our world today and the terrible direction our country and our society is heading in—politically, financially, emotionally, etc. We have to be able to acknowledge and observe the problems in order to be a part of providing solutions.
- Results-oriented. We aren’t just trying to get the word out to see what happens. We are getting the word out! We set goals and then achieve them
- Experience preferred, but not required. If you have experience in public relations, awareness campaigns, or dealing with the media, that is great and will be helpful. Buuuuuut, the above requirements are much more important. The actual procedure of how to promote and make contacts and pitch ideas can be learned. Being a freedom-loving, free-market-loving, truth-knowing, positive-thinking passionate person ready to change the world cannot be learned—it’s just who you are. So that is most important, and for that reason, experience isn’t required, but it is preferred.
- Start immediately!
- Monthly salary. This doesn’t have to be a full-time job, but we will pay a substantial salary.
Be a part of a team that’s changing the world! We’ll be working to promote my book (5 Steps To Freedom) as well as my companies (Nabers Group and IRA Association). Some past exposure and events have included:
- Speaking at FreedomFest
- Writing for Forbes.com
- Contributing to articles for mint.com, realtytimes.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, LA Times, and Chicago Tribune
- Featured in trade journals
- Appearing on TV shows such as Good Morning Arizona and The Pat McMahon show
..these are just a start as we’ll be working together to continue to expose people to self-empowerment, liberty, financial freedom, Austrian economics, and similar ideas.
LIVING IN DENVER IS NOT NECESSARY. We are open to remote working arrangements. If you think you might know somebody who would be great for this position, please share this opportunity, especially on Twitter and Facebook:
Applicants, please send resume to prjob@jnabz.com and include a cover letter summarizing why you think this would be a great fit. I look forward to connecting with our new PR specialist!
How you just lost money in a stock market that's up 40% August 5, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Personal Productivity, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
Headlines abound, the stock market is up 40% from its March lows!!! Let’s all celebrate. Those who spoke badly of Obama, Bernanke, and Geithner have their foots in their mouths, right?
Not even close. These types of misleading headlines are the very weaponry of a financial system that tricks you, lures you, spikes your drink, robs you blind while you’re partying, and then nurses you back to sobriety in the morning by giving you another spiked drink.
Imagine you have $100 in the stock market. You experience a 40% loss. You now have $60. And, abracadabra, the economic rescuers have juiced the market back up 40%. You now have $84. Wait a tick, how exactly do I get back to $100? Well to recover from a 40% loss, you would need a 67% gain. You see, 40% of $60 is much less than 40% of $100, so the initial 40% loss was much larger than the 40% gain that followed. For those whose livelihood involves serious math, this is very obvious. For the rest of us, it should be an “ah ha” moment that exposes the red arrow, green arrow game.
Watching and listening to the financial news networks report about the stock market is like watching a sports game. And it entertains just like a sports game. In the midst of entertaining, it lulls us into watching the red and green arrows. Oh, it’s down today a few points. Hey look, it came back up. It feels very much like watching a basketball team surrender and regain the lead in a basketball game. If they are down by 40 points, and then they score 41 uncontested points, they have the lead and they win the game!
But it doesn’t work the same in percentage points. But just wait, over the long term the losses will be recovered and there will be profit, say the “experts” whose payroll checks are signed by Wall Street. If you buy that line of baloney, you will be further tricked. Because over the long term those losses will be recovered and there will be profits… but only as measured in dollars. If you factor in how over the long term those dollars buy less stuff, you will not find a substantial long-term profit.
Today the Dow closed at $9,320. But the dollar has lost over 96% of its purchasing power since 1913. Take 96% out of today’s Dow price and you get $372. In 1913, the Dow was at about $62. So the Dow Jones Industrial Average grew from $62 to $372 (in constant 1913 dollars) over a period of 96 years. That’s an annualized rate of return of 1.88%.
This bears repeating…
The Dow Jones has returned 1.88% per year for the past 96 years
Can you still get excited about a stock market that’s up 40% since its March lows when it is still a stock market that hasn’t even been able to produce an actual 2.00% return over the long run?
Or even more important questions: Is it worth the risk of losing a big chunk of the money you worked for just to “get some action” in a market that produces less than a 2.00% return over the long run? When you are down, can you wait decades without touching your money just to get back to your break-even point?
—-
Jeff Nabers is author of 5 STEPS TO FREEDOM: How to Cut Your Dependence on Institutions and Escape Financial Slavery
The Fragility of a Consumer Economy August 4, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
When an economy is based on healthy, sustainable activity with a balance of production and consumption, the type of depression we are in can’t happen. In our consumption-based economy, on the other hand, nothing can “stimulate” things back on track. This is because the track we were on is unsustainable. There’s no going back on it. American consumers can’t spend & consume more today in an effort to “save” the economy because we already spent and consumed the goods of today.
Despite the “green shoots” talk that all the economists and politicians are spreading on TV and in magazines and newspapers (pay no mind that these are the very people who didn’t see the crash coming–we are expected to now value their opinion about what’s going to happen next), what’s next isn’t good for the general economy. As illustrated by Ian Mathis of at Daily Reckoning, by the end of the year about 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits.
We know that unemployment is sky high right now (10% official figures and 20% as figured by shadowstats.com), but millions of those jobless Americans are receiving checks from the government that are continuing to pay for their rent, groceries, Venti 7 Pump White Mochas, etc. By year’s end, about 1.5 million Americans will no longer have a source of income. In other words, the further reduced consumption affiliated with unemployment hasn’t even come home to roost yet.
Waiting for the “general economy” to be brought back to life will turn out to be a disappointing plan. Your personal economy is what matters, and thriving is a matter of what you make for yourself. Just as the Soviet Union taught us that central planning doesn’t work, we will relearn that lesson as central planning continues to fail in the United States. Don’t wait around for stock markets to go into a long term rebound (as opposed to the bear market rally or “bounce back” that comes before the next leg down in every stock market crash) or for the government to get your job back for you. If anyone’s going to bring your prosperity, it’s going to be you!
Feedburner Subscribe
