Entrepreneurs Pursue Business Start-Ups Even in Bad Times January 25, 2010
Posted by admin2 in : Business Start-Ups , 2commentsPoor economic times are not dampening the desire for entrepreneurs to start their own business. A study recently showed that there’s little change in the number of U.S. business start-ups in good or bad times. With more people out of work, many are deciding to start their own company, instead of seek employment. They’re following their passion and ideas to create their own wealth and, when they run into obstacles, they’re finding creative ways to finance their business. With traditional funding sources drying up, watch the video to find out how one successful entrepreneur, who launched his company during the recession, received funding and used his own retirement account, Solo 401(k), to help him through difficult times. In just one year his business is booming.
To learn more about the Solo 401(k) and how it can help you, visit Nabers.com or call Nabers Group: (877) 903-2220.
Investment Opportunities July 24, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Precious Metals, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , add a comment
When listening to feedback from Nabers Group clients, one message is loud and clear, “We want to see investment opportunities from you.”
I sent out a survey to all of my clients recently, and I’d love your input too. With my activities in many circles, I have access to mounds of solid investment opportunities. If you complete this survey it can help me understand what types of opportunities you are most interested in.
Click here to take the survey.
How to profit from real estate investments in a soft and declining real estate market January 21, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , add a comment
Three years ago real estate investing was hot. Today, many people act as if the opportunity has passed. I contend that the opposite is true. In the past, as a mortgage banker focused on originating mortgages for investment properties, I started listening to and learning from my real estate investor clients and noticed two categories of real estate investors: real investors and blind investors.
Real Investors have the following in common:
- Profiting when they buy. Rather than believing an entire market is hot or cold, a real investor knows that the purchase price is what dictates the return on the investment. You can look in any real estate market to see property values and rental rates. Those are things the investor doesn’t control. The investor does control what he is willing to pay for a property, and that’s how a real investor knows what his return on investment will be before buying the property.
- Investing for income. Real investors buy assets because they produce income. What a property is selling for doesn’t even matter if (more…)
When the economy attacks: Fed fights back with toy gun December 16, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money , add a comment
Today the Federal Reserve lowered their key rate to 0%. Huh? How does our economy work when money is lent for no interest? Well, they technically lowered the key rate to a range of 0% to 0.25%. This is the first time the Fed’s key rate has been this low ever. Without getting into a long, complex examination of this let’s take a very simple look at our economic problems:
- Consumers spent more money than they had by borrowing and going into debt
- Lenders lent money to consumers who did not have the capacity to repay the loans
- The government spent more money than it had by borrowing and increasing debt
- Lenders lent money to the government who does not have the capacity to repay the loans
If we had a free market, (more…)
Nabers Group Solo 401k vs. Custodian Solo 401k December 12, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
After being asked “What’s the difference between your Solo 401(k) and one offered by a custodian?” for the umpteenth time in the past few months, I figured it’s about time to write a post about it.
Why custodians exist
IRAs are governed by section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code. There they are defined as a retirement savings account trust where the trustee is a bank or a trust company (a trust company is basically a bank that holds assets but doesn’t make loans). This role is often referred to as custodian. Self directed IRAs have been in use for decades, and so self directed IRA custodians have been around for decades as well. For IRAs, there is no choice… you must hire a custodian to serve as trustee to your IRA.
The trustee role of a self directed IRA
The term “custodian” comes about in IRC Section 408 because when a bank or trust company serves the trustee role, they are not being trustee in the traditional sense. Usually the trustee of a trust makes decisions and has discretion over handling the income and assets of that trust. With an IRA, this normally isn’t the case. The bank or trust company is not making decisions or providing any other services other than custody (holding assets as an intermediary), and that’s why they are usually referred to as “custodian” – because they don’t provide any services other than custody.
Solo 401(k) is not required to have a custodian
Internal Revenue Code Section 401, which governs all 401(k) plans, does not issue any restrictions on who can serve as trustee. Not too many people have figured this out yet because the self directed Solo 401k wasn’t available until 2006. The benefits of a Solo 401k (such as higher contribution limits and reduced administrative requirements) come from the fact that you can play multiple roles. You can make higher contributions by serving the roles of employee/participant and employer. But it doesn’t stop there. The participant can also serve as administrator and trustee.
The role of administrator for a Solo 401k
An administrator simply keeps records. For a self directed Solo 401(k), a diligent investor is already keeping the records that an administrator would. These include bank statements, brokerage statements, copies of real estate purchase contracts and leases, and generally whatever paperwork accompanies a transaction of the plan. Since the self directed investor should already keep these records, it isn’t necessary or beneficial to hire another company to also keep the same records. Hiring an administrator for a self directed Solo 401k simply introduces unnecessary, undesirable fees.
The role of trustee for a Solo 401k
The trustee is simply the person or company who handles the transactions of the Solo 401k trust. As an investor, if you were to hire a custodian, (more…)
The impossibility of bailout success and the guaranteed alternative success plan that depends on you November 7, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Health, Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, Precious Metals, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , add a commentThis is a message of prosperity rather than doom and gloom. Read through to the end.
A tremendous amount of homeowners are facing foreclosure. CNN Money reports foreclosures are up over 70% from this time last year. Banks are failing left and right, but let’s just take a look at the bailout concept in the most direct and extreme fashion for purposes of illustration.
The largest bailout possible
Imagine that every single homeowner that has less than 30% equity in their house at today’s prices receives from the Fed a check payable to their mortgage company that will pay their balance down to bring their equity to 30%. There is no more of a direct way to address the foreclosure and housing problem. What would the result be?
- Equity doesn’t matter. People got into mortgage loans that have payments higher than their income will support, and rising food and energy prices are lowering the household budget for mortgage payments. You could lower interest rates to 0% (forget about the market chaos that would create for a moment) and many people still wouldn’t be able to afford their homes.
- Home prices would fall because many would use the 30% equity in hopes of being able to sell their home and buy a less expensive home. This would accelerate the downward pressure the median home price. Many families would return to renting after touching the hot stove of home ownership. Of course, they would be seeking affordable rent which would also put a downward pressure on median home prices.
- I can’t estimate how many trillions of dollars would have to be created by the Fed for those types of bailout checks to be written… but you can be certain it would have a HUGE direct impact in raising inflation to levels unseen in American history. Injecting new money into the economy makes all prices go up. In this scenario, Americans would literally not be able to afford to eat if they stayed in their home. Home prices would crash almost to zero because three bedrooms and two bathrooms would become less important than food. There would be much larger social problems because, with this magnitude of inflation, food would become so expensive that theft, robbery, and violence would be the only viable means of survival for some.
A direct, swift bailout to cure economic symptoms would create very difficult times.
The smallest bailout possible
The smallest bailout is one that (more…)
My Meeting with the Social Security Administration August 19, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
About 6 months ago, the Social Security Administration started calling my office asking to arrange a meeting with my IRAAA colleagues and I. For months I had shrugged it off because of the fact that many of my readers, customers, and colleagues plan their finances as if SSA will fail. Taking control of your IRA/401k funds is all about putting your retirement in your own hands. So when I received the message from SSA, I figured it must be some kind of mistake.
After numerous messages, I spoke with them, and a meeting was set here in Denver. Associate Commissioner of the Office of External Affairs was flown in from Washington, D.C. I didn’t exactly know what to expect.
Their Concerns
Here I provide a brief summary of their objective in this meeting:
- Their budget is being cut
- They now have (more…)
Where to Find Reliable Self Directed IRA & 401(k) Information April 21, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a commentI ran across something today that may surprise you. I was reminded of why I founded the IRA Association of America. I hear some of the craziest things from prospects and new customers, such as
“My understanding is that my IRA can loan money to a Corporation I own part of.”
“I’ve heard that my company can do business with my IRA if things are structured right.”
First of all, these statements are both incorrect, and would each result in a prohibited transaction, triggering hefty tax penalties. Now, when I hear these type of statements I wonder where they come from. I’ve always figured that they must originate from various new, inexperienced companies with educational materials that are simply inaccurate. Today, I found out that I’m half correct. It is coming from inaccurate materials and sources, but to my surprise, these sources aren’t always new and inexperienced.
This post is in reference to an LLC facilitator called CHECKBOOK IRA located at www.checkbookira.net and www.checkbookira.com. These guys may be familiar to you because, at the time of this writing and for the past several years, these web sites come up in search engine results for terms like “ira llc” and “self directed ira”. Now, I’ve never met or spoken with the owner, Steve Sheperd, so I can only comment based on the information on his web sites.
Currently, if you go to CHECKBOOKIRA.net and click “legal rulings” it links to a ruling that says “Your IRA can make a loan to a company owned less than 50% by the IRA owner.” This caught my attention because the claim was contrary to the understanding given to me from seasoned Department of Labor agents. So I clicked the link and read the entire document. (It’s important to note that (more…)
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