Alternate IRA Investment Options

Be careful of what you put into an IRA account. For many reasons other than what returns you may get and the usual risk factors you must observe.

Folks hear about alternate types of unusual investments they can make, by reading the financial pages and ads and hearing new ideas from radio and TV and from friends and others. Such as buying gold as bullion or coins, or investing in timber or farmland, or even cattle; the latter in the form of limited partnerships or trusts.

But careful arrangements have to be made for annual asset value appraisals when investing in illiquid programs, as annual IRA distributions will eventually be required and income taxes expected to be paid. The lack of liquidity and report accuracy can become a major problem. (See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)