I was recently asked if investing in life settlements makes sense for an IRA. The person who asked felt they were getting a decent return from the company utilizing their funds. These types of investments are on the upswing as baby boomers age. They will need cash today for the future benefit, to be paid to a third party tomorrow.

What is a life settlement? It is the buying of a life insurance policy where the beneficiary gets cash now, and the company who is buying the life settlement becomes the beneficiary at the death of the policy holder. Many investors use their IRA plans to lend money to companies that buy life settlements from predominately the elderly, at a significant discount. They pay the investor a return on the borrowed fund and they make the spread on what they paid (discount) versus what they are paying to the borrower.

I cannot answer if this is a good investment for an IRA. I, or any of our Entrust offices, do not make investment decisions, recommendations, or provide advice. Like anything else you may consider investing in, do your due diligence by checking out the company. Make sure they are reputable, educate yourself on the investment, and understand what you are getting into before you invest. Like anything else, life settlements are one of many choices we have as IRA investors, to compound wealth on a tax-deferred or tax-free basis. Just make sure you do your homework.

Have you funded your IRA? Hurry, take the last tax benefit the government gives us and make a contribution today!

Are you confused about the differences between tax-deferred traditional IRAs and the tax-free ROTH? The rules that make the ROTH something for all of us to consider are as follows.

Unlike traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs allow tax-free withdrawals of earnings after age 59 ½, if you have owned the account for five years. Those five years are counted from January 1 of the tax year you opened your account.

Roth IRAs let you withdraw direct contributions at any age, without tax or penalty. However, if you are under age 59 ½, converted funds can only be withdrawn penalty-free after five years.

A Roth IRA doesn’t require minimum withdrawals after you turn 70 ½. You can pass the account to your heirs and they won’t owe a penny of tax on it.

More questions? Visit The Entrust Group and get answers!

ROTH conversions are the hottest topic in the financial services industry this year. There’s even an iPhone App for ROTH Conversions! More people are taking advantage of this option. Does the ROTH conversion make sense for your situation? There are tradeoffs you should consider before you take this crucial step.

ROTH IRAs were created in 1997 to encourage more Americans to save for retirement. Single or married taxpayers with modified adjusted gross incomes of over $100,000 per year were not eligible for a tax-free option, until this year. This kept many dual-income couples from having the ability to utilize a ROTH.

Does this mean converting to a ROTH from a traditional IRA and paying the tax today makes sense? Last month I shared reasons why you should convert to a ROTH, but cautioned this is not for everyone. Here are 3 reasons why you should NOT convert.

1. You can’t pay the tax bill. Taxpayers who convert in 2010 will have two choices on how to pay the tax from the deferred account to the tax-free one. Pay the tax total in 2010, or split the income from the conversion between 2011 and 2012. If you opt for the split conversion and taxes go up, which is very likely in 2011, you must be in a position to afford to pay the unknown, but probably higher, split payments.

2. You are close to retirement. If you plan on retiring within the next 5 years, converting may actually cost you money. Consult with your tax professional or accountant to make sure this is the right strategy for your situation.

3. You plan on leaving your IRA to charity. There are no tax benefits of conversion if you are leaving your money to charity.

I receive a lot of emails on this subject, so I decided to speak out on both the pros and cons of ROTH conversions. There are excellent reasons to convert your traditional IRA to a ROTH tax-free IRA, especially if you self-direct the IRA to invest in alternative assets such as real estate.

1. If you know how to make the money back quickly.

2. You are in a financial position to afford to pay the tax today.

3. You have acquired property in a traditional IRA that has gone down in value, and can now convert at a lower Fair Market Value which will cost you less in tax.

In 2010, anyone can contribute to a ROTH IRA, but high income taxpayers are still ineligible to contribute to a ROTH directly. Check out contribution limits and whether you qualify on the Entrust Group website at, www.theentrustgroup.com. You can also count on Entrust to answer any questions regarding how a self-directed IRA differs from the old fashioned, let-others-vote-on-your-money IRA!

I have tried to provide realistic pros and cons to a well publicized strategy. The buck stops with you. Get good tax advice, and no matter what you decide, make contributions to your tax enhanced IRA or 401 (k) plan today. This may be the last savings you have some control over!

Emily is a professional woman with an active business and is a very busy person. So busy in fact, she depends on her financial advisor to invest her hard-earned retirement savings with the hopes of compound wealth with safe, secure investments. Emily is lucky. So far, she has not lost a dime through her financial advisor.

However, not everyone is so lucky. On February 21, New Jersey’s Courier Post, published a front page story about a recently-deceased financial planner, who had clients that are now missing money. The amount is currently at $5 million, and growing. Where did the money go? So far, there are about 20 clients involved and that number continues to expand. All of them, like us, could not afford to lose the money.

A pillar of society, this advisor put many of these people in Certificates of Deposit (CD) that were fraudulent. How do I know this? My mother was one of those people. It has now turned into a class action suit and a potential criminal investigation. Certainly, the claimants will not be receiving 100% return on principal. Additionally, it has cost them even more money to retain attorneys.

I tell this story because, all of us have the potential for a parent, child, friend, or others we know to fall prey to bad people. This is not to say every financial planner is bad, actually the majority are good.

Would these people involved in the lawsuit have been better off investing their retirement plans themselves?

Though Emily has had success, she is allowing other people to vote on her money. With a self-directed IRA or Individual (k), people have the ability to “drive their own bus” to wealth. Yes, this takes work. Perhaps the perception is that since we as customers are not experts in whatever assets we consider for our retirement plan, we think we need a professional to guide us. In many cases that is true.

But, would we be better off having some accountability and control for investment decisions that are made? What is the worst that could happen? With education and initiative, could we do a better job ourselves? With Entrust as your self-directed IRA administrator, you have the ability to educate yourself on how self-directing works, the different types of assets that are available, and how to do this yourself with your IRA.

Paralysis is not a good thing. Sometimes, we need to be in control. Though my mother is over the age of making contributions in her IRA, she is learning how to control what she has and not allow others to vote on her money. We are now looking at real estate together, me for my IRA, and her for cash flow.

When you have a goal, can create a road map, are open to learning how to take care of yourself, and learn how to know and understand what you are investing in, you have a better chance to grow your wealth. Or, you can let others do this for you. The choice, of course, is yours!

Sun Life did a recent survey to determine where we get our financial advice.

– 43% of those polled get advice from family members
– 36% get their advice from financial advisers

I guess the rest do their own research and determine their own investment strategies.

How about you? Where do you go to learn about investing?

Let The Entrust Group be your guide to learn more about investing with a self-directed IRA. Visit Entrust at http://www.theentrustgroup.com

Have you ever asked yourself “what could I have done differently in planning for my retirement?”

Many of us have depended on others to advise them and invest their IRA or (k) plans on their behalf. There are many excellent financial advisors out there who do what is in the best interest of their clients. They listen to their needs, assess their level of risk and invest accordingly. However, no one is ever going to care about your money as much as you will. Your retirement plan is one of the last tax-enhanced programs available to you.

With the majority of baby boomers approaching age 65 in this decade and the outlays for Social Security beginning to exceed income collected from payroll taxes bu 2016, we need to seriously take steps now to grow our IRA. Let’s face it, we can’t count on Social Security or other government programs to provide the income needed to secure a comfortable financial future. It’s time to do some planning and to take responsibility for the growth of your retirement account. It’s not too late!

Add value to your retirement plan by taking control and diversifying into a self-directed IRA. This type of IRA allows you to select assets and acquire them directly, on behalf of your retirement plan. From Real Estate to Gold Bullion (and just about any other hard asset you can think of), a truly self-directed IRA must be a part of your plan.

What do you need in order to invest your IRA dollars directly? You need a third party administrator or record keeper who follows your direction and can provide the services necessary as well as be in compliance with IRS rules and regulations.

However, not all administrators or custodians are created equal. You must do your own due diligence. Here are three areas to watch:

1. Make sure your administrator or custodian keeps your cash in FDIC insured funds. All of your funds. Every day I see companies popping up claiming their administrator or custodian keeps the cash insured. Read the fine print as this is not always the case. In one recent presentation, I heard about a custodian who mixes your cash with some insured funds and some funds that are not insured. Make sure you know where your money goes.

2. Watch out for companies that sell other products and offer an IRA for free when you buy their product or services. Normally these ‘services’ run into the thousands of dollars. You do not need to spend thousands of dollars to have a self-directed IRA.

4. Finally, watch out for the overpriced seminars where people spend a fortune to learn “investing techniques” that will make them rich quickly. As many new ones pop up as go out of business. Your education should not cost more then your home, savings, or your credit card limits!

It’s not necessarily about what you invest in; it’s about how you do it! With a self-directed plan you get to choose. Visit The Entrust Group (www.theentrustgroup.com) and learn what it really takes to be in control of your IRA.

What could you do differently in planning for your retirement? Having a self-directed IRA is a good start.

2010 brings with it some changes to the tax code. Here are the top three tax changes that you should pay attention to this year.

1. Estate Tax
2. ROTH Conversions
3. Gift Tax Exclusion

Whether any of these tax rules changes applies to you, you should seek the advice of your tax adviser or CPA and as always, do your due diligence to think and grow rich.

Does all of the advertising and hoopla over the ROTH IRA make sense to you?

Download the free ROTH report from Entrust and learn how to take advantage of one of the last tax enhanced programs the government allows. Visit www.entrustcalifornia.com for details.

Did you know there are over 10 million individual and family owned forest owners in the U.S? 72% of these are located in the Eastern part of the country where productive timberland is produced.

According to The American Wind Energy Association, 20% of the nation’s electricity may come from wind by 2030. States with the most wind power include: Texas, Iowa, California, Minnesota and Oregon.

And what about water? The business of water rights is alive and well in states such as Colorado.

These alternative investments are allowable in a self-directed IRA. If this is of interest to you, log onto www.theentrustgroup.com to learn how you can self-direct your IRA to acquire investments that are important to you!