The stock market implosion of 2008 has millions of Americans feeling financially helpless.  Yet individuals who are investing their 401k & IRA money in ventures outside the stock market are singing a different tune. Janice and Jack Stoddard, real estate professionals in Arkansas, heard about self directed investing from a seminar that taught how to invest IRA money into real estate.

Energized by the idea, the Stoddards established two IRAs, rolling over money from their traditional IRAs to fund them.  They used the IRAs to make small real estate transactions, purchasing and reselling property at a profit with all proceeds staying in the IRA.

In 2006, an opportunity to buy and then immediately re-sell 60 acres of undeveloped land at a profit came up.  Concerns over structuring the deal and keeping everything above board led the Stoddards to consult with us at Nabers Group.

“Jeff helped us establish a Solo 401k that could be used to handle the 60 acre transaction. The Solo 401k was a key component to our funding because we were able to contribute 10 times more to it than we could to an IRA.  Meanwhile, our son, who works in oil and gas, alerted us to keeping our eyes open for property with mineral rights for future transactions,” Janice says.

With the proceeds from the 60 acre sale, the Stoddards began [Read more...]