By J.P. Dahdah, Founder & CEO of Vantage
Self-Directed IRAs are a great way to flexibly invest your retirement savings as you expand your wealth. While the potential benefits are great, it’s important to be informed so that you can mitigate your risk of fraud and scams.
Here are three things to keep in mind when looking for avenues to privately invest funds within your Self-Directed IRA
1. Verify financial information. When considering investing your capital into any alternative investment, it is important that you not only see the details of the investments, but you also understand the financial implications. You cannot simply trust that your potential investment is worth a certain amount of money. Instead you must fact check this by reading and investigating all the details that have been provided to you. There are no shortcuts to building true financial wealth, so even though executing thorough research on an investment can take time and money, it is a necessary step for every successful investor.
2. Look out for “great opportunities.” Unsolicited investment offers that ‘look too good to be true’ are the most common way that investors become victims of fraud in an investment scam. Before you agree to an unsolicited offer, ask for references. Or, if it’s a business’s contact ask for more detailed information. Stay proactive by avoiding the lure of “high yield” or “guaranteed” investments that are too good to be true. One of the most common scenarios that involves fraudulent activity is if you are feeling pressured by the investment sponsor to “act now” with some sort of time restriction. If you sense a high level of urgency from the person or company offering you the investment, take extreme caution and inquire further.
3. Consult with a professional. If you have been contacted about an investment opportunity, do some investigating right away. Speaking to a professional or reaching out to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will help you to verify whether or not the solicitor of the investment is a licensed professional. Taking this objective approach to validating and verifying supposed investment opportunities will help ensure your hard-earned savings are well protected.
For more information on how you can discover your IRA investing alternatives, contact our team at (866) 459-4590 or ClientService@VantageIRAs.com.