Have you ever lost nearly $175,000 investing in the stock market?
I haven’t, but my newest investor clients have.
I don’t know the final straw that finally broke their confidence in the brokers of Wall Street. It could have been when they didn’t get out in time during the “dot.com” crash (lost $125K); or when their broker change companies to go to a big investment firm (they liked the broker, but never received good service from the firm, so they went against their gut instinct and transferred their funds); or it could have been when the economy started to go south late last year, but most folks didn’t realize it (lost $30K)…
Or maybe it was when the investment firm went belly up like a dead fish and their broker stopped returning phone calls. It could have been that during the last two month they still lost another $17K.
I don’t know what pushed them over the edge, but I do know this…
I met “Mrs. Newest Client” at Starbucks, the new one in Tempe next to the Tempe Town Lake, and she told me something very revealing.
“You know Kendall, we have always made money in real estate, and seem to always get killed in the stock market. My husband and I don’t know too much about investing in the stock market, but we do know real estate.
“We’ve never owned more than one home; however, the homes that we purchased to live in have all appreciated greatly. Even in this down market, we would make a $500,000 profit if we sold our current home.
“Could you tell me more about that self-directed IRA or 401K you told my son about?”
The story goes on, but I’ll pause here to tell you what I’m looking for.
I want to know if anyone here on the forum has good resources for self-directed retirement accounts.
I’m going to put all those resources together and give them to my clients in one format. And if you want what I put together, I’ll give it to you for free… If you ask!
I’ve already started compiling information together, but I know there is more quick resource information out there and maybe some of you have in-depth experience with self-directed retirement accounts.
What I’m looking for is:
• Reputable companies that administer these accounts, (I already have Entrust, Pensco, and Equity Trust, but are there any others?
• Company 800#’s are easy to find, but is there a particular person that gives good clear guidance that you may have dealt with?
• What were some of the concerns you or your clients had with rolling over a company-sponsored retirement account into a self-directed one? For example, “Mrs. New Client” stated, “When our account lost money I blamed the broker, but if I would lose it… then it would be my fault.”
• What were your experiences investing with self-directed retirement accounts?
I’ll probably have more questions and discoveries; I will place them in here.
Happy Investing