Let’s face it: when some of us check our retirement accounts, we feel nervous. Would we feel better if we took control with Self-Directed IRAs?

That’s not how things should be. Your retirement plan should be a source of security and confidence. It is, after all, designed to be your nest egg, the funds upon which you’ll fall back on when you’re no longer able to work. If your retirement plan isn’t where it needs to be, we say it’s time to stop feeling nervous checking your retirement accounts and start feeling empowered.

There’s only one problem: how do you know when it’s time to step in and take charge? Well, we here at AmericanIRA.com went through some of the signs and collected five of the most common ones. Let’s take a look at a sign it might be time for you to take charge and create a Self-Directed IRA you can be proud of.

Sign #1: You don’t know where your money is allocated.

Sure, you know you have money in “mutual funds” somewhere. You trust your bank, you trust the money manager…but something about the situation is a little vague to you. If you’ve ever felt like you wanted to know more about your retirement plan, that’s a very good thing. Knowledge, after all, is power. And if you haven’t had sufficient knowledge about your own investments, it’s usually time to step in and find out all about your current asset allocation.

Knowledge doesn’t stop there, though. You should look into your investment options—after all, what good is knowledge if you don’t know what solutions you can use to create a better retirement account?

Sign #2: You’re disappointed in your manager fees.

Wealth managers, mutual fund managers, and more can dig into your investments with exorbitant fees. This is one of the reasons many people will flock to Self-Directed IRAs in the first place—they want their money to go into their investments, and not into someone else’s pocket. If you already have money in assets that require minimal fees, great—but if you don’t, it might be a perfect sign that you need to take a little more control of your retirement accounts.

Sign #3: You haven’t checked your retirement portfolio in a while.

You should make an effort to check and evaluate your finances, we think, every quarter or so. If it’s been much longer than that, then you’ve got some work to do. After all, this is the time to be active in your finances with Self-Directed IRAs—it’s when you’re retired that you should feel secure doing nothing but lounging near the pool!

Sign #4: You want to capitalize on wise investments.

Slow and steady wins the race, of course. But that’s no reason you can’t capitalize on hot investments within the confine of a Self-Directed IRA. Real estate, for example, often constitutes both a “wise” and a “hot” investment at the same time thanks to its long-term appreciation and potential for short-term growth. We believe in diversification, but we don’t think that a retirement portfolio should sit around collecting cobwebs, either—not if it’s going to create the most value for your investment dollar.

Sign #5: You’re reading this article.

You’ve come here looking for reasons to take control of your financial destiny, which means you already have an inkling that this is the direction you want to go in. That’s great! We believe at AmericanIRA.com that a Self-Directed IRA can be one of the most powerful tools for taking control of that destiny. Contact us at 866-7500-IRA(472) to find out more about taking charge of your finances and expanding the horizons of your retirement portfolio.