If you’re like most investors, you look at the stock market these days and think, “what the heck is happening?” A Self-Directed IRA is one solution for ensuring that you can navigate a tough market.

But how can you make sure that happens? How do you navigate a tough market by guiding your own  Self-Directed IRA, and how do you make sure that your retirement nest egg is well-protected? We have a few thoughts on the matter:

Learning to Handle the Ebbs and Flows of the Stock Market with Self-Directed IRAs

A Self-Directed IRA is, by definition, a way for you to grab hold of your own financial destiny and begin making your own financial decisions. If you don’t like having 100% of your money in the stock market, you don’t have to. And this applies to your retirement accounts as well. If you don’t want your retirement money to be locked into the stock market, you don’t have to.

Self-Directing your own retirement account allows you to invest in a wilder multitude of things, including real estate, precious metals, and private companies. This helps keep your assets out of the stock market completely—though you can certainly keep most of your money there if you so choose. Remember: you’re the one in charge when it comes to Self-Directed IRAs.

But what do you do if you really want to get out of the ebbs and flows of the stock market?

There are a few strategies you might consider:

• You’ll see us harp on this one again and again. Diversification isn’t just holding mid-cap, small-cap, and large-cap stocks. Diversification is about having a multitude of assets, period. That means using Self-Directed IRAs to ensure that your investments aren’t tied up to any one particular industry.
• Real estate. You can invest in real estate if you want to earn an income outside of dividends and similar stock market-related gains. Real estate is one of the best choices for anyone who wants to generate income, however it’s important to note that the real estate market is a beast in and of itself.

Learning to Handle a Self-Directed IRA

If you’re new to investing, the idea of Self-Directed IRAs might seem kind of complex. Perhaps too complex. But the truth is, Self-Directed IRAs are accounts just like any other retirement account, including retirement accounts you may already have. If you have already have a Roth IRA, for example, then it’s worth knowing that you can direct your own Roth IRA account. These retirement accounts are for you to direct, and in directing them, you can access a wider range of investment types to help yourself diversify out of the stock market.

Self-Directed IRAs represent the best opportunity for navigating a tough market because they allow you to consider other investment vehicles. You don’t have to abandon every investment you’ve made in the market to try these other vehicles, either. You can simply use a Self-Directed IRA to diversify.

Look at the different Types of Self-Directed IRAs at our website to learn more about how this works. There you’ll see a list of familiar names, including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401(k) accounts. The key: don’t assume that just because this is new, it will be difficult. In many ways, it can be easier.

Want to learn more? Be sure to contact us at 866-7500-IRA or 828-257-4949 and get in touch with us. Or you can continue browsing AmericanIRA.com to find out the different ways you can weather difficult economic times with an IRA of your own making.