Read enough articles here at American IRA and you might see us recommend speaking some things over with a financial advisor. “Wait,” you might think—“isn’t a Self-Directed IRA administration firm a financial advisor?” And the answer to that is simple: no. A Self-Directed IRA administration firm is simply the custodian on your account, carrying out your buy and sell orders as you control your own retirement destiny. That’s why we say that if you want financial advice, it’s not us (or any other custodian) you should talk to, but someone who serves the fiduciary role, required to give you the best possible advice for your own good.

Why a Self-Directed IRA Investor Might Need a Financial Advisor

To be sure, not everyone gets into Self-Directed IRAs because they want to do what someone else tells them to do. You’re likely a highly independent, self-motivated individual if you want to use a Self-Directed IRA to decide what goes into your own account.

But with that said, if you have an independent streak, then you will have to seek out this kind of professional advice if you need it. You may find that this is much easier than you’d first imagine. You can simply seek one out, pay them for a brief amount of time, and accept their advice. If you’re thinking about turning to a Self-Directed IRA administration firm for this same kind of service, remember that we can’t offer specific investment advice. It’s our job to carry out your buy/sell orders and administrate the account—not decide how and where the money is spent. And for many Self-Directed IRA investors, that’s kind of the point. They want to use their own experience and investing skills to guide their own Self-Directed IRA.

Do You Have to Have a Financial Advisor?

In a word, no. You’re free to choose your own investments. If you want to use a Self-Directed IRA to invest in real estate, for example, because that’s the kind of experience you have, you can do that. However, you will generally benefit from getting professional advice. But ultimately, it’s up to you. If you want to proceed without a financial adviser, you can do that. But keep in mind the amount of risk that you take when you make all decisions for yourself. You’ll be the one dealing with the potential issues if, for example, you forget that you can’t use your retirement accounts personally, such as having someone you know (a disqualified person) temporarily stay at a piece of real estate you own.

What are the Next Steps from Here?

If you’re interested in setting up a Self-Directed IRA, don’t worry. There’s not some strange, Self-Directed IRA to Financial Adviser pipeline that means you have to talk to an entire team just to open a retirement account. In fact, it can be much simpler than you might imagine. You’ll fill out a form, choose a way to fund it, and then you can start investing on your own! Of course, a financial adviser can help you better understand what you need to do from there. But if you don’t use one, then you aren’t legally obligated to seek one out. Investing is all about the decisions you make for yourself, and that’s often why Self-Directed IRA investors like yourself seek out places like American IRA.

Want to know more about how the process works? You can reach out to us directly by giving us a ring at 866-7500-IRA. We’ll be glad to talk to you about what we do—and what we don’t do.