How Chicago Trust Administration Services Helps You Take Control With a Self-Directed IRA
I founded Chicago Trust Administration Services in 2003 (nearly 20 years ago as I write this!) to help more investors self-direct their futures. I strongly believe that investors today have many options available to save for retirement, and building a nest egg solely on equities and fixed income assets is by no means the only way.
Over the decades, I’ve been watching the trends regarding Social Security, market volatility, stagnant wages, rising inflation, and more. And the more I see, the more I’m convinced that in order to enjoy a secure retirement for multiple decades (20 to 30 years, at least), people need to include income-producing assets in their diversified retirement portfolios.
Enter the self-directed IRA. Self-directed IRAs allow you to control how you want to reach your retirement goals.
No longer are you solely at the mercy of the markets. Instead, you can use your tax-advantaged retirement savings to diversify your investments even further with income-producing assets like real estate, self-storage, equipment leasing, and more — all things that put consistent income in your pocket as they appreciate (keeping in mind that all investments carry inherent risk).
If taking more control over your retirement investments has you saying “Yes, please!”, keep reading to learn more about how we can help you do so and what it’s like to work with us.
Getting Started
Getting started with CTAS is easy. All meetings can be held virtually, although we may be able to offer in-person meetings as well depending on your needs and location. We follow a simple six-step process to begin working together:
Discovery
Goal-Setting
Recommendation & Strategy
Compliance
Implementation
Ongoing Support
1. Discovery
When we first decide to begin working together, our main job is to listen to you. During our initial discovery meeting, you’ll have a chance to explain the type(s) of investment(s) you’re interested in and what you hope to accomplish with your self-directed IRA.
2. Goal-Setting
Once we’ve established that we can help you, we’ll dive deeper into your goals and future plans. We’ll ask you to essentially “draw a picture” of where you want this investment to be five years in the future, ten years in the future, and so on.
We will also define the benchmarks we’ll use to determine whether you’re achieving your goals. For example, if you want to own three rental properties in the next ten years, we’ll determine the return rates you’ll need from the properties you own to make that goal achievable.
3. Recommendation & Strategy
From there, we’ll recommend the appropriate structure and strategies for your goals not only for today, but also for five and ten years down the road. At CTAS, we bring a tenure of experience to the discussion that is pivotal to your success. Unlike many other self-directed IRA custodians, we have “been there, done that,” so we make recommendations that go beyond IRS compliance.
4. Compliance
Next, we assist you in completing the compliance forms you need to open your new self-directed account. These IRS compliance forms are complex and, depending on the type of investments you plan to make, can baffle even the savviest investors. We bring our expertise to help you complete this stage of the process quickly, painlessly, and — most importantly — correctly.
5. Implementation
Finally, it’s time to make your investments! We complete the acquisition of assets within your retirement account, acting on behalf of your self-directed IRA to make sure all the compliance requirements are properly adhered to. We will also file annual compliance forms to the IRS on an ongoing basis.
To make the acquisitions happen, we will need a copy of the most recent statement of your existing retirement account along with any relevant investment documents, such as the real estate purchase contract or the PPM offering/prospectus.
6. Ongoing Support
The relationship we’ve established is now ongoing. We remain as your advisory board and offer continuing open conversations to help you make future investment decisions as you consider more alternative assets.
What You Can Expect From Our Relationship
As your self-directed IRA custodian, we see our role as trusted advisors to help you meet compliance requirements and make investments that are aligned with your goals.
The IRS guidelines for self-directed investments can be daunting and are pockmarked with exceptions. (And all too often, these exceptions lack common sense or logic.) In addition to bringing our compliance expertise, our conversations with you also focus on your investments, strategies, and goals.
For the relationship to be successful, we ask that you meet us halfway. Open and honest communication is best, and we’re happy to provide you with the education you need and desire to be a successful alternative investor. When you understand and follow our guidelines, we’re more likely to be able to help you achieve and maintain success.
How We Make Investment Transactions Easy
Anytime you’re ready to make a new investment in your self-directed IRA, we’re here to help. The best time to reach out to us is once you’ve determined you want to move forward with a particular project/investment, but before you’ve fully committed to it.
Many self-directed investments are straightforward, but others, such as a real estate partnership, can entail several moving parts. We want to make sure we’re given enough time to properly serve you and ensure the deal can move ahead seamlessly.
We pride ourselves on our fast turnaround time, which we know is especially important to private equity and real estate investors.
Fortunately, most of the delay in setting up a self-directed account is spent in the time it takes to transfer IRA/401k assets from your current administrator to CTAS. That process usually takes two weeks or less, but in some circumstances can take 30 days.
Additionally, we only transfer cash, so the timeline often hinges on the liquidity of the funds you’re transferring to us. Once we receive the funds, however, we’re ready to make an investment on behalf of your self-directed account by the next business day.
Account Minimums
We typically require a minimum of $25,000 to open an account with us — however, this account minimum is flexible.
If you’re not ready to move this amount but are interested in learning more about the benefits of a self-directed IRA, please still reach out! We can discuss ways in which we can still help you, including whether or not it would make sense to open a self-directed IRA with a lower initial account balance.
Additionally, we can help you roll over cash savings from most other types of retirement accounts you currently have, including Traditional and Roth IRAs, Traditional and Roth 401(k)s, SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, Defined Benefit Plans, Defined Contribution Plans, and more!
How Chicago Trust Administration Services Can Help
At Chicago Trust Administration Services, we’re passionate about partnering with investors who are committed to taking control of their own futures. Whether you’re ready to open a self-directed IRA today or just want to learn more, I encourage you to reach out. Schedule a complimentary meeting with us by calling 312-869-9394 or emailing steve@ctasira.com.
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*The content and opinions in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.