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What Can a Self-Directed IRA Invest In?
A Self Directed IRA is a vehicle to invest in alternative assets with tax-advantaged retirement funds. Typically, these types of alternative investments aren’t available at IRA brokerages like Fidelity, Vanguard and Schwab. However, a Self Directed IRA can legally invest in almost anything. In fact, the IRS has only documented what a Self-Directed IRA can’t invest in. These investments fall into two categories: collectibles and life insurance policies.
You can see the entire document of IRS Publications 590-A here.
Pretty much everything else that doesn’t fit into these two categories is fair game. We say “pretty much” because there are some newer investing categories – such as cannabis and CBD oil – that fall into gray areas.
Here is a comprehensive (but not complete) list of what you can invest in with a Self Directed IRA.
Real Estate
- Commercial
- Office buildings
- Retail centers
- Hotels
- Shopping centers
- Hospitals
- Medical offices
- Warehouses
- Parking garages
- Residential
- Single family homes
- Multi-family homes
- Condos
- Townhomes
- Duplexes
- Apartments
- Vacation homes
- Vacation rentals
- Mobile homes
- Land
- Raw land
- Farmland
- Timberland
- Residential plots
- Foreclosures
- Fix and Flips
- Crowdfunding
Private Placements
- LLCs
- Private Equity
- Hedge Funds
- Private Shares
- Venture Capital
Tax deeds
Tax liens
Loans
- Hard Money
- Peer-to-Peer Lending
- Promissory Note (secured and unsecured)
