Self Directed IRA Providers?

[john c]

I'm looking to roll over a 401k into a self-directed IRA, in order to make private investments.  Does anyone have any thoughts on good, low cost providers/managers?  I know nothing about this, other than a bad provider will eat me up with fees.

Thanks

[Bbqmustache]

I moved mine to Schwab years ago.  I bought Schwab ETFs.  No fees, no commissions, and low, Vanguard like ETF management fees.  They may try to suck you into the black hole of day trading, but if you are a buy and hold investor, I like them a lot.

[MDM]

I'm looking to roll over a 401k into a self-directed IRA, in order to make private investments.  Does anyone have any thoughts on good, low cost providers/managers?  I know nothing about this, other than a bad provider will eat me up with fees.

Thanks

For low cost index funds and ETFs, the usual options are Vanguard (the majority of their funds), Fidelity (Spartan Funds), and Schwab (low fee ETFs as Bbqmustache noted).

If you are looking to do active trading, there are other options - but why would you want to do that?

[Mother Fussbudget]

OP is referring to SELF-DIRECTED IRA / RothIRA / 401K plans - NOT the plans provided by Vanguard, or other 'stock only' retirement account providers.  Typically, self-directed account custodians allow one to invest not only in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.  but to also hold real-estate, mortgage notes, and precious metals (gold, silver) in their accounts. 

Searching for a good self-directed IRA custodian is a tough process - one I'm also pursuing.  The attached spreadsheet is culled from a list of self-directed IRA custodians found on the podcast SDIRadio.com/custodians + other sites claiming to list custodians (and reviews of them) plus lots of web searching.

NOTE:  I listen to the podcast, but it can be annoying as he doesn't address the nuts-and-bolts of the process, only the shiny glossy sales-brochure hype, and does NOT discuss some of the real risks to your retirement savings (as any good book on the subject will do).  I'm not sure what his profit model is, but I suspect he'll be offering "free online courses, OR the $195 weekend web seminar" at some point in the future.

NOTE:  I have *NOT* done the full research on this list, and have *NOT* picked a self-directed custodian for myself, but have tagged their fee pages for future reference.  One thing I am strongly considering is to pick a custodian operating in-the-same-state as my real-estate investments (mortgage notes) - not necessarily in the state in which I currently reside.

Have you read any good books Self-Directed IRA's?    If so, please let us know.
I've got two (2x) books in-my-reading-inbox, and one I've read and I recommend (on-line):
The Insider's Guide to Tax-Free Real Estate: Retire Rich Using Your IRA
by  Diane Kennedy and Dolf de Roos

I got it via Books 24x7 thru my local library - book ID link looks like:
http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.kcls.org/toc.aspx?bookid=16801 (with kcls being my local library)

You can find my review of this book in an earlier message thread here.

[MDM]

OP is referring to SELF-DIRECTED IRA / RothIRA / 401K plans - NOT the plans provided by Vanguard, or other 'stock only' retirement account providers.  Typically, self-directed account custodians allow one to invest not only in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.  but to also hold real-estate, mortgage notes, and precious metals (gold, silver) in their accounts.

Understood.  Nevertheless, when the OP contains the quote "I know nothing about this", a question about why (as a presumably novice investor) one should do that seems appropriate.  It's possible that the OP is a savvy investor just not familiar with self-directed IRA providers, but....