摘要：Since the inception of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in 1974, the public has been advised strongly by bankers, accountants (CPAs), and investment advisors that the best strategy for IRA holdings is investment in stocks or bonds. Unfortunately, with the sharp decline in the market value of stocks and the bottoming out of interest rates in the past years, most IRA funds have performed very poorly and investors have witnessed how drastically their retirement savings lost their accumulated value. During these years, apparently, not many investment advisers have bothered to consider other alternative ways for investing accumulated IRAs and pension funds. There is, in fact, another viable investment alternative that offers both safety and a considerable growth rate. That is real estate IRAs. The purpose of this paper is to explain (a) why the traditional and Roth IRA should be invested in real estate, b) the steps involved in establishing a sound real estate IRA, (c) the restrictions and the dos and don’ts of investing in a real estate IRA, and (d) the tax and penalty consequences of incorrect investment in a real estate IRA.
