Investing in What You Know vs Wall Street Mumbo Jumbo

It was gratifying to see “The Big Short” take home a gold statue on Oscar night a few weeks ago. That excellent film has been one of the biggest surprises to come out of Hollywood recently. We owe the producers and the star-studded cast a debt of gratitude for making a film that explains the housing build-up and bust in such an accessible way. The housing collapse, as the film notes, upended so many lives but has not been very well understood by those affected the most. In the film we see a scathing rebuke of Wall Street, not only for unbridled avarice, but reckless ignorance/nefariousness in managing the precious resources of investors and sensitive assets of consumers – their homes.

It has been deeply troubling and frustrating for many since 2008 to look at the continued mismanagement, yet feel their retirement funds are still held hostage by Wall Street. How can this whole class of Wall Street elite bankers screw over an entire sector, only to be bailed out by the same taxpayers and homeowners they ruined? It is not fair, but this is how Wall Street still works.

And today we see the big banks making strikingly similar mistakes with oil… and they are still managing people’s retirement funds. It’s maddening. But this is what happens when no one is held personally accountable for their contributions to the great American tragedy of our day. No one went to jail. Almost none of them lost their jobs after the reshuffling. Almost no one was called out for fraud. No, the bailouts kept the biggest instigators working and insulated from their failures, passing the burden along to everyone else.

More and more Americans are so fed up with this dynamic that they are actively seeking out alternatives to Wall Street and all its corruption and inscrutability for the safeguarding of their retirement funds. Retail investors are falling back on the very best old advice – invest in what you know. Invest in what you can feel, what you can understand, and in things that are solid and real – the opposite of swaps and derivatives and options and all that mumbo jumbo.

That is the essence of a Self Directed IRA. This little known, but increasingly popular instrument is allowed by the IRS but subject to many strict regulations about what you can and can’t have in it, how it is handled, disbursed, etc. But the good news is – you are not as subject to the depravity of Wall Street as you think. You CAN get your funds out of Dodge, so to speak, and into something that has more of your confidence.

About 2% of retirement funds are held in SDIRAs and this number is growing at a pace of about 21% every year.

Gold and precious metals are one asset class that is eligible for SDIRAs.  Lear Capital is a specialist in educating clients in precious metals and getting them set up with the correct bullion acquisitions and custodians for a precious metals backed SDIRA.

It is an option that is appealing to more and more investors, especially as the economy looks to be reeling and unsteady yet again. Is it for you?

Consider: Washington may reward Wall Street for losing money, but you don’t have to.

Look into an SDIRA today and consider gold as a vehicle to secure your future. It is one of our specialties and we’d love to help!