Retirement from STRS questions

[Toni Bandy]

Hi everyone! I'm leaving my teaching career the end of the school year. I've decided that I want to invest my money that I'll receive from the STRS into real estate. Originally I was looking at rolling it over into a traditional IRA but I believe that money would be better in RE vs. Stock market. Can you tell me what type of IRA I can do this with? There are a lot of tax rules. I don't want to pay thousands in taxes if I take it out cash it would be 30% approximately. Help Please and thank you in advance. Also if they take it out, can I get a lot of it back? I just started a LLC and have an EIN.

[Esta Ryder]

Been there, done that in terms of STRS in Ohio.  So here are a few thoughts:

*Don't take my word for it, confirm it with Columbus but I believe that if you pull out the money and then decide to go back to teaching, you start at level zero in terms of years toward retirement.  Again, confirm that in case I am wrong.  If I'm right, make absolutely sure that you will never want to return to teaching before pulling out the money.

*You will have to pay a fee for early withdraw and then pay taxes on the money.  I believe it is 30% but confirm that with Columbus.

*There is a way to roll it over and then invest it in real estate within an IRA. You will want to ask a financial planner for details.

*Ask your financial planner and your accountant what all of your options are and what they think is the best option for you based on your situation.  That willl make you more confident in whatever you decide.  I know a financial planner who can hlep with this.  If you are interested in his information, message me.

Best of luck to you!