Retirement account dilemma

[Richard Chagnon]

  I am new to real estate investing (I have yet to buy my first property) and not a lot on money on hand. I do however have a retirement account with approximately $235,000 in it from a company I no longer work for.

  My question is , how can I best use that money? I can't take it out without being penalized. Can I roll it into real estate? Or possibly roll it into the 401k I have with my current employer where I can take a loan against it?

  The 401k I have is relatively small as I have only worked for this company about 1 1/2 years.

  Any advice I could get would be much appreciated.

[Brian Eastman]

@Richard Chagnon

@Daniel Helland ' s recommendation of a ROBS plan is a bit generic.  Such plans are great if your intent is to operate a business that provides a product or service.  in real estate that is not rentals, but rather property development such as new construction or frequent flipping.

If your goal is to diversify that existing savings into real estate, then a self-directed IRA will be the vehicle to explore. Such a plan would not be a means for you to invest in real estate and generate spendable income today, but rather a way to diversify that pile of tax-sheltered money into real estate as opposed to conventional financial products. If you believe that will help you to grow that IRA savings to a larger amount over time than leaving it in the market, then that is the way to go.

There are several providers of such plans active here on BP and a lot of posts on the topic.  Read up and make some phone calls.