Strip 401k/IRA or self-directed IRA

[Kevin Polite]

I am considering moving my IRA to a self-directed IRA and told a friend and he said he took the tax hit and depleted his IRA and is happy he did. He said even with the tax consequences he came out ahead. He has complete control of his money and he says that he would have had to pay taxes on the amount anyway. I told him that though they maybe true he lost all that money to taxes that he could have put to use in a self-directed IRA.