Editor’s note: For the past three months, our colleague Dr. David Eifrig has been working on a controversial research project. He was looking for solutions for Americans who are worried about new and growing threats to their privacy and their wealth. And this week, we’re featuring several of his top ideas, including today’s note on protecting your retirement from corporate corruption…

How to Take Control of Your Retirement Money
by Dr. David Eifrig

Don’t trust your employer to do what is best for your retirement.

Recently, Hostess Brands – the bankrupt baked goods company – admitted to using workers’ pensions to pay for company operations. Not only was Hostess misusing retirement funds, the company missed over $20 million in pension payments.

[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]If you’re over 40 years old, you may have a “pension,” also known as a defined-benefits plan.

It’s a retirement account that your employer funds and controls.

When you retire, your employer agrees to give you either a lump sum of money or monthly payments.

With a pension, you have zero control over what happens.

You can’t increase or decrease the amount that’s being invested.

Companies also hire managers who oversee where pension money is invested, and the fees they charge dilute returns. Plus, if you die right after you retire, your dependents might get nothing.

But there is a solution…

You can move money from your pension into a self-directed IRA.

This gives you total control of your money. You get to grow your money tax-free, just like a pension… but there’s no limit on how much you can make.

A self-directed IRA is exactly what it sounds like… It puts you in charge of what you invest in. In addition to the conventional investments you can make in a typical IRA – like stocks, bonds, and covered calls (something I regularly recommend to my Retirement Trader readers) – a fully self-directed IRA allows you to invest in many other assets, including real estate, private stocks, businesses, and even precious metals.

You can invest in just about anything, as long as it’s not employed for your personal benefit. This simply means you must avoid any conflicts of interest. You can’t, for example, invest in companies you have a 50% interest in. But you can buy the house next door through your IRA and then rent it to a neighbor. You can also invest in a local small business (again, as long as it’s not your own).

I use my self-directed IRA to generate income by selling stock options. When I use this account for options trading, I don’t have to follow any accounting or tax requirements.

In fact, if you do all your trading inside a retirement account, you don’t have to report any trades to the IRS. The goal is simply to maximize your total returns as quickly and as easily as you can… And get better returns than a pension could offer.

There are two ways to move your pension to an IRA…

One is to “roll over” the pension directly into an IRA. The broker or custodian you’re opening an IRA with should have all the necessary forms for you to fill out. I have mine with Fidelity and TD Ameritrade.

You can also take a lump-sum payment on your pension and then move the funds into an IRA. If you do this within days of taking the lump sum, you’ll avoid being taxed on the money and the 10% early withdrawal penalty. (If you can just roll over the pension directly, you don’t risk incurring taxes and penalties.)

However you do it, don’t wait. Why leave your pension – the money you’re counting on for retirement – in someone else’s hands?

Here’s to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

Dr. David Eifrig

Sponsored Link: Getting control of your retirement money is a great first step. I think most Americans are going to be shocked when the federal government starts messing with their retirement accounts. But remember, desperate governments do incredibly desperate things. I think you simply must get a significant portion of your assets and your income beyond the government’s reach. There are five more very important steps to do that. To learn about these other steps, go here…

Source: DailyWealth