Asset diversification has long been touted as a critical strategy for wealth building. This method of portfolio management, which traditionally involves a mix of stocks, fixed assets and commodities allows for maximum return at the least amount of risk — an important element for retirement savings.
One company with a strong foothold in this investment space is Equity Trust[1], a financial services company that allows individual investors to diversify their retirement investment portfolios through asset class options like private equity, precious metals, tax liens and real estate among others. With over $25 billion in assets under custody and administration as of the end of 2017, Equity Trust’s self-directed retirement accounts have become a viable option for entrepreneurial investors seeking control over their wealth building activities.
Merging the Worlds of IRAs and Crypto
Equity Trust recently launched a new digital asset platform that allows individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to invest in cryptocurrencies. It can be simple to open an account online through myEQUITY (its online account system), or investors can call and open an account through a senior account executive.
The minimum investment required is $10,000 in addition to a $500 nonrefundable fee for use of the digital asset platform.
Through this platform, investors can purchase and sell bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, ethereum classic, litecoin and XRP using a trade-date-plus-one formula (i.e., next-day cash availability for sale transactions). The industry-leading cycle starts when purchase/sell orders are immediately filed by liquidity providers to lock in the price and exchange of fiat and digital currency takes place the following morning.
Because Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines treat crypto in a manner similar to real estate, an IRA offers some potential tax advantages. If IRS guidelines are followed, taxes are deferred, meaning that there are no immediate tax implications. By way of example, the major spike in bitcoin prices in 2017 led to some major financial returns for investors in this
