--- title: What is a Self-Directed IRA? description: Learn more about a Self-Directed IRA and how you can use your conventional Individual Retirement Account IRA to invest in real estate, notes, and other assets. image: https://2144275.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2144275/Stock%20images/Right%20direction%20of%20your%20business.%20Collage.jpeg --- [![Lujan-Merriman](https://2144275.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2144275/Lujan-Merriman-Sep2017/Images/lmdg-logo.png "Lujan-Merriman")](https://www.lmdg.net/) - [Home](https://www.lmdg.net/) - [Investments](https://info.lmdg.net/fundiiiflyer) - [About](https://www.lmdg.net/about/) - [Philosophy](https://www.lmdg.net/philosophy/) - [Resources](https://info.lmdg.net/news) - [Team](https://www.lmdg.net/team/) - [Contact](https://www.lmdg.net/contact/) # LMDG Blog # What is a Self-Directed IRA? Posted by [Aaron Merriman](https://2144275.hs-sites.com/author/aaron-merriman) on Nov 10, 2017 12:31:58 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)  A [Self-Directed Individual](https://www.lmdg.net/self-directed-ira/) Retirement Account (IRA) only differs from other Individual Retirement Accounts in that the IRA owner has more control and flexibility in how their money is invested.  Although Self-Directed IRA’s have been available for many years, they have become more popular over the past several years as investors continue to look for alternative asset classes for their retirement investing. Many of my recent conversations with current or prospective investors, inevitably migrates to the topic of retirement investment accounts and investing with [LMDG](http://www.lmdg.net) using a [Self-Directed IRA](https://www.lmdg.net/self-directed-ira/). Technically, a [Self-Directed IRA](https://www.lmdg.net/self-directed-ira/) is no different than any other Individual Retirement Account or 401k.  The United States government created the IRA in 1974 as part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.  The IRA was originally created to allow an individual’s investments to grow tax-free or tax-deferred to maximize growth over time. A [Self-Directed IRA](https://www.lmdg.net/self-directed-ira/) has all the same tax advantages of an ordinary IRA with the additional flexibility of allowing the individual owner greater control of how their retirement account is invested.  Most custodians of IRA’s, only allow for the investment of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other more traditional investment vehicles.  In today’s market, there has been an emergence of IRA custodians which allow for investments into the non-traditional alternative asset classes like real estate, notes, private placements, tax liens, and many more.  It is this group of custodians that [LMDG](http://www.lmdg.net/) works which allows investors to invest with [LMDG](http://www.lmdg.net) using a Self-Directed IRA. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that a qualified custodian hold IRA assets on behalf of the IRA owner.  The custodian provides custody of the assets, processes all transactions, maintains other records pertaining to them, files with the IRS, and issues client statements.  Custodians also can restrict the type of alternative assets they are willing to handle. There are several types of IRAs, they can all also be classified as Self-Directed.  These include, Simple IRA, Roth IRA, Sep IRA.With any IRA, the objective is to provide growth and security for your financial future.  In today’s investing environment, many American’s retirement savings is falling short.  The days of relying solely on social security, pensions, and other government programs for retirement are gone. Schedule a call today with [LMDG](http://www.lmdg.net) to learn more about [Self-Directed IRA’s](https://www.lmdg.net/self-directed-ira/) and what our investment has to offer. 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