3518: 8 Unusual Things to Hold in Your IRA by Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents on Alternative Investments

Summary

Podcast Summary: Optimal Finance Daily – Episode 3518

Title: 8 Unusual Things to Hold in Your IRA
Host: Diania Merriam
Original Article by: Jeff Rose of GoodFinancialSense.com
Air Date: April 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Diania Merriam narrates Jeff Rose’s article, “8 Unusual Things to Hold in Your IRA,” illuminating lesser-known investment options available within an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The episode moves beyond conventional IRA holdings—stocks, bonds, funds—and explores alternative assets, such as real estate, private company stock, and even oil and gas interests. Diania also provides personal commentary on the practicalities and pitfalls of using self-directed IRAs for these alternatives.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Common IRA Restrictions (00:52–01:40)

• Most people believe IRAs can only hold standard investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, and money market accounts.
• Jeff Rose highlights various items strictly banned from IRAs: insurance policies, collectibles (art, antiques, gems, stamps, rugs, wine).

Quote:
"Unfortunately, none of those can be held in an IRA. On the bright side, here are eight things that can be held in your IRA." — Jeff Rose (01:29)

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2. 8 Unusual Things You Can Hold in Your IRA

1. Certain Gold and Silver Coins (01:41–01:55)

• U.S. Treasury-minted coins like Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle are allowed.
• High-quality bullion (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) can also be held.

2. IPO Stock (01:56–02:16)

• Shares from an initial public offering (IPO) can be held.
• IPOs are riskier because they’re new to the market.

3. Closely Held Stock (Private Companies) (02:17–03:21)

• Stock from private companies is allowed if compliant with state “blue sky” laws.
• Typically limited to pre-qualified individuals and governed by offering materials and state law.

4. Real Estate Investments (03:22–04:18)

• Real estate (single/multi-family homes, apartments, co-ops, condos, commercial property, land) can be owned within a self-directed IRA.
• Memorable Moment:
  "If you've watched as much Flip That House as I have, you know that flipping a home can be a good real estate investment. But whoever thought you could hold that real estate in an IRA?" — Jeff Rose (03:24)
• Requires a specialized custodian like Equity Trust.

5. Limited Partnerships (04:19–05:53)

• Partnerships where IRA holders can be limited partners.
• Must comply with state laws and specific partnership rules.
• Possible tax implications, such as Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).

6. Oil and Gas Royalties & Interests (05:54–06:19)

• Mineral rights and royalty interests are allowed and can generate income from oil or gas production.
• Owners may differ in rights depending on mineral vs. royalty interests.

7. Stock Options (06:20–06:34)

• Employees who receive stock options from their employers can potentially shelter gains from tax by holding these options in an IRA.

8. Notes or Mortgages (06:35–07:38)

• IRAs can hold secured (mortgage-backed) and unsecured notes.
• Trust deeds, deeds of trust, and mortgage notes can also be included, purchased from brokers or private parties.

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3. Disadvantages and Risks (07:39–08:45)

• Illiquidity: Most of these assets are not easily sold (except gold coins).
  "For those who are approaching required minimum distribution age at 70 and a half, holding some of these illiquid investments will make it difficult to generate the cash that's required to be taken out." — Jeff Rose (07:54)
• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Illiquid assets may complicate meeting the IRS’s withdrawal requirements, leading to steep penalties.
• Custodian Issues: Not every brokerage or firm will handle these complex assets.

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4. Diania’s Personal Commentary (10:19–11:14)

• Diania expresses her preference for simplicity and being a “lazy investor,” avoiding the complexity of self-directed IRAs.
• "These specialized retirement accounts let investors do things they can't in an ordinary IRA, like invest directly in alternative assets, but they come with additional risks and require more effort." — Diania Merriam (10:22)
• Custodians only manage paperwork; investors must vet investments themselves.
• Alternative assets have less regulation and transparency; professional assistance (e.g., an attorney) is often needed.
• Fees for self-directed IRAs can be significant: setup, annual, asset-holding, and transaction fees add up.

Notable Insight:

• Holding real estate in an IRA can be suboptimal compared to keeping it in a taxable account, where you benefit from depreciation and loss deductions against income.

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Memorable Quotes

• "You can use a special type of IRA to hold real estate called a self-directed IRA. You can use a company called Equity Trust to hold your self-directed IRA." — Jeff Rose (04:14)
• "It's also suboptimal to hold real estate in a retirement account. It's more beneficial to keep your real estate portfolio as a taxable investment because you can immediately depreciate your rental real estate." — Diania Merriam (11:01)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:52–01:40: What you cannot hold in your IRA
• 01:41–07:38: Eight unusual IRA-eligible assets explained
• 07:39–08:45: Liquidity, RMD complications, and custodial limitations
• 10:19–11:14: Diania’s practical take on self-directed IRAs and real estate

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Tone and Style

The episode is conversational, informative, and practical. Jeff Rose’s article, brought to life by Diania’s clear narration, takes a matter-of-fact yet optimistic approach to alternative investing, while Diania’s commentary offers a grounded, consumer-oriented perspective. She favorably advocates for simplicity and caution for everyday investors.

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Summary

This episode equips listeners with an expanded view of what IRAs can hold—well beyond traditional stocks and bonds—while clearly underscoring the risks, complexities, and costs that come with more unusual, illiquid, or alternative IRA investments. Diania’s closing thoughts encourage listeners to weigh simplicity, regulatory clarity, and long-term practicality before pursuing such advanced strategies.

Transcript

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This is Optimal Finance Daily 8 unusual things to hold in your IRA By Jeff Rose of GoodFinancialSense.com Typically when people think of an IRA or what you can hold in an IRA, they think of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, maybe even money markets. What a lot of people don't know is that there are things that you can hold in your IRA other than the usual suspects. Some of the things that people would like to hold in an IRA but they can't are insurance policies, certain collectibles such as art, antiques, metals, rugs, gems, stamps, coins, or even maybe alcoholic beverages such as wines. Unfortunately, none of those can be held in an IRA. On the bright side, here are eight things that can be held in your 1. Certain gold and silver coins minted by the US Treasury. These include the Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle coins. You may also vest into high quality gold, silver or platinum and palladium bullion stock from an initial public offering. Most are familiar with the letters ipo. If a company has never issued equity before, it would be considered an ipo. Since it's an entirely new issue, there are certainly more risks involved. 3. Closely held stock Private or closed corporation stock offerings are not available to the public on the open market. Normally they're made to pre qualified individuals. These offerings must comply with the securities Blue sky laws in the state in which the offering is made. The number of individuals included in the offering cannot exceed the maximum stipulated by state law. These offerings, usually made by corporations seeking capitalization, can be in any class of stock described in their prospectus. Many corporations act as their own registrar as well as transfer agent. They may or may not use market makers for their offerings. Purchases and sales are described in their offering materials, which you should study closely. 4. Real estate investments. If you've watched as much flip that house as I have, you know that flipping a home can be a good real estate investment. But whoever thought you could hold that real estate in an ira? Here are some of the type of properties that you can Single family and multi unit homes, apartment buildings, co ops, condominiums, commercial property and improved or unimproved land, leveraged or unleveraged. You can use a special type of IRA to hold real estate called a self Directed ira. You can use a company called Equity Trust to hold your self directed IRA. 5. Limited partnerships a partnership is a type of unincorporated business organization in which multiple individuals called general partners manage the business and are equally liable for the debts of the business. Unless other individuals called limited partners may invest in the business but are not directly involved in management, limited partners are liable only to the extent of their investments. Unlike a limited liability company or a corporation, partners share equal responsibility for the company's profits and losses and its debts and liabilities. The partnership itself does not pay income taxes, but each partner has to report their share of business profits or losses on their individual tax return. Estimated tax payments are also necessary for each of the partners for the year in progress. General Rules Regarding Partnerships in a Self Directed IRA or Real Estate IRA Here are some general rules regarding self directed partnership investments in your self directed Individual Retirement Account or real estate ira. The partnership agreement must permit an individual retirement Account or a qualified plan to be a partner. The partnership must comply with the appropriate state law, have a determinate life, and be assignable and the partnership subscription agreement must be signed by you as having been read and approved and will be executed by entrust for your benefit. Partnerships may be subject to unrelated business income, UBIT and other taxes. It's important to consult your tax advisor for proper direction. 6. Oil and gas Royalty Interest, Minerals royalties and Overriding royalties receive revenues from the production of oil and gas from a well without paying the drilling or monthly operating expenses from the well. The term royalties can be used interchangeably to mean mineral interests, royalty interest, or overriding royalty interests. However, there's a difference between minerals and royalties and an even greater difference between overriding royalties and both minerals and royalties. The similarity between mineral interests and royalty interests is that both involve ownership of minerals under the ground. Both receive portions of the income from the production of oil and gas. However, the difference is that the owner of a mineral interest also has the right to execute leases as well as collect bonus payments, whereas the owner of royalty interest does not execute leases or collect bonus payments.

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7.

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Stock Options Unless you work for a major corporation, you probably aren't familiar with stock options. Basically, a company will give their employees options on the company's stock that can be redeemed, hopefully as a gain later on. If held in an ira, these gains could be deferred Notes or Mortgages A note is a vehicle that is used to extend credit from one or more individuals or entities to another individual or individual's entity. There are two types of notes. Secured notes are backed by collateral, providing the lender increased assurance of return of the loan amount and interest, such as mortgages and deeds of trust, and unsecured notes are not backed by collateral. You might consider an unsecured note for perhaps a friend or a non disqualified relative, but it's a higher risk and sometimes reward than a secured note. Investing in Trust Deeds and Mortgage Notes to clear up confusion, a trust deed, deeds of trust and mortgage notes are largely the same investment. Depending on the state you reside in, these notes may be either in first or subordinate positions and may be purchased from brokers or private parties. Usually the documentation is recorded at county recorder's offices and title to the property is insured as instructed. Disadvantages of these Investments While it's an interesting and unique list, one of the disadvantages of doing so is that most of these types of investments are illiquid. From my personal experience, other than the gold coins, most of my clients have not attempted to hold any of these types of investments in their IRAs. For those that are approaching required minimum distribution age at 70 and a half, holding some of these illiquid investments will make it difficult to generate the cash that's required to be taken out. And by not taking out the RMD, you're subject to the 50% penalty that the IRS will impose. In addition to that, it may be difficult to find a trustee that will be willing to hold these types of assets. Many investment or brokerage firms are not willing to do the extra work to hold such a unique asset in a self directed ira. You just listened to the post titled 8 unusual things to hold in youn Iraq by Jeff Rose of GoodFinancialSense.com Tax

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see why people find self directed IRAs appealing, but since I'm such a lazy investor, I've never bothered with them. These specialized retirement accounts let investors do things they can't in an ordinary Iraq, like invest directly in alternative assets, but they come with additional risks and require more effort as part of their contracts. Self directed IRA custodians only agree to handle the administrative work for your account. It's up to you to make sure the investments are appropriate, safe and legitimate alternative assets have less government oversight and are usually less transparent than publicly traded stocks and bonds. For that reason, you may need to hire an independent professional, such as an attorney, to help vet any major investment. Self directed IRAs aren't cheap. Along with transaction fees, the IRA custodian can also charge an accountant setup fee, an annual fee, and a fee per asset held in your account. These fees range from several hundred to several thousand dollars per year, depending on the account size, the number of investments made, and the IRA custodian. It's also sub optimal to hold real estate in a retirement account. It's more beneficial to keep your real estate portfolio as a taxable investment because you can immediately depreciate your rental real estate. And you may be able to deduct some or all of rental real estate losses against other taxable income. But that'll do it for today. Thank you for listening. Have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you on tomorrow's show, where your optimal life awaits.