IRA in a Margin Account

As some of you know I am older that dirt. One of the reasons that I am doing Forex is that I find myself near the end of my productive life in a situation where I am disabled and have no retirement income except Social Security Disability (a lousy $750 a month). Ok, so I was lucky and managed to nab a lovely younger wife who works and can support me, but not in the manner that I would like to become accustomed to.

The bottom line is this: I have to put together a retirement income FAST. Forex seems to me to be a way to be able to do this with limited capital and a lot of work. (hey I am self UNemployed and have all day, and all night for that matter).

It seems to me that putting an IRA account into a margin account would solve a lot of my problems. 1) I could put $3,000 a year into it tax free. 2) The money could (hopefully) grow in the account tax deferred. 3) As long as I don't take it out of the margin account, Social Security won't have a problem with me "making money" and take away my crumby $750 a month, because it isn't income, it's capital gains, and isn't realized until I take it out of the account.

My questions to the group are: 1) Does anybody see any holes in my logic? and 2) Has does anybody have experience in putting an IRA in a margin account?

Thanx in advance. OK start ripping away.

Ok I found out one thing some brokers won't do it at all. (one of my favorites included) I know that there is intrest in this topic out there, please jump in if you have any info.

I found some brokers that will allow an IRA account. However, they all seemed a bit suspicious.


http://www.forex-day-trading.com/forex-trading-ira.htm

http://www.4xdirect.com/ira-forex-trading-ira-currnecy-trading-managed.htm

http://www.eliteforex.com/iraaccounts.htm

http://www.fxitg.com/forex/ForexIRA.htm

http://www.forexira.com/AboutUs.htm



An alternative is to open an IRA account with a custodian who permits "non-traditional" investments, then create an LLC that invests in the forex account.

Its a bit convoluted but should get you to where you want to be.

-Karin

More details on how that all works would be much apreciated.

You could start here.

Also, Tradestation offers a forex IRA with a min $15k initial deposit.

Thanx for the great info Karin! That's why I just love the Factory. So much love and good Karma to spread around....(insert long rambling rant here)

Hey Mr. Whipple I'll start off by saying that I haven't actually done this, but I have looked into it. If you have an IRA you can roll it over to a custodial firm as was mentioned above. I looked into doing it with FXCM. And if you are interested they will email you a list of like 4 different custodial firms that they will use. I can't remember them right now otherwise I would tell you who they are. So anyway you roll your IRA over to the custodial firm. They make you keep a certain amount with them which is like a money market account. Then with the rest of the money they will open up an account with FXCM for you and you can trade your IRA. Hope that helps a little bit. If you have further questions let me know. By they way I've been here a long time, but don't say much and wanted you to know I'm glad you joined FF.

tek

Thanx tek. Please post whatcha got! By all means.

here is the info that i got from fx solutions regarding this:

In order to trade FX or have a Managed FX account you must open a self directed IRA account. Currently FX Solutions uses 3 companies, the links to their websites are attached. We do not recommend any firm above any others, so the choice will be up to you. The steps to get started are as follows:
Fill out FX Solutions individual application and submit 2 forms of ID plus proof of address and tax form and submit them with the custodians documents to the custodian.
http://www.fxsol.com/open-accounts/indiv_joint.fx For managed accounts you must also submit a current disclosure document.
Fill out the 4 documents form the Custodian of your choice;
1) Entrust http://www.entrustadmin.com/
2) Equity Trust http://www.trustetc.com/
3) Millenium Trust http://www.mtrustcompany.com/
From the website of the Custodian you choose, you will be required to download 4 documents;
1) IRA APPLICATION
2) TRANSFER DOCUMENT
3) BUY DIRECTION LETTER (STANDARD)
4) FEE SCHEDULE
Send the FX Solution application plus supporting documentation to the custodian, allow at least 4 weeks for the account process to be completed.

like i said before you can also do this with fxcm and they use the same 3 custodians

tek

Boffo tek kutgw

Entrust is a good one.

I know someone who uses them and has been very happy.

-Karin

Xpresstrade is another broker that allows a custodial IRA account. I have not opened an account with them yet, but what intrigues me is they allow fx and futures trading from the same account. Tony

Can anyone tell me if there are any restrictions on how you trade Forex in your IRA account v.s. how you trade it in a regular account?

I heard that with stocks/etc. You can't daytrade and if you used your funds you have to wait 3 days for the settle before you can use the buying power again.

Does any of that apply to Forex?

Also slightly off topic but here is what I found...

I had no idea you could invest in virtually anything you want from your IRA, not just the financial markets...

http://www.theentrustgroup.com/investment_options/

FTA:

"Here are some of the self-directed investment options that our current clients have taken advantage of:

1. Real Estate – apartments, single family homes, commercial property and undeveloped land
2. Limited Liability Companies
3. Private Limited Partnerships
4. Secured and Unsecured Notes (Mortgages and Deeds of Trust)
5. Partnerships and Joint Ventures
6. Private Stock
7. Publicly traded stocks, bonds and mutual funds
8. Other investments
   1. Judgments/Structured Settlements
   2. Tax Sale Certificates
   3. Car Paper
   4. Factoring
   5. Accounts Receivable
   6. Commercial Paper
   7. Equipment Leasing

"