Self Directeed IRA Myths Busted: Part 1

There was a story I learned as a child titled Chicken Little, in which the main character, Chicken Little, needed attention and so he went about creating alarm by providing misinformation about atmospheric conditions--attempting to convince everyone that "the sky was falling." Since he was one of the few chickens that took it upon himself to forecast, the other chickens in the pen quickly accredited him as an expert and became quite convinced that the Blue Sky Armageddon was upon them. Naturally, the truth eventually became known and Chicken Little became remorseful and repented. The children's story resonates in today's investment world with the analogous warning issued about the practice of holding real estate assets in a self-directed IRA (also referred to as a real estate IRA or IRA real estate by investors). The warning is this: "Don't invest in real estate because at age 70