There is so much more to investing than the just stock market, annuities, and IRA’s. Your certified financial planner (CFP) only can offer you certain approved products that have been approved by the company they work for. This leaves many options, including great real estate investments out of your portfolio, especially investments that don’t give your CFP a commission.
Here’s a secret for you, a Qualified Retirement Plan (QRP) is self-managed so there is no commissioned broker blocking your path to investments that you are interested in. You can also invest the money in your QRP in pretty much whatever you want. There are some rules that you need to follow and of course, due diligence but you owe it to yourself to find out what really is available to you, not just is available through the myopic lens of one company or CFP.
Even though you do not need to be an accredited investor to be involved in deals, you should work to become an accredited investor as soon as possible. This allows you to participate in many more deals than the general public that quite often give higher returns. You either need to be making $200,000 a year ($300,000 if married) for the last two years or have a net worth of $1,000,000 excluding your personal residence.
The downside to being an accredited investor is that you may invest your money into unregulated securities which could possibly lead to losing all of your investment just like in the stock market if the business goes bankrupt. However, most accredited investors get a higher return for taking more risk. And there are ways to minimize risk and still get a great return. It’s important to learn how to do due diligence so that you can make informed decisions that are right for your situation.
Additionally, learn the terminology of syndication and private placement memorandums. Learn how to protect yourself when investing in real estate, i.e. paperwork and what it should say. When and how to use an attorney. And especially learn to use your earned money to buy cash-flowing assets and your cash-flowing assets pay for your toys. That is how you become and stay wealthy.