The IRA Custodian is Your Account’s Friend

Since the Rules and Regulations governing a self directed 401K plan requires owners for reports and disclosures, managing the same becomes daunting and complicated.An IRA custodian simplifies management of fund. The manager of the IRA assets is the trustee or the IRA custodian in behalf of the IRA owner. However, The IRA custodian is not the same as an “administrator”, a person or a firm handling reports and documents but is not directly responsible for the safekeeping of the assets being administered. The IRA custodian cannot be considered as the “administrator” of the funds, an individual who prepares required reports and documents but is not liable for the handling and care of the assets being administered. The qualified IRA custodian should not be the IRA owner’s fiduciary and family members, such as the spouse, ancestor, lineal descendant (e.g. children), and any spouse of a lineal descendant.

The primary function of the IRA custodian is to manage and care the assets, its records, investments and all transaction records relating to them. Issuing of statements needed by clients and giving full information on the rules and regulations of IRA asset management are the responsibility of the IRA custodian making sure that the owners have understood them. Mutual funds, bonds and blue chip stocks are investments in which the IRA custodian can cherry pick and offers it to the IRA owner. It is also permissible for the IRA custodian to offer other types of investments within the range permitted by the investment board and as regulated and limited by the IRS on the types of assets that may be invested in and which transactions can be carried out.

Tangible personal properties like collectibles, antiques, gems, coins artworks, and alcoholic beverages as form of investments are not permissible for IRA custodians to invest in. Furthermore, IRA custodians are not permitted to do the following transactions: improper use of the value in the account or annuity by the account owner, the IRA owner relatives or any disqualified persons. The latter thwarts self-dealing. The following are other disqualified persons: Service providers of the IRA (e.g. CPA, financial planner), a corporation or any individual of which 50% is owned directly or indirectly by a fiduciary or service provider.

Borrow money from it; purchase to add to the asset; receiving unreasonable compensation for managing the asset; to secure for a loan; and purchase of a property for personal use with the assets are some prohibited acts which IRA custodians are not allowed to do with the asset funds. As mandated by law, the following acts are prohibited for IRA custodian to commit: Acquisition of any asset whose main recipient is the IRA owner; pledging a kinsfolk’s new house purchased by a family member; mortgaging a second time an acquisition of house of one of the owner’s children.

Real estate, tax liens, franchises, mortgages, stocks are some of the additional permitted transactions the IRA custodian can undertake. Real Estate can be in the form of farmlands, raw land, new construction and renovations, passive rental income, residential and commercial properties located here and abroad. Business dealings may be in the form of joint undertakings, private equities and partnerships. US Treasury Bills, royalty rights, hedge funds, commercial papers, commodities and foreign stocks are examples of alternative investments.

With the strict implementation of rules and regulations and submission of reportorial requirements governing the Self Directed 401K Plan, we can now say that it would just be simpler to hire an IRA custodian.

If you are looking for an IRA Custodians , AES (a leading real estate IRA custodian) would be happy to serve you. They have the best IRA Custodians all over USA. They’ll spend the time with you to structure the Self Directed IRA and help you with the best 401k Real Estate to fit your specific needs. Visit AssetExchangeStrategies.com or call us at 888-683-5228

AAA comments on success of Niche REITs

Specialty real estate investment trusts (REITs) are performing extremely well, according to alternative investment advocacy group, Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

Boston, MA, December 23, 2011 – Specialty real estate investment trusts (REITs) are performing extremely well, according to alternative investment advocacy group, Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

Although REITs have outperformed other markets generally over the past year or so, the more niche the REIT, the better they have performed, according to AAA, which supports the alternative investment market in general.

AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson, is basing his assertion on a recent report in the New York Times, which showed that the REITs that invested in non-standard and niche property, such as warehouses, cold storage and energy infrastructure, outperformed the rest of the real estate investment market this year.

“What we’ve seen is these specialty or non-core property types have actually done pretty well this year,” explained Steve Shigekawa, of the Neuberger Berman Real Estate fund, when speaking to the newspaper. His firm invests funds in data centres and storage for timber, as well as self-storage units.

Mr Johnson said that the performance of the niche REITs reflected a general trend moving toward the more alternative of alternative investments. He explained, ”The Dow Jones general REITS index shows that this asset class has delivered returns of 3.32 in 2011. This compares with returns of 7.94 for the Dow Jones Specialty REITs index.”

Data storage centres are particularly lucrative for investors at the moment, as the demand for data centre space is increasing all the time, particularly with the emergence of cloud computing.

Mr Johnson added, “Alternative investments do not correlate closely with general economic trends, which means that they are perfect for people who want to diversify their portfolios against risk.

“This has, of course, become increasingly the case in light of the economic crisis, as investors are all too aware that they could potentially lose thousands over night if the market should crash off the back of another US or Eurozone crisis,” added Johnson.

Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com

Cheap Florida Car Hire Deals from Carrentals.co.uk Help Tourists Save This Winter

UK Families treating themselves to some winter sunshine in Florida this year can make the most of a budget thanks to the new Florida car hire prices sourced by Carrentals.co.uk. The award-winning car hire comparison site this week helps Brits book car hire at more affordable prices with deals to be had from over 50 famous name rental car suppliers.

Orlando Airport is the most popular place to collect a rental car when on holiday in Florida, and this week the Carrentals.co.uk site has been updated to offer the best Orlando car hire deals available. Before travelling tourists can log on and compare car hire deals to book themselves a car from just £15 per day*.

Picking up a hire car on arrival in Florida lets tourists drive to their accommodation at their convenience or head straight out to see the famous attractions like Universal Studios, the Epcot Center and Walt Disney World. Thanks to Carrentals.co.uk sourcing the best car hire Florida deals around holidaymakers can enjoy the utmost convenience as well as value.

Gareth Robinson, Managing Director of Carrentals.co.uk, commented, “Brits tend to head for Florida in their thousands every winter and right now we can help them to get more for their budgets. Our new prices sourced from all the top names are just the thing for getting people the best value possible when renting a car in Orlando this winter.

The Carrentals.co.uk service compares car hire deals from up to 50 rental companies, including Alamo, Auto Europe, Budget, Holiday Autos and Sixt, in over 10,000 locations worldwide. To compare the latest car hire deals visit www.carrentals.co.uk.

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Companies should resolve to target overseas markets in 2012, says Parcel2Go

Businesses looking to grow in 2012 and get the year off on the right foot should make sure they consider exporting their goods, according to the UK’s largest online parcel delivery service.

Parcel2Go helps individuals and businesses to ship more than two million packages to destinations here in the UK and overseas every year. With many finance analysts predicting tough times ahead for the UK economy, the company is calling on British businesses to make sure they exploit every possible opportunity, including breaking into foreign markets.

Richard Mercer, marketing director at Parcel2Go, said: “Exporting can seem like a daunting task, but thanks to the internet and the help available from various agencies, building an international client base is nowhere near as hard as it used to be.

“We want British firms to prosper next year, which is why we are appealing to them to make a new year resolution to, at the very least, investigate the possibility of selling their goods abroad. Parcel2Go has years of experience helping to send consignments to business customers around the world, and with our support the international parcel delivery process becomes a whole lot easier.”

Using online auction and retail website eBay is one way many small businesses are managing to break into overseas markets. Earlier this year the company announced that two online SMEs were projected to post turnovers in excess of £1m through exports alone this year. The major markets for UK eBayers include the United States, Germany, Ireland, Australia and France, and any businesses which fail to allow consumers in these countries to purchase their goods are potentially narrowing their opportunities severely.

“Our message to SMEs concerned about making a move into exporting is to be bold and take the initiative to find out what is involved,” added Richard. “Thanks to parcel courier firms it might involve considerably less hard work than you imagine.”

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