PP in an IRA?

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EdwardjK
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PP in an IRA?

Post by EdwardjK »

I am going to invest several hundred thousand dollars as an inital step into the PP.  I have the option of making this investment in a taxable account or an IRA.

Can you help me understand the pros/cons of doing either?

Thanks.

Ed
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AdamA
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Re: PP in an IRA?

Post by AdamA »

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, if you wish to spend the money, you won't want it in an IRA.
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moda0306
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Re: PP in an IRA?

Post by moda0306 »

Adam is right, but a Roth IRA you can pull the money out of as long as it's no more than what you put in.  

A recent analysis I've done has shown the benefits that can be gained by contributing to Roth & IRA accounts through your lifetime and using them properly in retirement to significantly increase your "NRV" (net realizable value) over taxable accounts.

I haven't got the time to go through it now, but I'd say probably at least contribute it to a Roth IRA, as the contributions are liquid without tax or penalty.  A traditional IRA tends to look more appealing than a Roth if your marginal tax rate today is higher than what it will be in retirement, but it's less liquid, as you'll have to pay tax and 10% penalty on any early distributions from it.

I'll post a more detailed analysis soon, but just know that a combination of Roth & IRA funds at retirement can provide a lot of increased realizable wealth over taxable accounts.  I have a general "rule" that outside your emergency fund, you should max out your Roth IRA before ever starting up taxable investment accounts.
Last edited by moda0306 on Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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MediumTex
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Re: PP in an IRA?

Post by MediumTex »

EdwardjK wrote: I am going to invest several hundred thousand dollars as an inital step into the PP.  I have the option of making this investment in a taxable account or an IRA.

Can you help me understand the pros/cons of doing either?

Thanks.

Ed
How do you find yourself with the option of investing several hundred thousand dollars in a taxable account OR an IRA? 

I would think the money would either already be in an IRA (in which case taking it out would trigger a large tax bill), or if the money is not in a tax deferred account there wouldn't really be any way to get that much money into an IRA all at once.
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EdwardjK
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Re: PP in an IRA?

Post by EdwardjK »

My wife has an IRA account created by rolling over her cash balance account from a former employer.  Seperate from that, we have stock investments inside a brokerage account.

I was going to sell the stocks inside the brokerage account and buy into the PP using ETFs.  As I reviewed our accounts, I saw that the IRA value was just about the amount I was going to invest in the PP.  So, I can invest in the PP either through the IRA or the brokerage account.

If I sell the stocks in the brokerage account, I will generate tax losses, so no taxes will be paid as a result of the sale.

Now I want to understand wheter investing in the PP through the IRA makes more sense than doing so in the brokerage account.

Thanks.
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MediumTex
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Re: PP in an IRA?

Post by MediumTex »

Okay, thanks for clarifying that.

I would probably do half of the PP in the IRA and half in the taxable accounts (with all four PP assets on each side).

This approach basically guarantees many years of tax free rebalancing.
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