A self-directed IRA lets you use old retirement money to buy real estate, fund private loans, and invest in businesses, tax deferred or even tax free. Most investors have never been told this account exists. That old 401(k) from a job you left years ago? It could be working a lot harder for you.

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Playbook, I sit down with Daniel Tercey, senior account executive at Directed IRA, to walk through the whole roadmap in plain English. You'll learn what "self-directed" actually means (it's a marketing term, and it applies to traditional and Roth accounts alike), how a rollover from an old 401(k) really works, and why real estate investors love checkbook control through an IRA LLC.

Then we get into the rules that can blow up the whole tax advantage. Daniel names the seven disqualified persons you can never transact with, explains why fixing your own rental's leaky faucet counts as a prohibited transaction, and tells the story of a client who called his son a "business partner" and learned that lesson the hard way. We also break down UBIT and UDFI without the jargon, including why a solo 401(k) sidesteps UDFI entirely and how depreciation and cost segregation fit in when your IRA buys property with a non-recourse loan.

You'll hear real examples too: a 56-year-old running wholesale deals through a solo 401(k) so he can pull the profits out tax free in retirement, a group of Georgia investors who formed their own private lending bank from their retirement accounts, and a pilot whose Roth IRA bought a plane. We also dig into private money lending, why Daniel calls it the gateway drug of self-directed investing, and how to structure a note so your custodian can actually tell when it's in default. The episode closes with a five-step playbook for opening and funding your first self-directed IRA the right way.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 [Add chapters after upload]

Know a real estate investor or business owner with an old 401(k) collecting dust? Send them this episode. It might be the most profitable thing they watch all year.

Subscribe to the newsletter for free resources, including my 2026 tax planning guide and a check sheet for every episode: https://www.taxstrategyplaybook.com/newsletter

And if this opened your eyes to money you didn't know you could use, share it with one investor or business owner who needs to see it.

Connect with Daniel Tercey at Directed IRA: https://directedira.com

Full show notes: https://www.taxstrategyplaybook.com

#SelfDirectedIRA #RealEstateInvesting #TaxStrategy #RetirementPlanning