Your retirement plan is a waste of time, money, and effort if it does not produce a good rate of return on investment. Start thinking now: how can you increase your investment rate of return on your retirement plans?

Your might consider a self-directed IRA. Even if your retirement money is currently in a defined benefit pension, or a 401(k), you can pretty easily get that money into a self-directed IRA.

Once you get your retirement money into a self-directed IRA, you can invest that money in what you know best. That’s the key to great investment returns—knowing what you are doing.

For example, take Ralph Jackson. He had his retirement money in mutual funds and earned an average return of just over 1.3 percent for nine years. During this same period, he made 27 percent on his real estate rentals.

Why did Mr. Jackson pay taxes on the 27 percent and have the 1.3 percent grow tax deferred? That’s easy, and very common. His retirement plan limited his investments to mutual funds. He did not know that he could shelter his rental property income inside an IRA.

In fact, if he had that rental property inside a Roth IRA, he would never pay taxes on the rental property income. Isn’t ... Log in to view full article.