Investor Sidelined by Injury Discovers No Retirement Account is Too Small to Grow

Seth receives monthly payments on his loan, which are deposited back into his Roth IRA. When the loan is repaid in full, Seth’s original $10,000 will grow to $12,000 in his tax-free account.

Seth Takes Action and Gets Rewarded

When Seth hears of someone being hesitant to complete that first self-directed deal, he responds by telling them that you have to be willing to take action, but to take an educated, strategic risk.

“You don’t want to be just throwing money out there,” he says.

The self-directed deal has opened Seth’s eyes and made him excited to discover more opportunities.

“I was only looking at real estate and stock market investments when I found out I could invest in private companies and make a steady return,” he says. “This has led me to look for more companies considering expansion, where I might be able to get a piece of or earn favorable returns.”

The size of the loan also expanded Seth’s awareness of the prospect of small-dollar opportunities, in businesses and elsewhere.

“Sometimes a real estate investment might only need $2,000-4,000 for closing costs, light rehab or just to get a deal done. You may not only get a piece of that deal and get your principal back, but you can get monthly cash flow as well,” he says. “It’s exciting that there are a lot of different possibilities out there.”

For those investors who are still hesitant or not sure how to get started, Seth recommends taking advantage of the volumes of self-directed investment education available.

“There’s a lot of information out there, all you have to do is search online,” he says, adding, “There are books and people sharing ideas of how they are building deals with small dollar amounts.”