I am interested in opening up a self-directed IRA.  True self-directed
IRA custodians/administrators permit private placements, secure loans,
real estate, and other non-traditional assets. They typically charge
fees based on asset values. There are certain restrictions on all the
assests held in the IRA (in particular the IRA owner cannot benefit
from the property in any way, i.e. they can not use it).

In particular, I am very interested in using my self-directed IRA for
private placements.  A private placement is a type of investment done
via private rather than public placement. The result is the sale of
securities to private investors.  So, for example, if Joe who owes
Joe's Dinner wanted to sell me me 30% of his company for $100,000,
that sale would be done through a private placement.

What I would like to know is if there is a good online comparison of
the fees various self-directed IRAs charge.  I would basically like a
"Consumer-reports" type article talking about self-directed IRAs
(Consumer reports has never covered this topic).  I don't want an
article introducing the concept of self-directed IRAs - I have found
dozens of those.  I WANT TABLES AND CHARTS COMPARING THE FEES CHARGED
BY SELF-DIRECTED IRAs (INCLUDING THE FEES FOR AROUND A PRIVATE
PLACEMENT).

Please don't spam me with possible answers.  I want a single table or
chart comparing the fees of self-directed IRA.  I don't want 100 links
and someone saying "Is the answer in one of these 100 links?"  I want
a table or chart and a single link to that table.

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Request for Question Clarification by taxmama-ga on 16 Sep 2006 12:06 PDT

Dear questioningquestionr-ga,

There are no articles like the one you describe about Self-Directed IRAs. 
So let me put together a comparison of companies and costs for you.

This will be based on companies who publish their prices.
Why, because companies who don't publish prices tend to charge much more.

Before getting to the table, let me outline some things for you.
Some you may already know. 

1)Putting private placement investments into an SD-IRA can be a 
poor investment. The administrators or custodians running these 
services do not do full due-diligence on the proposed investment.
They basically just look over information you and the  business
owner provide - and rubber stamp the investment. If the company
fails, you will lose the entire investment. (Yes, I have seen
this happen in SD-IRAs and SD-pensions.) So, please be sure the 
company is solid.

2) In order to hold an asset, like a building or business, 
you will often need to open a separate LLC, with the SD-IRA
being a member. You should not need an LLC just to told the
stock of privately offered company. I will not include the
costs of the LLCs in the analysis.

3) There are many companies in this field. I will limit the
comparison to 10 companies. If you need more, please let me know.
Or if there was a specific company you wanted included, please let me
know and I will add it to the comparison.

4) It?s difficult to do a true comparison of fees, since they each charge
a different variety of fees for different actions. Some nitpick and nickel 
and dime your account. Some charge, based on a percentage of the fair
market value of your account. Others charge flat fees.

5) We cannot upload files or post the files elsewhere for upload, so I
apologize if the table will be a bit primitive.

Before I go forward with this, since it is a lot of work, will this be 
acceptable for your purposes? 

And is there any specific company you want me to be sure to include?

I'd hate to do all the research and post all my work, only to 
have you reject because something that is crucial to you is missing. 

If this is good for you, I'll be happy to put this information together
for you. I am familiar with area of investment, having set up a company
in that raised money this way. And I am working in this field now
helping businessowners establish SD IRAs or other  retirement vehicles.

Best wishes

Your TaxMama-ga