MB488: How to Use Your Retirement Funds to Invest in Apartments (No Wall Street or UBIT) - With Damion Lupo

Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing

Michael Blank

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Don’t forget to grab your free book! www.TheMichaelBlank.com/QRP

Most people don’t know this—but you can invest your IRA or 401(k) in real estate instead of leaving it trapped in mutual funds. In this episode, I’m joined by Damion Lupo, founder of eQRP, to explain exactly how to unlock your retirement savings and use them to invest in apartments, storage, and more. We walk through the process step-by-step, dispel common myths, and show you how to avoid one of the biggest tax traps most investors don’t even see coming: UBIT. Whether you’re a passive investor or a GP raising capital, this is a must-listen.

Key Takeaways

Why Most Investors Don’t Know About This

Financial advisors don’t promote these options because they lose fees when you take control.
Most investors have old 401(k)s or IRAs they’ve forgotten about—but those funds are eligible for self-direction.
Online platforms like Schwab and Fidelity won’t show you the option to invest in real estate—you have to know to ask.

How Self-Directed Accounts Actually Work

Self-directed IRAs and solo 401(k)s give you full control—you can invest in real estate, crypto, gold, and more.
The right setup gives you checkbook control and removes delays caused by custodians.
Solo 401(k)s (like EQRPs) offer faster transactions, better flexibility, and fewer limitations than traditional IRAs.

The UBIT Tax Trap—and How to Avoid It

Using leverage in real estate deals inside a self-directed IRA can trigger UBIT—up to 40% in surprise taxes.
Solo 401(k)s are exempt from UBIT, even in leveraged deals.
You can convert from an IRA to a solo 401(k) before the deal sells to avoid the tax completely.

Smart Strategies for Passive and Active Investors

Passive investors can use these accounts to invest in syndications—earning tax-free or tax-deferred returns.
Active investors (GPs) can raise more capital by educating others on how to invest through their retirement accounts.
Damion’s team offers tools like books, webinars, and white-glove onboarding to help GPs guide investors through the process.

Rules, Limits, and Legacy Planning

You can’t use these accounts to buy personal assets, rehab your own property, or benefit directly from the investment.
You can borrow up to $50K from your solo 401(k) for any reason and pay yourself back—with interest you choose.
Setting up retirement accounts for parents or family members can create powerful tax-free legacy wealth.
Roth solo 401(k)s allow real estate investing with leverage and no taxes on gains—making them the most powerful tool in the tax code.

For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session488/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, dealmakers, welcome to the show where it's all about financial freedom with real estate.
0:03.9	Let's do this.
0:09.3	In today's episode, my partner in Nighthawk Equity, Garrett Lynch, and I sit down with Damien Looper, founder and CEO of EQRP.
0:16.4	And Damien, really, I've known him for years, but he's really passionate about tax-advantaged investing.
0:22.7	He doesn't really like paying taxes, and neither should you.
0:26.2	And so this episode is really about not so much tax law per se, but how do you use tax-advantaged
0:32.1	vehicles like an IRA, a 401K, to actually invest in real estate so you actually can grow your capital tax-free.
0:39.9	And that's what he really loves to talk about. So whether you are an active investor syndicator
0:45.9	or an operator who is trying to raise capital, the IRA funds, the money in IRAs is enormous.
0:53.3	And most people don't even know they can invest
0:56.1	with an IRA. So Damon's going to talk about how to take an IRA and make it self-directed,
1:00.7	essentially, where you can actually invest in real estate, invest in LLCs, make loans, and things
1:05.8	of that nature is very powerful. But he also talks about some of the shortcomings of an IRA.
1:10.0	The IRA is the most well-known,
1:11.7	but what most people don't know about is these 401ks, solo 401ks, and they're actually better
1:17.6	than they're easy to set up. And that's what actually what he specializes. And we're talking about
1:21.4	some of the limitations of an IRA and some gachas that certainly surprised me when I started
1:25.6	investing with my IRA a while back.
1:28.2	And so a lot of these things can be solved with 401Ks.
1:30.8	It's been around for decades in the early 70s.
1:33.5	A lot of people, most people don't know about this.
1:36.0	So Damien shines a light on actually setting up and using a 401K for self-directed time of investing.
	...

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MB488: How to Use Your Retirement Funds to Invest in Apartments (No Wall Street or UBIT) - With Damion Lupo

Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing

Michael Blank

Summary

Key Takeaways

Connect with Damion Lupo

Connect with Michael

Resources

Transcript