Hey everyone, welcome back to Finance Friday.

It's another special edition of Money Girl where I answer your burning money questions.

Today's topic comes from Jackson, who says, I've been looking at opening an IRA and see that you can own different types of investments besides stocks and bonds in a

self-directed IRA. Can you explain self-directed accounts and whether I should use one?

Thanks for your question, Jackson. If you search online for an individual retirement account

or IRA, you're likely to see the option to open a self-directed

IRA or S-D-I-R-A. This podcast will answer Jackson's question by reviewing what a self-directed

IRA is, the rules for using them, and who might benefit from having one.

Welcome back to episode 939 of Money Girl.

I really appreciate you spending time with me.

I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson, money speaker, and founder of The Money Stack.

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educate and inspire your company or organization? Or perhaps you'd like to partner with me on a

PR and brand building campaign. Reach out by visiting laura d.adams.com. I look forward to hearing

from you. All right, so let's get into what exactly is a self-directed IRA.

It is a type of individual retirement account that allows you to invest in a wide range of assets

compared to a regular IRA.

Just as Jackson said, with a conventional, a regular IRA, you're typically limited to a menu

of investments that are publicly traded, like stocks, bonds, index funds, and exchange traded funds.

In fact, these regular accounts may prohibit you from owning anything considered an alternative asset. But with a self-directed IRA,

you've got a lot more control, and a custodian closely oversees the accounts, rules, and

...