Skip to Main Content
IRA

Unique, self-directed IRA investments run the gamut — from goats and cows to tree farms

Rock-and-roll fantasy camp | Steve Sands/Getty Images
Written by
Dan Weil
  • /
  • 6 min read
  • /
  • 6 min read
Bankrate Logo

Why you can trust Bankrate

While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for .

Bankrate Logo

Why you can trust Bankrate

Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next.

Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.

Our investing reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — how to get started, the best brokers, types of investment accounts, how to choose investments and more — so you can feel confident when investing your money.

Investing disclosure:

The investment information provided in this table is for informational and general educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment or financial advice. Bankrate does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it provide individualized recommendations or personalized investment advice. Investment decisions should be based on an evaluation of your own personal financial situation, needs, risk tolerance and investment objectives. Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal.

Bankrate Logo

Editorial Integrity

Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

Key Principles

We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Editorial Independence

Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.

Bankrate Logo

How We Make Money

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.

Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.

We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.

Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.

Bankrate Logo

Insurance Disclosure

This content is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate.com. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states were it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Have you ever thought about investing in a rock-and-roll fantasy camp, dressage horses or an office building in Shanghai? Well, some investors are doing these things and saving on taxes at the same time.

These intrepid souls are venturing far off the trodden path through self-directed IRAs. Of the $7.6 trillion that Americans have invested in IRAs, $152 billion is in that segment, according to Pensco Trust Co. of San Francisco.

Self-directed IRAs give investors a chance to diversify their portfolios while pursuing a passion. “We tell our clients to ‘invest in what you know and love,'” says Christopher Orr, institutional manager at Pensco.

But unique self-directed IRA investments generally aren’t appropriate for investors with a net worth under $1 million, and beware that you can easily lose much or all of your money.

The trustees who handle these accounts won’t give you advice about the quality of your investment. You have to do your own due diligence or pay someone else for counsel.

There are also fees. For example, Millennium Trust Co. of Oak Brook, Illinois, levies $50 to open an account, a $350 annual account fee and a $125 annual holding fee per asset for accounts under $2 million, along with an assortment of other charges.

Here are some of the most unique self-directed IRA investments people have pursued.

ADVISER SEARCH: What to do some investing? Find a financial adviser today.

You may also like