Friday, July 19, 2013

American Airlines offers employees Self-Directed IRA options

American Airlines declared bankruptcy in November 2012. More than 9,000 senior pilots are being asked to either roll their “B fund” retirement funds into an IRA or a company 401(k), or take a lump sum cash distribution. Many pilots are choosing to put their funds in a self-directed IRA, instead of taking a tax-burdened cash distribution or enrolling in the company 401(k) that offers few investments options.

The self-directed IRA is a viable choice for these pilots besides the fact that it is likely to incur the least amount of payments, fees and taxes out of the options presented by the airline. A self-directed IRA will allow pilots to choose their investments and diversify their accounts with assets in real estate, precious metals, private equity, publicly traded securities and more.

Most pension and retirement plans are written so that the employee doesn’t get many choices about where to invest his or her funds. This development for American Airlines provides a great opportunity for pilots to roll their funds over into a self-directed IRA account and investigate the thousands of investment options available.

With change comes opportunity—New Direction is available to help pilots take advantage of this opportunity.
New Direction IRA can help pilots navigate the investment of their IRAs. With more than 10 years of experience, an easy online portal for clients and a database of knowledge unparalleled in the self-directed IRA industry, New Direction provides a unique opportunity for pilots looking to invest their B-fund retirement accounts.

We handle the bookkeeping and administration of your account, you choose the investments.

Like all investments, due diligence is required to decide what will work best for your IRA and its investments. New Direction IRA can help with the administration and bookkeeping of your IRA, and will ensure your transactions and/or conversions are done according to IRS code.