DON’T MESS WITH OUR IRAS! Let Your Representatives Know the New Rules on IRAs Would Hurt Ordinary Investors

Published on September 23, 2021

There are major concerns with the proposals recently added to the Build Back Better Act regarding IRAs.

If this is the first you are hearing about this legislation, the U.S. Congress is considering a spending bill that covers many issues. Last week, text of the legislation was made public and concerning language in the tax section proposes changes to IRAs aimed at preventing mega-wealthy investors like Peter Thiel from using Roth IRAs to accumulate massive wealth tax-free. (A recent Forbes piece did a great job of explaining the potential impacts of this bill.)

These proposed changes include:

• Restricting IRA investments to public securities and barring most investments into private equity or startup companies. This includes barring investments into single member LLCs
• Prohibiting the use of IRA funds for investments requiring accredited investor status
• Barring self-directed IRA investments in potentially high-return assets such as startups and private equity
• Forcing IRA accounts with private security holdings, and other newly prohibited investments, to divest and take distributions of 100% of those investments before they are eligible for withdrawal, effectively leading to massive out-of-pocket tax penalties

While the intention of these policies may be to target the ultra-wealthy, the reality is that, if passed, these proposals would hurt ordinary, hard-working investors the most.

We cannot allow this bill to pass as it currently stands. In the days since this language appeared, we have met with policymakers across the aisle to discuss the potentially catastrophic and unintended consequences of this bill, consulted with government affairs consultants, and built a coalition with others in the self-directed IRA space.

But we can’t do this on our own. Your representatives in the House and Senate need to hear from you about why these proposed changes will be harmful to you personally.

To help make your voice heard, we’ve made it easy to look up your representatives, as well as drafted a message you can use to contact them.

Let Your Representatives Know the New Rules on IRAs Would Hurt Ordinary Investors

You can find contact information for your House Representative and Senators here. 

If you would like to contact your representative—which is strongly encouraged—a sample message is below:

“I’m a constituent of Representative/Senator [Last name]. My name is ____ and my ZIP code is _____.

I’m calling today to express my concerns with some of the language recently added to the Build Back Better Act. The legislation includes two sections (Sections 138312 and 138314 of the House reconciliation bill) that will restrict my ability—and millions of middle-class Americans like me—from self-directing our IRAs into investments we believe in, like startups. 

I understand the goal is to prevent the mega-wealthy from using their IRAs to avoid paying taxes, but this language would impact all of us. I’m in the middle-class and have worked hard to invest money for my retirement. If this goes into law, not only might I be required to divest from these assets, but I may also be forced to take early distributions and be taxed heavily for doing so.

I cannot afford to lose these savings or be taxed on them just because the richest people in the U.S. have taken advantage of this. I’m asking my members of Congress to remove these sections from the Build Back Better Act that restrict or penalize IRA investments. 

PLEASE DON’T MESS WITH OUR IRAs.”

Please join us in demanding that these proposed new rules be removed from the final bill.

And believe us when we say that every single voice not only counts in this fight, but any single voice could be the one that makes the difference. So please don’t discount your potential impact here.

Next Generation – as always – will continue to advocate for individual investor choice.