Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Definition of An Accredited Investor

Most people do not know what an accreditor investor is.  Most accredited investors do not realize that the are accredited.  When introduced to the concept some people think that they need to make an application or pass a test. 

Being an accredited investor is actually defined by the SEC and qualifies an individual or entity to invest in ceertain investments that are exempt from registration.  

For all of the details of the rules, go to the SEC website and read the details:  http://www.sec.gov/answers/accred.htm .  

In general, for an individual to be accredited the fall into one or more of the following:

  • a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities; 
  • natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase;
  • a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year;

Do you fall into any one of these categories?  Do you hope and plan to some day?  Then this blog is for you.  We will expore private investments, what they are, how to read an offering, cautions, and where to find them.

Of course, this is an educational blog and before making any investment you should consolut with an attorney, accountant, or investment advisor.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Alternative Investments and Creative Real Estate

My partners have been asking me to start writing about alternative investments and creative real estate for a while now.

Alternative investments? Investments for accredited investors that the general public will never hear about that get much higher returns than traditional investments. On top of that, they often have less risk.

Creative real estate? Little to no cash in the deal, creative financing, and working with other peoples money to get what you want.

By the way, most people have never heard of an "accredited investor." That will be my next posting- defining the term.

I'll also talk about self-directed IRA's in my postings. Why? Again, most people have never heard of them and they are a great way to invest in alternative investments.