1st off if you don't know, Jim Cramer is the biggest paid financial shill for Wallstreet. His job is to get dumb money to invest in dumb things. His track record is soooo bad there's no other expiation. You can actually do well on stocks and beat the market by doing the opposite of what he says.
CNBC just used 30 minutes of time that was scheduled to be part of a normal hour of Shark Tank.
Every day at 5 PM Pacific the news on CNBC ends and Shark Tank begins. This Monday was no different, except the stock market saw the NASDAQ take a -4%+ drop and DOW take a -3%+ drop only to recover, and like another post on this sub pointed out, that’s the most significant drop and recovery in a trading day since October of 2008. Eesh.
So why does Shark Tank matter? Shark Tank is a ratings monster. There’s a reason it is first up in prime time every single day on CNBC. There’s a reason I watch it every day other than just wishing I could make a bunch of fucking money for some other reason besides just all the money I plan to make on GME (so I could then throw it all into GME and make more). But besides all that, it would take a lot for CNBC to just skip over 30 minutes of Shark Tank. They wouldn’t give up all those eyes for nothing, unless they wanted them on something. And guess what they had on.
They had fucking Cramer. And he was shitting on retail traders like normal, but he was also desperately sending a message. And that message was that we are not in a recession and everything is okay. He tried to say that now is the time to buy. That buying in this uncertain time is the antidote. They gave Cramer 30 whole minutes of Shark Tank time so he could plead with the working man to keep buying, keep bag holding as we veer off of the cliff, because we are veering hard. He knows it, CNBC knows it, they mentioned it on the show.
They literally said, you can taste it. Regular people can taste it. Wild statistics like the dip and recovery today being the biggest since October 2008 are piling up, we are seeing the writing on the wall clearer and clearer and the dumbest of smooth brain non-apes who invest in mutual funds are starting to hear little birds telling them something is off. And they’re starting to question their masters, and CNBC has to take the time to inject an extra fat dose of it-will-be-okay to keep grandma and mom and dad buying stock while the market makers and rich investors cash out and jump ship.
TLDR; Shark Tank being interrupted by Cramer telling folks to bag hold harder is the canary in the MSM coal mine.
Persona opinion: this is likely tied to the GME and other stocks naked shorting and synthetic shares costing Hedge Funds BILLIONS so far. It looks like a major one got margin called yesterday.
That can be done without closing out the 401k, but few people know how to do it, and it takes jumping through a bunch of hoops.
It can be done without paying the taxes, though.
What you need to understand about a 401k or IRA is that the concept of "self-directed" has two different meanings.
Most people think of self-directed as opening an account at Fidelity (or similar), and invest in whatever they offer (which is only things they make money on).
But there is a different type of self-directed.
Fidelity and similar companies are the custodians. If you find an independent custodian, then they will let you invest in anything you want, other than things that are specifically against the 401k/IRA rules (art, baseball cards, collectable coins, etc.).
Here is an example, but not the only one:
https://www.solo401k.com/blog/who-is-the-trustee-and-custodian-of-the-solo-401k/
Now, there are several concepts to understand.
(1) If you have an IRA, you can roll it over into a 401k ... but ONLY IF your custodian allows it. If not, find a different custodian.
(2) If you have both traditional and Roth, keep them separate to avoid the taxes of conversion.
(3) You can set up your own company, either as a sole proprietorship or a corporation (C-corp is better than S-corp in some cases, for this purpose). Depending on circumstances, setting up the corporation might be better because it can provide more flexibility (but I have not looked at any recent changes in law/regulations -- this was the case a few years ago). Your business does not haver to be profitable and you do not have to spend much time in it. It could be simply online affiliate marketing, working on cars on the side, whatever. Just make a small amount of money, and that's all you need. You can also have losses rather than profits, but you just need to intend to be profitable someday. The main thing is to have SOME revenue, even if its your buddies paying you a few hundred dollars for moving stuff, helping them set up their computer, etc.
(4) Once you have your business set up, you create a 401k. Use one of these independent custodians, and they will do it for you (for a fee). Now, THEY are the custodian, and THEY allow you to invest in anything you want. No more Fidelity restrictions.
(5) Then, roll over your current 401k to you new 401k that YOU control.
(6) Next, create an LLC that is 100% owned by your 401k. This LLC will now be your investment vehicle. If you like Fidelity or other similar brokers, you can put some of the LLC's investments into that account and keep doing what you are already doing.
(7) Some/all of the money in the LLC can be invested in other things, including real estate.
(8) If the LLC invests in real estate, the real estate cannot have any debt (mortgage), or "Unrelated Debt Finance Income" tax comes into play. If it must have a mortgage, then you need a more sophisticated structure, which is beyond the scope of what I will post here. [NOTE: This applies to IRA's, but not the right kind of 401k, which is why you want to get rid of your IRA's by rolling over that money into 401k. Then, you don't have to worry about UDFI.]
(9) If the LLC buys a farm, let the LLC own the land (free and clear, if necessary, but probably not if the right 401k is used), and use the business (a corporation, if necessary) own the "farm" which is the managment of the land. Ideally, subdivide a section for personal residence, and do NOT have the LLC/401k own that. If you live in/on the property owned by the 401k, that causes MASSIVE tax problem. So, separate them all out: Farm Land, Farm Operation, Personal Residence, and do not let any property that you personally occupy be owned by the LLC/401k. You also might have to hire a farm hand to manage the farm. Check out how people do this with investing 401k money into residential apartment buildings, and you will get the idea of how to do it without creating tax problems. [NOTE: Instead of using the LLC/401k to BUY some of the land, you can BORROW $50,000 and buy it in your own/other name; just pay back over 5 years.]
(10) Bonus sophisticated strategy: If you have both a traditional and Roth 401k, you want to keep them legally separate to avoid a tax bill, but you can have them invest in the same LLC. Just use common and preferred shares, and make the Roth own the common with the Traditional owning the preferred. The max gains will go to the Roth. This is sometimes called a "Limited Partnership Freeze." Research it.
The main thing is that the LLC/401k cannot own real estate that you personally benefit from, and you need the right 401k setup to own real estate with a mortgage. So, do some research so that you are doing it without causing tax problems.
Good luck.
You got it.
Been awhile, and I edited a couple of things.
The right 401k setup CAN own mortgage real estate.
Just be sure to look into ANY real estate that is considered "benefiting" you, personally. Structure it with multiple entities, if needed.