Landlord Kids - How Even a 5 Year Old Can Own Apartments

Can a 5 year old really own an apartment building? Even better, can your children own an apartment building AND save for college at the same time?

I recently discovered a very interesting article from the IRS (when was the last time you heard that?) covering Tax Benefits for Education (Publication 970) and one of the accounts types you can setup for your kids is a Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (CESA).

What is a Coverdell Education Savings Account?

A Coverdell Education Savings Account is an account created as an incentive to help parents and students save for education expenses.

Your contributions ($2,000 max/year) to a Coverdell ESA are not deductible, but the amounts deposited in the account grow tax free until distributed.

The beneficiary (your child) will not owe tax on the distributions if they are less than a beneficiary's qualified education expenses at an eligible institution.

This benefit applies to qualified higher education expenses as well as to qualified elementary and secondary education expenses.

Take your post-tax dollars, put them into the CESA, then let it grow tax free, much like a Roth IRA, but instead for your children's education.

Self-Directed CESAs Allow You to Invest in Real Estate

Here's where it gets interesting... You can setup your CESA as a self-directed account and instead of being stuck to "traditional" investments (stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) you can expand it to cover alternate investments such as real estate.

How Can You Buy an Apartment Building for Your Kid

Getting your kids involved in real estate couldn't be easier. Follow these simple steps:

1. Setup a self-directed Coverdell Education Savings Account for your children. If you already have a CESA roll it over to a self-directed account.
2. Pick the properties you want to invest in and direct the CESA to invest in them.
3. The CESA now has interest in real estate and both the growth and distributions are tax free so long as they're for enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution.

How Do You Setup a Self-Directed CESA?

If you don't already have a qualified custodian, send me an email and depending on what you're looking for, I should be able to point you in the right direction. Remember, not all custodians are created equal!

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Jeremy B. Shapiro is a nationally recognized expert on the real estate industry and has been featured in the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, NPR Morning Edition, CBS Nightly News, Fox News, Boston Business Journal, PBS and has even been interviewed by Toyo Keizai - the Business Week of Japan.

To learn more about how local investors are routinely pocketing $10,000+ per deal - even in today's economy, visit:
http://www.ForeclosuresMass.com/introcd/