Newsletter, December 2011

Letter to Clients – Catherine Wynne & Bill Humphrey

As 2012 quickly approaches, we have exciting news for the New Year! Effective January 1st, 2012, Entrust New Direction IRA will become simply “New Direction IRA, Inc.” as the result of the mutual dissolution of the franchise system by us and the Entrust Group . Over the last few years, the franchise model of the Entrust Group has limited our ability to efficiently handle mandatory financial reporting requirements. One of the great benefits of this change will be New Direction’s ability to report directly to the custodian of our accounts, First Trust Company of Onaga (FTCO), rather than routing paperwork through the Entrust Group. Reporting directly to FTCO will allow enhanced communication for our reporting and facilitate FTCO’s more direct oversight. The New Direction staff that you have worked with over the past years will remain the same group dedicated to providing you access to the investments of your choice.

An additional benefit of this change is the opportunity to enhance our client information systems. Over the next few months we will be implementing several innovative upgrades to our trust accounting system, website, and client web-based interfaces. These upgrades will greatly improve our clients’ experience, communications, and transaction processing efficiency to make your interaction with us as smooth as possible.. See the updates later in this newsletter for details on the new systems and how they will benefit you as our client.

This year, as in every year since 2003, New Direction’s growth has surpassed all previous records. We continue our mission of education and enlightenment: explaining the rules and nuances of self-directing IRAs as well as opening the doors to non-traditional investing for a revitalized retirement future. Because much of our business comes from existing client referrals, we would like to  extend our thanks to you for choosing us as your IRA/Plan record keeper and for telling others about us. Please accept our sincere thanks and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

Sincerely,
Catherine Wynne & Bill Humphrey
Principals, New Direction IRA, Inc.

New Technology at New Direction

In conjunction with the dissolution of the Entrust franchise system, New Direction is able to implement systems uniquely designed for OUR clients. The time is past for the old franchise based system for the masses. We have heard your requests to provide a more responsive and hassle free structure. We are re-inventing our customer resources to provide clients more information, more access, and more control.

Over the next months we will roll out a new Oracle-based client services application geared toward allowing you, our valued client, to view specific details of your assets and holdings. In addition, you can receive alerts associated with the buying and selling process. Real time updates to your unique webpage will show you when a New Direction IRA specialist takes action on your asset acquisition. And you will be able to send a question, comment or accolade immediately to your account professional.

You will also be able to use our new online client service application to safely and securely pass information and forms to us, should you desire. This feature will include forms such as the Buy Direction Letter and the Payment Authorization Letter.

New clients will be able to open an account safely and securely online. Existing clients can start the purchasing process of a new asset online.

New, more efficient and easier to read invoices will be available. Current statements will also be improved, with links to the real-time data (where available) we all need in today’s investment world.

The bottom line on all these improvements is the bottom line, yours and ours. New Direction IRA, Inc. will be more efficient and effective, so your investments can be made quicker and easier than ever. But don’t think that all this new technology will make us forget our roots. We have always been, and will always be, a client service organization, use of these technological systems is optional.

We will still be here for a quick phone call, we are still available for scheduled in office visits, and we will always continue to educate and inform about self-directed investing.

News and Notes

Statement Mailing
As previously communicated, effective with the third quarter 2011, we discontinued our quarterly mailing of account statements. This is in response to numerous client requests that we forgo the consumption of the resources required to print and mail over 5,000 (and increasing) statements per quarter. Be assured that at any time we can email, fax or mail you a current statement or you can retrieve one from your online account. (if you don’t have online access, please contact us to set it up).

You will receive a mailed paper annual statement around January 31st of each year and we will be communicating via the post office at other times as needed or mandated, through out the year, but our focus will be to minimize paper communications as much as possible.

Form 5498
The mailed annual statement to be received around January 31st, 2012 will also serve as your substitute IRS form 5498.

Annual Valuations
We want to remind you about annual valuations. Like spring cleaning, it comes once a year. But who cleans once a year? The annual valuation of your assets is of vital importance to the IRS, New Direction, and to the validity and sanctity of your investments. A fair market valuation form has been included in this statement. While the deadline for valuating your asset is February 29, 2012, it is never to early to get started.

Updated Custodial Plan Agreement

One of New Direction IRA’s priorities is – and always has been – keeping abreast of emerging IRS and banking regulations in order to ensure that our clients receive the most up-to-date information available on self-direction. Changing IRS requirements and regulatory recommendations, primarily in the areas of asset valuation and rules clarification, have resulted in an updated Custodial Plan Agreement and Disclosure (Form 5305) for your plan.

Revised agreements may be found on our website by following the links at: http://NewDirectionIRA.com/5305/
If you would prefer to receive a hard-copy version by mail, please call us or send us an email us at: 5305@ndira.com.

The revised Form 5305 for your plan will be effective January 1, 2012.

Paying IRA Bills

If your IRA owns real estate it is not only responsible for paying the property bills, it’s required to. We need a current Payment Authorization Letter on file in order to do so. Please visit the “Forms” section of our website in order to download and complete the new Payment Authorization Letter. Feel free to fax or email these to the attention of the cash management group: email: cashmanagement@ndira.com, fax: 303-665-5962.

For purchasing and selling IRA assets, please download our new transaction forms which can also be found in the “Forms” section of our website. You will also find updates of all other forms in this location as well.

All incoming checks must now be completed to show the payee “New Direction IRA, Inc.” as a result of our name change. This means that if you have tenants, IRA note payments or any other
incoming checks the payee will need to reflect our new name. This also applies to all account contributions. Tenants paying rent need to identify both the name of the property they are renting and the last four digits of the client’s account number. We recommend making deposit coupons for tenants at the time they sign the lease. If you need assistance with this, call our Client Relations Department and they will assist you. This will help us to match the checks with the property they belong to and deposit them quickly!

The trust account wire instructions have also changed. Please contact us for the new instructions if you have a regularly scheduled incoming wire. These instructions are not available on our website for security reasons.

Employee Spotlight: Lucas Antoine

If you’ve called our office any time in the last six months, it’s likely that you’ve spoken with Lucas Antoine, the newest member of our Client Relations team. From account balances to help filling out forms to the intricacies of the Roth IRA 5-year rule and prohibited transactions, Lucas is happy to answer any questions you might have. If he doesn’t have an immediate answer, he’ll do the research and ask the questions to get you the answers you need.

Although he’s a native of Northern Colorado, Lucas spent several years out of state, studying in Pennsylvania, New Orleans, and Baltimore. Before coming to New Direction, Lucas was a graduate student specializing in medieval French and Spanish literature, a French-language college instructor, and a Spanish teacher in Baltimore City Schools.

When he’s not on the phone or thinking about arcane topics like medieval epics and disqualified persons, he enjoys reading novels, watching films, writing, hiking, and exploring the Denver/Boulder metro area and the beautiful Rocky Mountains of his home state.