Most people are used to investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds through their IRA. But that's not all that's out there. An IRA is actually extraordinarily flexible, and it's a way that you can invest your pre-tax dollars into a wide variety of investments.

1. Precious Metals

Precious metals have a lot of advantages. They are a finite resource, and steadily go up in value. They aren't as volatile as the stock market, and in fact, when the economy goes poorly, they lose value much less frequently. When you purchase precious metals through your IRA, you purchase them as commodities. You can also purchase futures for commodities, betting on whether they will increase or decrease. There are many investments that are designed around precious metals, and it's one of the best ways to diversify a volatile portfolio.

2. Real Estate

You can invest in real estate in multiple ways. You can purchase stocks for real estate businesses, you can buy real estate commodities, or, you can even purchase actual real estate within your IRA. You can even purchase a rental property from within your IRA and manage it there — if you're bold enough. Real estate tends to appreciate in value about on par with inflation, and this lets you build equity for the future.

3. Debt

Purchasing debt is an interesting way to make money. You can purchase debt for cents on the dollar. You don't need to try to collect on it yourself: There are investment companies that are designed to take money from investors like you, purchase debt, and collect it however they can. Debt can be volatile though: In times of economic strife, debt tends to become very difficult to collect on, and consequently less lucrative an investment.

4. Companies

There are some regulations about this: You can't purchase your own company from your IRA, because that essentially gives yourself money. But you can purchase someone else's company from within an IRA, or at least a portion of this. Consider this if you're thinking about investing directly in companies. It's just like buying stock, really, but buying a much larger portion of stock.

Now, there's a catch. Some of these things require that you be approved for a self-directed IRA rather than a traditional IRA. A self-directed IRA lets you invest in whatever you want, rather than just what's available through a firm. Your wealth advisor can help.

For more information about investment options like a precious metals IRA, contact a company like McAlvany ICA.