Ruth Heffron did everything right – she built up an IRA big enough for her retirement, AND enough to leave her daughter nearly half a million dollars.  But the US Supreme Court has different ideas, and it’s bad for Ruth, her daughter, and YOU.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  This is Episode #234. ----- Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome back to Self Directed Investor Talk… the show where I, your humble host, daily throw myself into the lion’s den in proclamation of the Gospel of Self Directed Investing… namely, that you MUST DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM WALL STREET and take control of your own capital! Before we do that… can I just remind you guys about Fund & Grow?  They’re the guys that are just EXTRAORDINARY when it comes to build cash credit for investors, businesspeople and others.  For anyone with decent credit, their specialty is establishing $50,000 to $250,000 or more of ZERO INTEREST credit for you to use on anything you want.  Totally unsecured, too… It’s really amazing.  A great alternative to hard money loans, for example.  Check them out if you need capital.  I endorse them very proudly.  You can reach them at SDITalk.com/credit.  Ok, let’s jump in.  To participate in the conversation, reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter, or by email at feedback at sditalk.com. Ruth Heffron must be spinning in her grave.  She opened an IRA and build it up such that, even after using it herself, there was still nearly half a million dollars in there when she passed away.  Mrs. Heffron did what may of us would do in that case… she designated her only child Heidi Heffron-Clark as her beneficiary. For a while, things were fine.  Heidi was able to withdraw a bit of that money over time, such that she drew it down to a value of about $300,000.  But then something unfortunate happened.  Heidi found herself facing some financial difficulty, and chose to declare bankruptcy. Now if you’re wondering why Heidi would declare bankruptcy since she had an IRA worth $300,000… well, you’re on the right track.  When one declares bankruptcy, their assets are basically up for grabs by creditors… and so that $300,000 IRA she inherited from dear old mom would seem to be on the chopping block. Alas… Heidi – or more likely, her bankruptcy attorney – knew that there’s some very special statutory protection for retirement accounts.  With only a few exceptions, IRA’s and other retirement accounts are basically outside of the reach of creditors, even in the case of bankruptcy.  It’s one of the things that makes that type of account truly special… something like a fortress for your financial assets. So, armed with this assurance, Heidi Heffron-Clark filed for bankruptcy.  But then something wholly unexpected happened:  Her creditors fought back.  They claimed that those protections against creditors available to retirement accounts are available ONLY to retirement accounts… and since Heidi had INHERITED her IRA, and had been using it to pay her life expenses, then that account was arguably NOT a retirement account, and thus no longer entitled to the protections provided by law. And, lo and behold, when those creditors made these arguments before the US bankruptcy court, the court agreed, and Heidi had lost her $300,000 IRA.  Then the appeals came… she won some, she lost some… you know the drill, until one day, Heidi and the case of her $300,000 IRA land before the U.S. Supreme Court. And when the judgment on that case was handed down, something unusual happened:  There was a unanimous decision AGAINST Heidi’s claim.  Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court had decided that by virtue of having INHERITED the account, Heidi’s IRA was no longer actually a retirement account, but was, essentially, a normal financial account, available to satisfy the demands of creditors like any other asset. Let’s put aside for a moment whether we agree with that decision.  The fact that it was unanimous – which is a rarity at the Supreme Court – suggests that the law is settled, whether we like it or not. Bu