The king is dead, long live the king!  The Self-Directed IRA used to be the king of the hill for self-directed investors planning for retirement, but now, it’s the Self-Directed 401k… and it’s so much better than the IRA version, it’s not even close.  But do YOU qualify to have one?  And if not, HOW CAN you qualify?  I’m Bryan Ellis.  I’ll tell you right now in Episode 141.------Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like you!For the longest time, the Self-Directed IRA was the king of the hill for those of you who want to invest your retirement funds in anything other than stocks, bonds, mutual funds or any other exchange-traded asset.  The Self-Directed IRA was like manna from heaven because suddenly, here was a tool that imposed very few limits on our investment choices, and we could finally buy real estate or private companies or precious metals or private placements or whatever we wanted with very few real limitations.What’s more, there was a broad perception for a very long time that the IRA was basically a fortress.  Once money goes in, no creditor or government agency could ever take it out.  But it turns out, that’s just not true… there’s the specter of this thing called prohibited transactions which, when you commit one, your IRA ceases to be an IRA, subjects you to huge taxes, penalties and interest, and just as importantly, exposes everything in your IRA to creditors.To make it worse, once your IRA is polluted by a prohibited transaction, there’s very little you can do to correct it.  In short, you’re screwed.And so when this thing called the Self-Directed 401k came along, we were all excited about it because it was an improvement over the self-directed IRA in some useful ways, like… it could accept a whole lot more money, and you could borrow money from it, and you could absolutely and pretty easily directly manage your own capital without the involvement of an expensive custodian.  There are even some circumstances where the IRA would be subject to regular income tax and the 401k wouldn’t.  All good things… but maybe not game changers.But there is ONE game changing difference that, even if everything else was the same, would make the Self-Directed 401k infinitely superior to the IRA, and it’s this:  The prohibited transaction rules are different, and far more favorable for 401k’s, than for IRA’s.  To be clear, you’re still subject to prohibited transaction limitations when using a 401k.  No doubt about it.  But unlike with IRA’s, there’s a very clear approach to CORRECTING problems you may have caused yourself by committing a prohibited transaction.  Yes, it will cost you a bit of time and money to make those corrections… but, unlike with IRA’s, correcting a prohibited transaction in a 401k is entirely possible.  And whereas the penalty for committing a PT in an IRA is absolutely draconian and disastrous, the cost for correcting PT’s in a 401k can be managed without costing you your entire retirement savings.But here’s the thing… it’s those pesky regulatory issues Chad referred to a moment ago… there are some very specific requirements for qualifying for a Self-Directed 401k that are a bit more stringent even than for IRA’s, which are really restricted only as a function of your age and income.What are those requirements to use a self-directed 401k?  Really, it all boils down to one thing:  You’ve got to be an owner or partner in a business that has no full-time employees other than yourself, your partners and spouses.That’s it.  Well, technically you also have to have taxable income in the year you start the plan.  So there’s that.So If you own or are partner in such a business, then you’re good.  And you should set up your self-directed 401k right away, with haste.  I’ll give you a suggestion in just a moment for where to go to set it up, because not all 401k providers are the same, and you may as well start out with the very best option.But what if you don’t fit t