What is a SERIES LLC, and why are self-directed investors so excited about this new legal structure?  I’m Bryan Ellis.  I’ll tell you the good AND the bad about Series LLC’s right now in Episode #134.-----Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the PODCAST of RECORD for savvy self-directed investors like you!So have you heard of it?  This thing called a “series LLC”?  It’s a relatively new type of legal structure that offers the flexibility of multiple legal entities in one, in a manner of speaking.So, for example, let’s say you create a new LLC called SDI LLC and you register it as a “Series” LLC.  What this means is that by creating that one entity, you have actually created a virtually unlimited number of entities because you can then, without paying additional registration fees, create additional entities such as SDI Series 1 LLC, SDI Series 2 LLC, SDI Series 3 LLC, etc…Now here’s what’s cool about that… the governing law for this type of structure explicitly states that, in the eyes of the law, that each of those series are SEPARATE business entities.  This means that, each separate series you establish of that LLC has separate TAX liability, separate LEGAL liability, an entirely distinct LEGAL identity… even though you don’t have to pay additional fees to register the additional series after the first one.That has some real relevance for me and you as Self Directed Investors.  Here’s why:  Let’s think about this in the context of real estate.Let’s imagine you have 15 different pieces of property.  Some are residential, some are raw land, some are commercial.  But you have 15 different pieces, and they’re all owned by your IRA.And one day, somebody slips and falls on one of your properties – let’s just say it’s property #7, a nice little house on Main Street – and they’re seriously injured.  They’re going to sue everyone with any connection to that property, which will quite surely include your IRA as owner of the property.What happens if they win?  What happens if they get $5,000,000 judgment against your IRA?  Well, what will happen is that they’ll be able to, in one way or another, take away not just the property on Main Street where the accident happened, but all of the others as well, until their $5M judgement is satisfied.  That’s because, in the eyes of the law, those assets have the same owner, and it’s THAT owner – your IRA – that must satisfy the judgment.  In one fell swoop, your IRA is now worthless.Just as an aside, I know that some of you are thinking that your IRA provides protection against lawsuits, so you need not be concerned.  That’s not really true, folks.  If you PERSONALLY were sued and lost, then there IS some protection for your IRA in that kind of situation.  But that’s not what we’re talking about.  We’re talking about YOUR IRA being sued because IT is the owner of this property, and not you personally.  In that case, the assets of the IRA are up for grabs if it loses the lawsuit.And that’s where a Series LLC might come into play.  The way some people are using these things is that they’re setting up a Series LLC that’s owned by their IRA, and then they’re creating a separate series of that LLC – essentially a separate business – to own each piece of their property.The theory there works like this:  Instead of your IRA owning 15 separate properties, it owns a series LLC with 15 separate series, each of which contains one piece of property, including that infamous property #7, the nice little house on Main Street.  And when there’s an injury on that property that results in a lawsuit with a $5M judgement, things work out a little differently this time because Property #7 is not actually owned by your IRA directly.  Instead, it’s owned by SDI Series 7 LLC.  And since that house is the only thing owned by SDI Series 7 LLC – because every other property is in a different Series of SDI LLC – then you still take a hit… but it’s only against Property #7.  All of the other properties are safe, being legally sepa