Yes, your self-directed IRA or 401k can own a private LLC or corporation.  No doubt about it.  But should you use an OFFSHORE LLC or Corporation in your retirement account rather than a domestic one?  Will it make your money safer… or at far greater risk?  I’m Bryan Ellis.  I’ll tell you right now in Episode 92.----------Wow!  Based on the response to yesterday’s episode, there’s clearly a HUGE amount of interest in offshore investing with your retirement account.  So thank you for that!Let’s dig a little deeper today.  Yesterday, we touched on the most fundamental of questions – is it even possible for YOUR retirement account to buy offshore assets.  The answer isn’t a straightforward YES or NO… and if you don’t know for SURE about your account, then listen to yesterday’s episode #91 to find out.  You can hear that at SDIRadio.com/91.Today… I’m going to assume that you’ve determined that it is POSSIBLE for your account to invest in offshore assets.  So we’re going to delve into one of the most common ideas about what it means to be an offshore investor:  To use FOREIGN business entities instead of domestic ones.As many of you know, it can be very advantageous to own a private LLC or corporation in your self directed retirement IRA.  One of the fundamental weaknesses of a self-directed IRA is that it’s merely self-directed… but not actually directly controlled by you.  So for every transaction, you must make requests of and wait for permission from your custodian before performing the transaction.But by setting up a wholly-owned entity within your Self-Directed IRA, this problem is largely overcome and gives you very direct control over your funds, which can be a very good thing.  And when most people set up such a wholly-owned legal entity, they generally use what’s called a home-state entity.  So, for example, if you live in California, you’d likely set up a California LLC in your self-directed IRA.  But what if, instead of setting up a CALIFORNIA LLC, you set up an LLC organized in some other jurisdiction… a FOREIGN country… such as the Cayman Islands, Antigua or Nevis?You’ve heard about this before.  When they talk about it in the movies, you hear words like “shell corporation” and “offshore company” and you’re led to believe that all of the action is in the Caribbean, particularly the Cayman Islands.  It’s also suggested that the only people who use offshore entities are drug dealers and money launderers… basically, the miscreants of society.Frankly, that’s what the US government wants you to believe, because some of what you hear about using offshore entities is true:  To a large extent, going offshore puts your assets outside the reach of Uncle Sam.  And good ole Uncle Sam is power-hungry.  He wants you to have the illusion of control of your assets, while having the ability to take them from you at any time.  But shifting your assets offshore, well… that’s not a good thing for our greedy uncle, because in many cases, doing so transforms the “illusion” of control you currently have into actual control… at least, control enough where Uncle Sam can’t confiscate it just because he decides to.But why would you ever consider using a legal jurisdiction outside the United States?The reasons are many.  Some are good, some are questionable.  Here are the top 3:Far and away, the top reason is to minimize or avoid taxes.  The logic – which, I’ll warn you, is flawed – goes like this:  I’ll set up my LLC in Nevis, where there is no tax liability for LLC’s. The second BIG REASON people consider using offshore entities is for asset protection.  If you have a properly structured entity in certain offshore jurisdictions, those jurisdictions make it very, very hard for anyone – sometimes even the US government – to take your assets, even if a lawsuit has been filed against you, you lost, and a judgment has been entered.  That’s because those jurisdictions have made their name – and make significant revenue – by being legally friendly to