The Self-Directed IRA

The IRA Is Born

In 1974, Congress passed ERISA — the Employee Retirement Income Security Act — and with it created the Individual Retirement Account: a personal, tax-advantaged vehicle for retirement savings. In 1981, eligibility was extended to virtually every working American; in 1997, the Roth IRA added the after-tax variant with tax-free growth.

Half a century later, the IRA is the backbone of American retirement — trillions of dollars of patient, long-horizon capital.

The Legacy IRA

You already know the legacy IRA. It lives at the great household names of American investing — brilliant institutions, world-class at one thing: public markets.

BettermentFidelityVanguardMerrillSchwabE*TRADE+ others

Open an account at any of them and the menu is essentially the same: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs. Excellent instruments — but a fraction of what the law actually allows a retirement account to hold.

Logos shown for context only. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners; Canine Capital has no affiliation with, and is not endorsed by, any firm shown. Canine Capital securities are administered by self-directed IRA custodians — not by these firms.

The Self-Direction Evolution

Here is the quiet truth of the tax code: the IRS never restricted IRAs to public markets. Section 408 prohibits only a short list — collectibles and life insurance. Everything else — real estate, private credit, private placements — has always been legal to hold.

The limitation was the custodian’s menu, not the law. The self-directed IRA (SD-IRA) evolution simply pairs the same tax wrapper with specialized custodians who administer alternative assets: you direct the investment; the custodian holds, reports, and keeps the account compliant.

• Same IRA tax treatment — traditional or Roth
• Specialized custodian administers the asset
• You direct; disqualified-person and prohibited-transaction rules still apply
• Alternatives allowed: private credit, real estate, private funds

Why Fixed Income Fits

Retirement capital wants what a bond is: contractual income, a defined instrument, and compounding left alone to work. The Growth election was built for exactly this — monthly payments compound automatically inside the wrapper, untouched, until maturity.

Canine Capital’s two perpetual Growth series were designed from day one as retirement instruments — long-horizon compounding against dual-asset-backed credit.

At Canine Capital

Canine Capital is registered with 10+ self-directed IRA custodians, so subscriptions can flow directly from a traditional, Roth, SEP, or Solo 401(k) rollover into the roster’s SD-IRA series:

2026 Series C — perpetual Growth, 10.5% fixed coupon, $50,000 minimum, verified accredited investors (Reg D 506(c)), issued. 2027 Retail Series C — perpetual Growth, 10.5% fixed coupon, $10,000 minimum, planned under Reg A+ Tier II.