Alternative Investing for Teens: Rich Advice for Teens

Hey Cash Kids!
Let me ask you a big question...
What if I told you that you could be a millionaire one day just by saving a little bit of money each year starting NOW — even as a teen?

In this episode, we’re talking to Adam Bergman, a retirement expert who’s helped over 17,000 people invest using self-directed IRAs — including his own kids! He’s going to break down how YOU can start investing in things like Bitcoin, real estate, and even small businesses... yes, even as a teen.

We’ll talk about:
✅ The secret power of Roth IRAs
✅ How compounding returns make your money grow faster
✅ Why starting early gives YOU the biggest advantage

So if you're serious about building real wealth and taking control of your financial future — you do NOT want to miss this.

Before we dive in — don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave us a review if you're loving the podcast. Your support helps us reach more future millionaires just like you!

Alright, let’s get into it.

(intro tease)

Cash Kid: Hey Cash kids. Welcome back to the Cash Kid Podcast and today we're doing an interview with none other

than the Adam Bergman . He's the founder of IRA Financial Group And IRA Financial Trust, which are the leading providers of self-directed IRA plans and 4 0 1 Ks.

He's helped over 17,000 clients make alternative asset investments with their self-directed plans. Adam has published nine books on retirement plans and Taxation is a frequent contributor to Forbes and has been quoted in over 250 major publications. He's passionate about educating Americans of self-directed investment plans and passionate about my generation and learning about these types of investment strategies earlier in life. I'm excited to learn from Adam today. So hey Adam. Welcome to the show, and first off, tell us a little bit about  yourself.

Adam Bergman: Well thanks so much for having me. Really excited. So I was a tax lawyer and um, for eight years in New York City. Really, um, always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Didn't really know what I wanted to do. And I had the pleasure of being able to help a client who wanted to use his IRA to invest in what's called a hedge fund.

Right? It's, a more advanced way to invest. So I was asked to research how he was, able to use his IRA to invest in a hedge fund, and I was totally blown away because. I couldn't imagine myself, always thought of myself as a really, you know, smart guy. I was a tax lawyer of a master's in tax law and I had no idea that you can use your IRA to do alternative assets like real estate or gold or hedge fund.

So I quit my job and started IRA Financial about 15 years ago.

Cash Kid: you have adults save retirement and really like unique ways. So can you explain just like what a self-directed plan is, but in a way that a kid or teen could understand  it?

Adam Bergman: Sure, sure. So I'll, let me double click on that and just give a little bit of history and make it easier to understand. So in 1974, IRAs were created Not a lot of Americans got to save for retirement. Right. It was mostly if you worked at big companies like Ford or GE, you had a defined benefit plan, otherwise you just didn't have a chance.

So the government created ERISA, which created the IRA and the 401k, which are the two most common ways to save. So what is the foundation? What's an IRA or an individual retirement account? Basically anyone that has some income that works, that has a job, could open an IRA. So you can be a lifeguard, you can be a basketball coach, you can work at the grocery store.

You can do chores for a neighbor, as long as it's really not a parent paying you. You can have income and you can put money into an IRA. And what's the advantage? Well, there's two big advantages. One is you get a tax deduction for what you put in. Meaning if you make $20,000 and you get a $5,000 tax deduction, you only pay tax on 15,000, which is good.

It's less money goes to the government. And the second is the most important. It's called tax deferral. That means you don't pay tax when your money is invested in an IRA. So here's a simple example. If you take a hundred dollars and buy Bitcoin, okay, or or Tesla stock, and it goes to $200 in an IRA and you sell it, you don't pay any tax.

If you did that in a non IRA account, you would pay income tax on that gain. And if you did that for the next 10, 15, 20, 30 years, you're gonna have a lot, lot less mone