Retirement just isn’t what it used to be. Many of us baby-boomers expect to work up to at least our 65th birthday, perhaps even longer. The number of people working to 65 and beyond has steadily increased over the past 20 years from 11% in 1991 to 33% in 2010. For most, the reason is simple… they need to rebuild their retirement savings that took a hit during the recession.

"The flexibility offered by investment accounts such as your Roth IRA can be very appealing," offers investment expert, Saen Higgins. "IRA’s self directed or otherwise, are not limited to extent that your typical employer-sponsored 401 (k) will be. In other words, you, the investor are given more choices." Most types of investments are permitted within an IRA including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, and even real estate. "Your QRP (qualified retirement plan) allows you to hold most any type of security as well, but you won’t face the same tax penalties," continues Higgins.

This is why Higgins Founded Wealth Without Risk where he teaches his students a recession proof way of investing in their futures, that includes utilizing their QRP to invest in tax lien certificates and tax lien deeds.

Says Higgins, "Investing in tax lien certificates is the only 100% guaranteed recession proof investment that I know of. Wealth Without Risk has created a proven method for investing in tax lien certificates that insures investors will receive a 16-22% return on their investment each and every time. When you invest in property tax liens there is no reason why you need to worry about the investment decisions you’ve made. Tax lien certificates are safe, recession proof and can be accomplished on your home computer."

Higgins warns that before opening any retirement account, including a QRP that you need to know exactly which investments are allowed and those that are prohibited. For example, life insurance. ?As a general rule, no type of life insurance can be housed in your account. This includes whole life, universal, term and variable policies of any amount. Qualified plans contain one exception to this rule. The incidental benefit rule mandates that a QRP can purchase a small amount of life insurance for a plan participant. However, since the primary purpose of the plan is to provide retirement benefits, the amount of the death benefit must qualify as "incidental" compared to the plan balance.

Derivative contracts are prohibited inside virtually any kind of retirement plan. This includes all futures and options. There are some exceptions on the traditional and Roth IRA’s, so you’ll want to speak with your advisor before proceeding.

Antiques, collectibles and coins are not allowed (though the IRS makes a few exceptions with the coins too, check with an expert if you have questions.)

Contrary to what most banks will tell you, it is possible to hold real estate directly inside a QRP. However, the QRP owner cannot actually reside in a property held in a retirement plan. So while you cannot purchase your own home with your retirement plan money, you can purchase real estate for the sole purpose of investing. Again, it’s important to speak with an expert prior to determining which type of a retirement account is right for you. You can call 800-882-0467 to speak with the investment experts at Wealth Without Risk.

Saen Higgins has more than 30 years of experience in the financial industry, which includes working with investments, insurance, mortgages, taxes and financial planning. He has twenty years of experience investing in tax lien certificates and has written many educational articles for various financial websites as well as comprehensive training material for tax lien investing. If you’d like to learn more about Saen Higgins and/or investing in tax lien certificates or tax lien deeds, please visit http://www.higginsnow.com