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What is the “N54(a) Retirement Account” teased by Ian Wyatt?

Sniffing out the special "accounts" teased by Wyatt's High Yield Wealth

Ian Wyatt is promoting his High Yield Wealth newsletter by touting a “little-known government loophole” that he thinks could help you collect a lot more income than a 401(k) account … so, naturally, we want to know what it is.

Here’s how he drums up interest:

“How a little-known government loophole called the ‘N54(a) Retirement Account’

“could replace or supplement your 401(k) or IRA account – and completely fund your retirement, starting today.

“It lets you collect up to 5 times more income than a 401(k) account – and could pay you $5,000 to $25,000 in extra income every year… starting with as little as $50.

“Below you’ll find out how to set up your own “N54(a) Retirement Account” and start receiving checks immediately… no matter what your age, income or employment status.”

And yes, when newsletter teasers reference accounts like the “N54(a)” account or the “801(k)” account we saw teased a while back, it pretty much means “there is no such thing, we’re making it up.”

Which isn’t to say that it isn’t a real investment or even a reasonable strategy — but it’s not a secret kind of account you’ve never heard of.

So … we know that the “801(k) account” teaser was all about DRIP investing … is the N54(a) the same, or something different?

Looks like it’s different — here are some more clues:

“it’s all made possible by an under-the-radar congressional amendment that works by “increase(ing) the amount and certainty of the return on… investor capital….

“… the mainstream media is finally starting to wake up and take notice. In December 2011, Barron’s ran an article proclaiming:

“A(n) ‘N54(a) Retirement Account’ makes a lot of sense.”

And then he does eventually clarify that an “N54(a)” is NOT like a 401(k) … though this is an excuse for more promotion, too:

“You see, an “N54(a) Retirement Account” is similar to your 401(k) in that it lets you collect regular income payments for retirement…

“But that’s where the similarities STOP.

  • Because unlike a 401(k), which requires you to wait until you reach age 59&1/2; to start collecting income…
    • With an “N54(a) Retirement Account” you can withdraw funds at any age… starting immediately.
  • And while you can’t contribute to a 401(k) unless you’re working…
    • You can add money to your “N54(a) Retirement Account” at any time, regardless of your current, or past, employment status – even if you’re already retired.

“These are just a few of the reasons that an “N54(a) Retirement Account” is a far superior way to pay for retirement than a 401(k) account.

“But I haven’t even gotten to the best part…

“What really distinguishes an ‘N54(a) Retirement Account’ from a 401(k) – or any other income investment for that matter – is the size of the income checks.

“These checks typically pay out 3 to 5 times more income than you can get from an ordinary 401(k).”

So we’ve got a pretty classic “apples vs. oranges” comparison going here, no matter what an N54(a) might turn out to be — clearly it’s something that’s income focused, while a 401(k) is just a way to accumulate pre-tax retirement savings. 401(k)s do not “pay out” income at all, at least not until you start withdrawing from them in retirement.

So what is Wyatt teasing?

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Well, he doesn’t get into any specific individual versions of these investments that he thinks you should buy, so we can peg a ticker symbol for you … but it’s very clear than an N%$(a) is … a Business Development Company (often abbreviated BDC’s).

Which, along with REITs and MLPs and Trusts, is one of more popular of the high-yielding publicly traded classes of investment (though there are some private, unlisted REITs and BDCs, to be sure). Like REITs and MLPs, BDCs pay out pretax income, so the distributions you get are usually subject to regular income tax (unless they’re in a tax-shielded account like a 401(k), ironically enough).

And yes, BDC’s do have an association with the made-up “N54(a)” name — the legislation that enables BDC’s is part of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (though the particular amendments enabling BDCs were passed in 1980), and the particular section regarding a company’s eligibility to become a BDC is, indeed, section 54(a) of that Act.

BDCs are often referred to as publicly traded venture capital or private equity companies — and sometimes, as Wyatt has done in the past, they’re teased as a way for regular “little guy” investors to get on the private equity gravy train. This is the third similar company that Wyatt has aggressively teased over the last year or so, the first was Ares Capital which he touted as the “8.2% Bank Account” in a particularly misleading bit of hype, and the second was Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) — though CODI is not technically a BDC, it’s a very similar kind of business.

Business Development Companies most often act as financiers, consultants and “private” investors in small and mid-sized companies — companies that are generally too small to get a good deal from the Wall Street Banks or who don’t want to go public, but too big or too in need of restructuring help to just go down to the local bank for all their funding needs. They are generally restricted from using too much leverage, and they often lend money to their portfolio companies in exchange for both fairly high interest payments as well as an equity “kicker” of part ownership of the company to goose returns if they’re successful. There are about a half dozen reasonably sized BDC’s that are pretty popular, including Ares as wel as Apollo Investment (AINV) and KCAP Financial (KCAP — used to be called Kohlberg Capital), all of which yield in the neighborhood of 10-12%, and there have also been some big flameouts in this space in recent years, including Allied Capital, which fell long after it became a target of David Einhorn and was eventually bought by Ares, and American Capital (ACAS), which collapsed in the financial crisis but has bounced back nicely this year and includes John Paulson as a major investor (I dont’ think ACAS has restarted its dividend yet, but it is again profitable). There’s a good listing maintained by the Dividend Detective here.

These are very much “spread” investments — they borrow as much money as they’re allowed (debt can’t exceed equity), and they lend out or invest that money to earn more than the cost of their borrowing, and they pay out whatever excess they have (“earnings”) to shareholders as dividends. So if borrowing costs go up quickly for them, they can get hurt — particularly if the small companies they lend to fall on hard times and have trouble paying them back, which is what happened to a lot of BDCs in 2008-2009, and why you’ll see that the share prices of just about all BDCs cratered during that time… though a crop of new ones also came into being in 2009 and 2010, in part because that was an easier time to raise money and debt was relatively cheap to lever up.

I don’t currently own any BDCs, but they do tend to be cyclical to the extent that the companies they lend to are cyclical, as many small businesses are — so if the economy is going into a tailspin, owning a portfolio of loans to small companies can be frightening. If we’re recovering, then the nice big yields they pay will certainly attract more investors — and these days, with so many investors desperate for yield, most BDCs have been doing very well, indeed and are not far from their 52-week highs. Though I think all of them are well below their 2007 or 2008 highs, if they’ve been around that long.

There are actually some “almost ETFs” for business development companies, too, though they’re actually ETNs, not ETFs — there’s even a leveraged ETN, which means it moves more dramatically and it pays out a higher yield, in the UBS E-TRACS 2x Wells Fargo Business Developmpent Company ETN (BDCL) … the “regular” ETN tracks that same index at a non-leveraged pace and trades at ticker BDCS. I’ve never used either of these, and they’ve only been around for about a year so I’m not sure how well they track this “index” of BDCs — which itself is fairly limited. An ETN, in case you’re not familiar with the jargon, is an Exchange Traded Note — so it’s not a publicly traded mutual fund that just owns the underlying stocks, which is what ETFs are, it’s actually a publicly traded debt instrument that includes a promise from UBS that the dividends and asset value will track that index. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with ETNs as trading vehicles, particularly when there isn’t a corresponding ETF, but do keep in mind that what you would be doing is buying an obligation of UBS, not a basket of shares. And that leveraged 2X one is likely going to be very bumpy.

So … since Wyatt didn’t tease any specific ones this time around I’ll leave it up to you — do you have a favorite BDC that you think offers a nice yield/risk profile? Let us know with a comment below.

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glseneca
July 19, 2012 2:51 pm

I think HTDC-Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc has good potential, but is trading near a 52 week high at this time.
Others include:
TCAP Triangle Capital ..
ARCC Ares Capital Corp…
GAIN Gladstone Investm

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harryl
Member
harryl
August 12, 2012 6:46 pm
Reply to  glseneca

I think Greg might mean HTGC for Hercules Technology Growth Capital. I had some shares and sold but I missed to buy back when it went down. It is now pretty high for me to get back in.

docx2
Guest
docx2
July 19, 2012 3:48 pm

Why not PSEC and FSC? Both are doing reasonably well at the moment.

Neal Fitzpatrick
Guest
Neal Fitzpatrick
July 19, 2012 7:22 pm

I find Mr. Wyatt unsurpassed at restating the obvious time after time after time. I finally stopped his newsletter since just about everry issue was the same content.

Henry
Guest
Henry
July 19, 2012 8:31 pm

It would appear the the section “There is a good listing maintained by Dividend Detective here” contained a trojan virus. My computer screened and cleaned the virus but did not show the listing. I refuse to open it for the second time.

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trautmann
trautmann
July 19, 2012 9:22 pm

ARCC. But it’s at 52 week high.

👍 2
Garry
Garry
July 21, 2012 5:06 am

Have held PSEC for about five years now and great company, excellent returns and above all else, so far honest and visionary management.

Milt
Member
Milt
July 21, 2012 10:03 am

Interesting article Travis.As usual, your insightfulness has ferreted out yet another blowhard utilizing fancy names for mere investments in vehicles called BDC’S. Wish I could do the same but having a PhD in Chemistry and making an honest living suits me fine. However, for the benefit of you and your gumshoe flock, please take a looky, looky at MAIN, a BDC that has served me well.
I originally bought many shares on 1/25/10 at 14.06. The stock’s annual dividend was $1.50 paid out on a monthly basis. Not retired at the time, I reinvested the dividends. It is now 7/21/12 and MAIN is at 24.50 with the annual dividend at $1.74 paid out on a monthly basis.
Sometimes a fellow gumshoe just gets lucky.

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horace
Guest
horace
July 21, 2012 11:53 pm
Reply to  Milt

PSEC pays ten cents a month and it trading at around 11.25, so around 11% annualized. I have owned it for a long time, and have some shares that cost $12.00, and it has been as low as 9 so it is not all sweetness and light. The other thing about PSEC is that they have a business model of issuing new shares on a regular basis, and the new issue is always at a nice discount to the price where it was trading, which always slams the stock.
This has just happened as a matter of fact. Stock trading almost to 12, and new issue at 11.25, so stock retreated back to 11.25. So there is substantial dilution with this stock every time it gets above net asset value. This serial stock issuance is not good for the stock price, but does keep leverage ratios in line. Good income, sensible capital plan, but don’t plan on big capital gains.

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Charles Allen
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Charles Allen
August 2, 2012 4:17 pm

Couldn’t find any info on a N54(a) from any bank or broker. Glad I found you on Google search. Ian Wyatt should be in jail. Thanks.

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Danniel
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Danniel
August 20, 2012 11:09 am

What a great informative article! I also think a better way than these “gimmickry teases” is the following strategy as a private investor:
I manage my own portfolios via what you referred to as “spread investments”. This avoids the need to liquidate investments to provide funds to live on and take advantage of new investments. Borrow against a line of credit, secured by assets such as real estate (there should not be any first mortgages). The interest on the line is tied to prime. (Current interest rate 2.9%). Most of my portfolios are invested in high yielding solid businesses including MLPs and REITs. ( ie. KMP, LINE, SPG) . Also great companies with secure dividends (i.e. ABT, PG, CVX) also provide the dividends to pay the interest due on the line. Most all have dividends with a higher yield than the line interest rate. The credit line was negotiated with terms that do not require regularly scheduled interest payments, only that the interest is always paid with excess of course going to the principle. When dividends are issued, pay the interest due for several months thus never having a required monthly payment. Simply put, borrow at 3%. Portfolios yield 7%. Pocket 4%. (That is really conservative…my actual annual rate of return (including 2008’s loss) is in excess of 11%).
Couple caveats: 1. Banks very skiddish these days. The process better suits high net worth investors. Negotiating a line (secured by real property) will require no mortgage and often requires documented non-passive income regardless of your net worth. 2. Investments in value, dividend paying, well researched businesses with growth potential a must. 3. If the line begins to get a little heavy, sell a winner and buy it down. The important thing is you are never forced to sell a holding during a falling market (dividends are still being paid) and you never have “regular withdrawls” of your portfolios.

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Diane
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Diane
October 21, 2012 12:21 pm
Reply to  Danniel

Daniel, can you explain briefly what is the sign a “line begins to get a little heavy”? Stock price going down? Too many investors? Dividends decreasing?

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Mike
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Mike
January 29, 2014 6:07 pm
Reply to  Danniel

Daniel, I’m just a small potatoes worker bee. Your investment strategy sounds like something I may be interested in. Will any bank give a line of credit with the terms you negotiated. Currently have no loans or mortgages with good credit. Just curious who’s your broker or are you using like scottrade or other brokerage. Are dividends paid monthly or quarterly? Do dividends go directly to the bank or to you and you then make your int payments. I guess I have a lot of ?s. thanks

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pd
Guest
August 20, 2012 11:45 am

I use these BDC’s for the Divident Recapture idea and only hold them until the
pre x-div purchase amount has gone up to where I held it, and keep the dividend.
It has worked for me on TCAP and HRZN and I dont have to hold them constantly in
case of general market meltdown.

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RP
Guest
RP
August 20, 2012 5:54 pm

ARCC – Ares Capital recently broke out and offers 9%+ yield; BDCL – 2 timesthe yield of a regular BDC ETF

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jerry mallett
Guest
jerry mallett
September 3, 2012 2:44 pm

i would like to get information on getting myself a n54 account for retirement….thx

Eugene Reed
Guest
December 22, 2012 1:59 pm
Reply to  jerry mallett

How do i get info on how to start a n54account ?

donnie hill
Guest
donnie hill
March 1, 2013 12:34 pm

would like to know where do i go to set up a N54 account ?

Ron
Guest
June 29, 2014 6:48 pm

is ATAX a good mlp?

jerry mallett
Guest
jerry mallett
June 30, 2014 9:40 pm

this is nice,and all this time,i had no idea what was happening,but now i do thanks to yu fellows…

Steven H
Guest
January 13, 2015 3:35 pm

How do i get more info on N-54-a my Financial JP Morgan guys says its too good to be true. How can I prove him wrong. Nobodys heard of it?

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