Many people have no idea that their retirement account (IRA, 401-k, etc) can invest in many different types of assets, many of which are not allowed by their current custodian. For instance, if you asked your typical custodian to buy real-estate, I’d bet that 99% of them would tell you no. The problem isn’t that the IRS prohibits real-estate. The problem is 99% of the custodians do not want to deal with property tax bills, deeds, and paperwork involved in a real-estate closing. They prefer transactions to be much more automated; transactions where they a button is pressed and you suddenly own stock. Investing in assets other than securities has been allowed since the Employee Retirement Act of 1974 (ERISA) was passed. You don’t need a special type of retirement plan. You need a special administrator.