How to Become an Accredited Investor or Check if You Already Are! What!?

Maybe you have been reading investment porn on the internet and stopped when you saw something, such as investing in a Hedge Fund, requires you be an accredited investor. 

Wait. How do I do that? Is that like a Series 7 or something? 

Oh, I think they have a course on Udemy for that... Nope. Well, kind of, but that's a different story. 

What is an accredited investor? At it's core, this designation allows a person or entity to invest in securities that are not registered with the SEC (Securities and Exchange commission).

Wait a SEC, you say. Why would I want to do that?

Triple Sec I say. Because it adds flavor to your libation. 

Yes, here is an example of potential investments you could invest in as an accredited investor.

For the sake of Real Estate related endeavours, this could also literally open doors through direct investment in private equity, private placements, hedhe funds, venture capital and equity crowdfunding. Sounds exciting right!? Maybe a little bit scary. Well it can be both. I'll leave that to you to decide. Your feelings are your own. But learning is always indisputably exciting as far as I'm concerned, so onto the exciting bit.

You may already be an accredited investor. Rule 501 of REgulation D of the Securities ACt of 1933 defines an accredited investor as follows:

• A natural person with income exceeding $200,00 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income levl in the current year. 
• A natural person who has an individual net woeth, or joint net worth with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person.

So, there really is no exam, certification class, or special school you need to be a legal accredited investor. Think I am wrong, okay, well ask your lawyer. I am not one, so do what any smart person would do and don't trust what you read on the internet unless you are the expert yourself. That is just facts, bro. General life advice. But insofar as this is concerned, I feel confident in primary resources as a source of fact. 

Of course, if you do have your Series 7, Series 65 or Series 82 then you would also be included as an accredited investor. There are other doors as well to being one, so if you think you might be, then follow your hunch and look into it. 

The takeaway for me is this - earning money and building net worth has its benefits. You thought you wanted a high income for x, y and z and now you also get to be an accredited investor. That's like a present within the present.

So if you're not there yet, let that give you the proper motiviation to keep going and make more money. Oh, by the way, real estate investing is a great way to build wealth! Let's talk about how I can help you on that journey. 

Reference:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/092815/how-become-accredited-investor.asp