When the timing is good, if you have a sizable IRA account, you could turn it into an account to buy real estate. Rather than earning 10% mutual fund return, use it as seed money to borrow 10 times more money as leverage can supercharge real estate investment. However, be careful that this strategy only works well when the market is starting a new boom cycle. Probably not now. Right now you want them to have higher return in the stock market.