Tax-advantaged retirement accounts such as IRAs are a great way to save for retirement. 

But when you establish a traditional IRA with a bank, a brokerage, or a trust company, you are ordinarily limited to a narrow range of investment options, such as CDs, publicly traded stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. The IRA custodian will not permit you to invest in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals, or cryptocurrency.