"Due diligence isn’t about removing all risk, it’s about building the confidence to take your next step toward financial freedom."

Retoro Capital Investments

Ready to Take the Leap? Here’s What Comes Before Sending Funds

Whether you’ve chatted with us at Retoro Capital Investments on a 1:1 video "discovery call" or you’re just anonymously looking at our socials, just starting to think about investing with us, this is for you: we help accredited investors usually aged 45-55 gearing up passive income to prepare for retiring a little early within the next 5-10 years.

Our last newsletter, "Your Ticket to Freedom," introduced private lending and the freedom it can bring. Now, let’s walk through the practical steps after you talk to us (even if you haven't yet, it's important to know what to expect after, even before you book a call) and before you wire funds. These steps can build your confidence that you've done proper due diligence and pave the way to a life with less financial stress.

What to Do Next: Getting Comfortable with Due Diligence

Before you invest, take time to verify the details. You know it’s smart to check things out, but what should you focus on? While there's no "checklist" that works for every person and every opportunity, there are best practices you can start with. No amount of due diligence can remove all risk or guarantee any investment, so managing expectations about what due diligence can and cannot do is a critical first step.

Another early step is to please consult a professional who shares your vision and has the relevant experience to match this opportunity with your financial and lifestyle goals. I’m sharing based on my experience as a fund manager and passive investor early retiree, not as financial advice.

Follow the steps to achieve passive income reliably and safely so you can take the biggest adventures of your life!

Checking Out Retoro Capital Investments Directly

Start by looking at us as a company. At Retoro Capital, we offer a customizable fund with a $50K total minimum, $20K per deal minimum, and $200K per deal for 12% APR. This means you pick the deals that fit, reviewing each one individually. You can invest in all of them, some, or none. Our desired lock up commitment for original capital is 24 months, after which you can withdraw all or part of the investment. You can withdraw interest payments or compound them by reinvesting, so the liquidity is up to you.

We'll provide documents and references for you to review our track record, including loan performance and repayment rates, straight from our resume. Ask for a sample portfolio overview to see our actual historical performance such as payout versus projections, success and default rates, to see our consistency. Check how our construction and management experience is a protection to step in if a loan struggles, acting as a safety net.

Consult third-party sources as well. Dig into background checks via FINRA and the SEC database. Verify our Form D filing and compliance to ensure we’re on the up-and-up. Your financial professional can help you find these free online resources.

Sign up for an account in our portal so you can review real-time deals and the documents you'll need to review and sign before transferring funds. You'll read our PPM and company operating agreement, review a subscription agreement, verify your identity and clean financial history (ID and KYC lookups), accreditation status (upload your letter from a third party or use the provider in our dashboard), and link a bank account for ACH transfer of capital into and withdrawals from the fund or review wiring instructions. This is also where you'll review reports and receive tax documents, a single K-1 for all Retoro deals you have participated in that year.

Please beware any online impersonation scams of anyone you are invested with or considering investing with. These scammers will create fake profiles and send DMs asking you to invest without using the proper protocols or safeguards provided in our portal. There is only one pathway we can legally accept funds, which is through our investor portal into our US-based company bank account, where we will then disperse funds for loans directly to a title company or lawyer trust.

Your due diligence not only protects you from bad actors but also confirms our ability to source reliable borrowers and manage projects, giving you peace of mind that your loan has the best chance to deliver, in line with our prior performance.

Digging into the Deals

We provide a short report for you to review on every deal, packed with comps, valuations, renovation plans, borrower track records, addresses, and photos. It’s your tool to approve with ease, and shouldn't feel like a chore: it's a clear way to stay in control.

For each deal, review a 3-8 page report covering the numbers with current and future comps from our team Realtor 🎼Harmonie Borden🌺, and the borrower’s success history, so you can sign off with confidence.

You’ll sign deal-specific disclosure documents for each investment so you will know exactly which properties you are lending on, kind of like "adopting" a conservation wild animal with an ID tag so you can keep an eye on it from time to time, except this adoption pays you! You want to stay informed, but not bogged down with paperwork, so expect to roll funds from a deal we are exiting (through a property sale or refinance) about 1-2 times per year.

Look into our risk mitigation, like lien recording and enforcement with local title companies, to understand our collateral safeguards.

Also while in the portal, review our previous communication with current investors to know what to expect on project updates. We send a monthly email with a quick review and photos for each property you lend on with estimated return of capital dates as each project nears completion. When we offer occasional equity deals for you to consider as a limited partner rather than as a lender, those projects are held 3-7 years, so those monthly reports and quarterly financials are both emailed and uploaded to the dashboard for reference.

Tailoring It to You

Think about your financial timelines. Should you use a taxable cash account for immediate passive income or a self-directed retirement account you'll access in retirement after age 59 ½? If using your IRA to protect your interest payments as taxable income, you'll need to set that up with a certified custodian such as DirectedIRA or Inspira Financial.

Make sure your liquidity fits the short-term loan timelines. For example, our loans are for 3 months with two 3-month extensions built in for contingencies. We recycle funds into a new deal as soon as possible to keep your funds working hard so you don't get annoyed with frequent turnover requiring decisions on where to place the capital. This provides both long-term stability and optional liquidity to either use or compound the loan interest.

Talk it over with key co-decision makers, namely your spouse, partner, business partner, or a financial pro. Your brother-in-law does count unless he's your CPA! We'd also like to meet with your stakeholders to answer questions, so feel free to use our calendar to schedule calls as often as needed. We are here to support you in your financial journey and are creating a long-term relationship, so please use us as a resource.

Strongly consider engaging a certified financial advisor or tax expert to tailor this investment to your specific needs, using best practices to ensure the professional has expertise in alternative investments like private lending. Select someone who can provide a balanced perspective weighing both advantages and potential drawbacks based on their experience. If your current advisor lacks familiarity with this approach, it’s prudent to seek a additional opinions from experts, similar to consulting multiple physicians and specialists in healthcare to ensure you receive well-informed guidance.

Getting Ready to Move Forward

After you have reviewed our company track record, legal documents, and filings, reviewed and chosen a deal in our portal, and finished your investor profile, you're ready to commit funds. Use the "Soft Commit" button on the deal you've selected to indicate your intent.

For your first investment with us, it's a good practice to have a video call to walk through the funding process in the portal for peace of mind. You can use either an ACH transfer or the wiring instructions provided. You'll fund ACH transfers directly in the portal (never transfer money to us outside that portal, we don't operate that way!) When wiring funds, we recommend scheduling with us when you'll be at the bank so we can verify wiring instructions by phone with the bank attendant.

Why This Matters to You

This process builds trust in your investment, easing investor anxiety and avoiding inaction. These types of investments should have some friction to ensure security, and give you plenty of time to carefully review each opportunity while still making passive income as passive as possible.

A consistent investment of time now to fund your future opens doors to freedom of more time with family, volunteering, or starting a venture, all while supporting housing supply and entrepreneurs. It also cuts through paralysis from overthinking, letting you act with clarity.

Take the Next Step

If you’ve already talked with us, visit investor.partnerwithrci.com to set up your investor portal and schedule a follow-up call and wrap up these steps. If you’re new here and not quite ready to book a call and request our track record documents, check out our educational events and webinars at retorocapitalinvestments.com/webinar to continue to learn more about who we are and what we do. We look forward to meeting you and your partners to help set you up for the best retirement possible!