You can have your IRA invest in a firm in which you serve board. Doing so isn’t a prohibited transaction, a district court says to an investor who had his IRA buy a 5% stake in a company and who subsequently joined its board. After the director went bankrupt, a creditor tried to grab the funds from the IRA, claiming that the director had engaged in a prohibited transaction with the account. But the court said using the IRA to buy a minority stake is allowed (Nolte, D.C., Va.).
From: The Kiplinger Tax Letter, May 2015
The Price Company 