What you can do is a rollover (https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/rollovers-of-retirement-plan-and-ira-distributions) from your employer's retirement account into another retirement account, including a self-directed one.

@Brendan HayneA current employer 401k is almost always locked up until you leave the company or turn 25 1/2.There was a post on this topic just the other day that is relevant:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/238097-roll-over-current-employer-401k-funds?

See the following:https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/designated-roth-accounts-in-plan-rollovers-to-designated-roth-accounts2.

The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m)The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2017, the solo 401k contribution limit is $54,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

@Jorge RodriguezGenerally the ROBS 401k (rollover business startup) is the preferred method  for flipping real estate because it will not subject the 401k to unrelated business income tax (UBIT).

I need some info. of how to use my IRA to purchase RE for investments, any monies that I take out I will have to pay a 10%. tax.                                                                                    I thi...

Part of our set up was processing a direct rollover of funds.

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that you can us a self directed IRA for rental properties, and if you later run a business that qualifies for a Solo 401k, you can roll over the IRA into a solo 401k as long as it isn't a Roth.

I guess the bigger question is, do I rollover these annuities into a single beneficiary IRA and then into a self directed IRA for real estate purchase?

@Evan LoaderTexas does not have a separate individual income tax filing.Kentucky and Georgia may have a tax filing requirement based on a minimum net income/gross income threshold.Even if you are not required to file, you may want to consider filing - to roll over potential NOL's.Furthermore, a filing doesn't necessarily mean you have to pay a tax - i depends on what the income from the K-1 reports.