Iowa | Ernie - 1/21/2014 09:53
Paid for land is the best retirement fund . I make more money from land rental than I ever did farmng . Also have retirment accounts that require withdrawls . I let the money from the IRA mandatory withdrawls go to investment accounts . Paid for land is the key to a worry free retirement.
Well... Of COURSE it is now, you're enjoying good timing. Ask those guys with nothing but land how they ate in the '80's when their tenants didn't pay the rent.
I'm not faulting you, I will be the first to congratulate you to have enough paid-for land to (currently in this environment) retire nicely. GOOD FOR YOU!
All I'm advocating is the dangers of putting all of your eggs in one basket; that's unwise as all investments are cyclical. Those retiring now with land as the only significant asset are enjoying LUCKY timing. Some of us someday might experience UNLUCKY timing.
I'm not advocating putting $$ in an IRA when you could use that $$ to buy land. But who among us, no matter HOW much land they're buying, couldn't forego a new pickup or big vacation once in a while and put that money away? Who among us, when experiencing an unexpected windfall, couldn't make an extra farm payment AND stash a little money in an IRA? I don't see why having an IRA has evolved, in this discussion, to mean that to have one, you will have less land? I don't see that connection.
As farmers we will always be heavily invested in land, and it certainly has paid off, but a little balance-- by using that extra $$ or by exercising a little discipline, will always be even better.
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Thoughts on IRA's
