I have found a few Financial Articles that I think may be of some interest to you. I'm linking to the specific article, as I don't always agree with everything on the website itself.
Enjoy.
An Interview With The Millionnaire Next Door - Get Rich Slowly Blog
Eight tips for feud-free estate plans - Financial Post
Keeping the farm all in the family - Financial Post
Feeding yourself on a dollar a day - Macleans
If you know of a good financial book or article that you have read, please post a comment about it below.
Jerry
I like the article about planning to hand down the farm. My family went through that a few years ago, and there were quite a few emotions raised between my brothers that haven't healed yet, even though it's been a while. The more preparation and discussion ahead of time,the better. I really doubt my Dad would have liked seeing what happened to his family just because of land.
ReplyDeleteAs for feeding yourself for a dollar a day, with our large garden, we live pretty cheaply most of the summer, and even into the fall. I could make bread more, the kids love it, but it's hard to find the time. Just too busy to live like that. It would be nice if I didn't have to go to work, but could stay home to do all the cooking and so on, but we have too many family and farm bills to make that possible. It's just not realistic.
I went directly to the Family Farm article, as we are just starting to go through this process ourselves. It isn't easy as there is years of capital tied up in the farm, as well as all the years of my life. I was born here. I have one son who would like to farm, but the reality is that he will need to work full time in the patch in order to pay for farming, as farming doesn't seem to pay for itself anymore. We arent' sure how he will pay for it all as no bank will lend him that much money without some big guarantees from us, his parents.
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to be negative. Farming has been great for my family, and provided us with a good rural life. It's just that the last dozen years have seemed to be harder than they should be for any business, and I don't see it gettig better soon. For my son, he may be better off if we sell the farm to someone else, rather than put him through some pretty hard years. No-one should start out life that far in debt. It's a tough decision, sellign a 3 generation farm. I don't really know of any experts that can help walk us through all the different situations on how to make this work for both us and our son. Can you help? Rob
Rob, this is a complex situation and an accountant should be able to guide you through what process may work best for you and your son. If you do not need to paid out up front, you could set the farm up as an incorporation or partnership with the son taking over more of the ownership as he pays you back. This would provide you with annual income and the son wouldn’t have to deal with a huge debt at the bank (or not qualifying). It may also be a good idea for the son to take an insurance policy out on yourselves (as owners and parents) so if either passed away prior to the farm being paid off, he could pay in full with the insurance proceeds. This could also help alleviate any estate issues or problems with other siblings.
ReplyDeleteElaine, RCU Wealth Management