vThe Forecasterv

The Land Specialists Since 1968

     Webster Dictionary defines it “as a false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.”
     This definition describes most of the generations under 60 years of age.
     In a recent report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, (a non-profit, non-partisan Washington, D. C. – based organization committed exclusively to retirement and pension issues) recently published a brief, the headline of which was: Will More of Us Be Working Forever?
          1. The brief found that many Americans have not properly planned for their retirement and face the prospect of having to
              work for longer than they expect.
          2. Only 42% of our people have attempted to calculate what their finances would be when they retire.
          3. More than half of the people saving for retirement report total savings and investments (not including the value of their
              primary residents or any defined benefit plans) of less than $50,000. Three quarters of Americans say their assets total
              less than $10,000.
          4. Worker suppositions about financial needs for retirement are often based on what appear to be unrealistically low
              incomes replacement ratios. While a majority of people say they prefer a standard of living in retirement that is the same 
              or better than in their working years (50%), half think they can maintain a comfortable retirement on 70% or less of their
              pre-retirement income.
     So much for the think-tank analysis.
     What I find wrong with most of the solutions to retirement planning is that all of the gurus speak in terms of dollar or dollar denominated instruments – stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CD’s, 401Ks, etc. etc.
     When I began my career in the early 1950s I was told by my then accountant that I should plan to save at least $100,000 and put it aside for my retirement. Later on, my tax attorney suggested that $200,000 would be a better position.
     I am not alone. My entire generation of 70 year old plus Americans, were given much the same advice. You should have a $200 – $250 thousand dollar annuity with an insurance company. You should invest in only Blue Chip Stocks or Government Bonds, or FDIC Insured Savings Accounts.
     So my generation followed that great advice. These are the people we see on the 6 O’clock news pleading with the government for more old-age assistance.
     That wonderful $200,000 nest-egg has been chopped down by years of inflation to where it’s worth 1/13 of its original value.
     My yardstick of inflation is the Postage Stamp. It is the most reliable measure we have because the people who print the money also print the postage stamp – they know what it is worth.
     In 1950, the first class postage was 3¢. It is now 39¢ - 13 times its earlier value. In order to keep pace, one should need $2.6 million, not $200,000.
     Unfortunately, our American people have been brainwashed by years of conditioning to believe that our dollar will keep its value and that savings plans – 401Ks or whatever will be worth what we invested (plus interest) 20, 30, or 40 years later.
     That, my friends is DELUSIONAL!
     We have proven thousands of times in the past 50 years that Southern California land not only beats any cash denominated investment, it far surpasses inflation or any other weak sister substitute.
     Get out of the fog and let us prove the reality of what a quality land investment will do for you and your future retirement.
     Take it from one who has witnessed a multitude of horror stories over the years, and now, from many of my peers that there’s nothing worse than being physically alive and financially dead.