The media is awash in concepts to fund your retirement. There’s infomercials for “reverse mortgages” and discount brokerage from Schwab so you can trade stocks. Then there’s the advertisements for Exxon that suggest investing in the old industry will pay big dividends. But when you sort through the hype, you’ll see the absurd reality of what they’re saying. If you amassed even $1 million in cash in your account – whether at Schwab or Bank of America – you’d only earn maybe 1% to 3% in anything better than a junk bond, and that would yield a whopping $30,000 per year. And even if you withdrew $100,000 from your account, you’d be broke in 10 years. So how can you build a retirement that pays $100,000+ per year with no limitation or end date? The answer: one good RV park. So how would that work?
The problem with saving your way to retirement
First, let’s re-examine why all the financial marketing out there is 100% wrong. You cannot –given the financial pressures in the U.S. today – derive a sizable enough nest egg to possibly pay for your retirement. 70% of U.S. households have $1,000 per less in savings, and only the top 1% of the top 1% have sufficient capital to pay their bills off of reasonably secure investment (you’d need about $5,000,000 in savings to accomplish that). So why do they write all of those articles claiming you can retire on an IRA? Because the folks at A.G. Edwards, etc. make their money off of those fees from having millions of those accounts – even if the goal is unattainable in reality. It’s a giant scam, really.
The power of income properties
A more realistic plan is a single income property. The reason nobody ever writes about that is because there are no large financial institutions that sell commercial real estate interests. Sure, they have a few real estate REIT stocks for sale, but those are not what we’re talking about here. A single income property would be fully-owned by you, and generate its own revenue and expenses that would yield you a monthly dividend. One single income property might generate to the owner $100,000+ per year – the same amount you would need $10,000,000 in savings to generate.
Why RV parks
So if income properties are your best bet for retirement, which sector should you focus on? For many Americans, the answer is an RV park. Why? RV parks offer some unique attributes that other niches can’t deliver on. For one, you can buy RV parks directly from the original mom & pop owners, which means you can buy them at reasonable prices and often with seller financing. Secondly, there are a huge number of RV parks out there that have significant room for operational improvement due to poor mastery of internet marketing or loss of energy in operations. This allows you to buy assets and boost their net income enormously virtually overnight. Another reason is that RV parks play into many of the megatrends in U.S. society, such as the aging of the Baby Boomers (with 10,000 per day retiring and travelling) as well as the rise of the Millennials, who are favoring simpler methods of travel and allow for more family bonding time. On top of that, you have the reduction in gas costs (RV’s have large fuel tanks) and the better design and pricing of modern RV models. It’s also an interesting note that RV parks exist – and flourish – in all 49 states (there are none in Hawaii) and that means there are investment options near you. Finally, RV parks are simple to understand and operate, and there are few people buying them, so the competition is low.
The additional option of living in the property
One unique, additional attribute is that RV parks sometimes come with mom & pop houses that are really nice and have terrific views and locations inside – or next door – to the RV park. This is often an extremely attractive feature. You not only end up with an asset that can fully fund your retirement, but that also comes with free housing that is unbelievably nice. Remember that most RV parks are located in scenic areas near tourist “destinations” and that can make for a wonderful quality of life at no cost.
Conclusion
RV parks beat every other retirement plan out there. You can buy the same income from one RV park – with maybe $50,000 to $200,000 down – that the average person would have to save $1,000,000+ to achieve (which there’s no way is going to happen). Don’t be fooled by the financial community and their constant marketing efforts. If you want to retire well, an RV park may be your best answer.