No, we aren’t advocating becoming the next Bernie Madoff. We just read Robert Kiyosaki’s article on Yahoo Finance called The Biggest Scam Ever. It’s about 401k plans and he’s commenting on the cover story Time Magazine recently published on the subject.
Time says their sources estimate that 44 percent of Americans (a chunk of which are baby boomers) are in danger of going broke in their retirement years. That’s bad news. But it’s great for real estate entrepreneurs!
Once again, as we watch the horizon, we see waves of opportunity forming. Do YOU see them?
Think about it. Tens of millions of people in danger of going broke in their retirement years. These will be seniors with social security checks. It isn’t much income, but it’s consistent. At least that’s the promise from Uncle Sam.
So their lifestyle will be taking a substantial dip. Some are sitting in homes that are paid for. Some are sitting on big fat mortgages. Some are renting in nice areas. All will need to do something to decrease expenses and increase their income.
Can you help them?
A few weeks back we did a radio show on reverse mortgages. This is one of the few remaining tools available to reposition idle equity and put it to work. The cash flow arbitrage is easy because there’s no payment required. Better yet, there’s no danger of foreclosure. Seniors with equity could make great investment partners to acquire cash flow real estate, which, conveniently, is readily available into today’s low price, low interest rate market – an attractive, but historically rare combination!
(By the way, we’re writing a free report on reverse mortgages, so if you haven’t already requested it, just go the feedback page and send us your request.)
We also recently blogged about the notion of buying homes via short sale from homeowners who are facing foreclosure because they can’t afford to make the high payments. If you missed it, look it up. Couldn’t similar strategies be employed with seniors? We think so. When you can help someone stay in their home for a lower payment, that’s a good thing!
Now hold on because our brains are flying around at light speed. And rather than write a manual on how to do all this, we’ll just ask some questions to guide your thought processes.
If you think that several million seniors will be looking to cash out of their homes and rent, what areas and neighborhoods would they be interested in? Think about weather, taxes, and proximity to medical care and airports (so they can easily go back home to visit friends and family). What major population centers will they be moving from? What are their options for more affordable areas nearby?
What about property types? Think about floor plans. Do they need lots of bedrooms or just a couple? Do they need storage for all the stuff they’ve collected over their lifetimes? What about stairs?
Here’s our recurring theme: Problems are opportunities when you look at them in light of available resources. Most people get brain lock when facing problems, even though there are all kinds of resources available to turn problems into profits. Don’t let this happen to you! You won’t want to look back on this time in history and say, “I missed it. If I only knew then what I know now!” Trust us, you don’t want to “shoulda” all over yourself! It stinks.
Lastly, we don’t understand why so many people cap on Kiyosaki when he posts his articles. We’re betting these people have never spent any time with the guy. Or they work for the people he rips. In any case, if you haven’t figured it out already, we think he’s brilliant more often than not. We look for every opportunity to spend time with him and the people he surrounds himself with. You don’t have to agree with everything, but it will sure stimulate your thinking! Which is the same reason we do our radio shows and post these blogs.
The key to turning this economy around is for people to be informed, think, make good decisions and take bold action. The people who do it first will win the biggest. Why not you?
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