It’s true that you might not live until retirement age but what if you do? Are you prepared and do you really want to keep working that long anyway?
Talking about a retirement strategy may not be the sexiest part of your day but it is absolutely essential to keep in mind. Many get into real estate investing for the promise of fast, easy money and the lure of being able to effectively retire from the rat race early, only to get caught up in the day to day. Without planning and systems real estate investing can actually become more time consuming than your old 9-5 and a 100 hour work week is all of a sudden part time. Or with such easy money and huge checks coming in from flipping houses it can be tempting to get caught up in the high flying lifestyle and just expect the cash to keep flowing through the door. What happens when it doesn’t? What happens when you lose your legs or want to take off for a 6 month backpacking trip in the Congo?
Some of those who have been real estate investing for a while and have been socking some money away may think they have it covered. Though how far is $100,000 going to get you if you income ever stopped coming in or you took a break from flipping houses? When you actually start looking at your obligations and how much you will need to get you through 20-30 years of retirement even a million dollars is nothing. Most will need far in excess of $10 million dollars in order to retire in the style they are accustomed to.
If you are behind on saving for retirement real estate investing is a great vehicle, especially for those who reinvest in it through a self-directed IRA for tax benefits. Flipping houses is a great way to make some quick cash and get ahead while fattening up your nest egg but do not overlook the need to put that money back to work for you to create passive income streams and create systems which you can put on autopilot.
