When you’ve been working your whole life, you often do so in the hope that one day you will be able to retire – that when your body is old and tired, you will be able to relax into your old age and let your pension take care of you. We hope then that our pension scheme will be able to take over and that we will be able to forget all of our previous woes such as working to pay off debt and keep our properties, and can instead spend our remaining days pursuing holidays and reading up on things that interest us.
Unfortunately this isn’t always the case any more and the media is currently full of stories where the elderly are left unable to get their pensions because their private pension companies have been forced to close, or because they discover their state owned pensions aren’t actually worth anything. This leaves those unfortunate individuals living in poverty, or unable to pay off their rent, or even having to continue to work into old age.
At times like these then it makes sense to take matters into our own hands and to look at ways we can provide for ourselves in our old age. Fortunately there are many alternatives to a private or government pension which could actually be worth more to us and be more secure. This then enables us to pay off all our debts – including our mortgage – and to enjoy a high standard of living in old age.
One great way to do this is to invest in properties, and the more properties you’ll have the more secure you’ll be financially in old age. This works as a pension plan as properties very rarely lose their value and in the vast majority of cases in fact increase in value. As they are worth so much to begin with, this means that you can sell a property when you retire and that will leave you enough profit to live off and to pay off all outstanding debts. If you have several properties then you can sell these off every few years and get regular injections of cash.
Another added bonus of investing in properties rather than pension plans is that this will enable you to lease your properties and that will give you a steady income that will be similar to a salary. If you’ve paid off all your existing debts then rent from one or two properties will be more than enough to live off and this is on top of the money you’ll make when you sell the properties. Your tenants will maintain the properties for you while living in them, and if you don’t like the hassle involved in being a landlord then you can go through an agency who will handle all the logistics for you – you just get the profit.
The interest you gain on these properties will also be greater in many ways than the interest you gain on a traditional pension scheme as you are simply ‘cutting out the middle man’. All pension companies do is to take your money and invest it in properties and businesses and then give you your money back with a cut of their interest when you retire. If you invest your money yourself in properties etc then you get 100% of that interest to live off of and to pay off your debts. Finally, if you were to be involved in an accident or to get ill before you had claimed much pension, you wouldn’t lose the investment but could rather pass it to your children or grandchildren and help them to pay off their debts instead.
Having property is a great way to have an income when you retire. If you can afford it you will never be out anything. The stock market can crash and interest rates change but if you have rental property then it is there unitl you decide to sell it. This just makes sense to me.
My parents never had anything put away for retirement. But they did own a house that they rented out and two apartments. It was a way for them to earn when they were retired. Plus it gave them something to do.
My sister has a restaurant that has apartments above them that she rents out. Right now she says it is a pain because the tenants call her all the time and need things. But she says once it is all paid off and they are retired and earning money, it will all be worth it. So investment properties are a great way to support yourself when you are older.
It is a good idea to have houses to rent out. A good form of income for sure. But what happens when you get old and are not able to take care of the place you rent? Then is it really worth it?
Yes owning houses is a great way to supplement your income. If you even have one house, and all is paid for, that is a few extra hundred a month depending on what you charge for rent. It makes sense to do this if you can afford to do so.
I own my own house and I have one that I rent out. I am not making any money right now off the one I rent out. But once it is paid for, I will be making the money. So I think that it will be a good thing to have for my retirement.
My friends dad had lots of properties. By the time he passed, he was able to give my friend three homes. Plus his sister got three as well. It was amazing the amount of money this man had invested in those homes but he was really set for life.
Right now it is just not feasible for us to invest. Maybe some day when my daughter is older and we do not have as many expenses. I think it would be neat to do. And then when my daughter gets older she could have it if we do not have any other children.
I would love to be able to invest some day. But then I sit and think what about bad renters? Or the headache of having to be the one to take care of everything? That would really stink.