The Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast: Financial Investment Ideas for Ranchers

Financial Investment Ideas for Ranchers

It’s easy to pour everything back into the ranch, but that strategy can unintentionally break the legacy if life deals an unexpected card and transition plans aren’t strategic.

“Almost everyone, says, ‘Well my equity's in the farm.’ shares Donavon Wagner. “The issue with that is someday health issues happen or they get old and they can’t make it work on their own anymore.”

Wagner grew up on a farm and has over 40 years of experience as a financial advisor. His experiences allow him to help other farmers, ranchers and business owners build financial strategies unique to their operations, lifestyles and goals.

Transition planning is a key topic Wagner is passionate about. There are a variety of tools to take care of yourself, spouses, on-farm children and off-farm children in a fair manner.

He says, “They [the senior generation] have to pass this on to them [the rising generation] so they can afford to take it over. And there's a lot of ways of doing that.”

One of the first tools Wagner highlights is life insurance. Life insurance policies can be used to take care of spouses or provide a fair share to off-farm children which simplifies transition planning for the on-farm children.

“As much as I hate paying life insurance and as much as I hate writing it, what a great asset because when that's paid out, it's federally tax-free,” explains Wagner.

Another almost hidden opportunity with life insurance is to use it in place of a long-term care policy. When written properly, families can receive up to four percent of the death benefit per month to cover long-term care costs.....



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