All Forum Posts by: Ratho R.

@Steve Babiak I am not sure how you are seeing this as some sort of a staged video. It is simply showing a 10 year period. The MAIN thing in all of this, however you invest, is to use "Indexed" vehicles to protect you from losses. That is the ONLY way your account "averages" and percentages will be effective. The point of the video is to show that if an account looses, say 50%, you then have to GAIN 100% just to get back to ZERO!. Many people look at the average percentages over 10-20-25 years or however long. What is usually overlooked is losses create a new "starting point" so to speak. If I loose 50% of $100k, now I have $50k. Then, if the stocks go up 50%, I only gain 50% of that $50k, not the original $100k. So now I would only be at $75k even though the market essentially went down 50% and back up 50%. I am not claiming IUL is a miracle cure for money...if it was everyone would drop every other investment and we would not be here having this conversation. We have a 15.4% cap, with a guaranteed floor of 0.25%. This video was to simply show you an example of the last 10 years (sometimes called the lost decade due to continual losses in the markets) and how being indexed, and not loosing when the stock drop, over time, will work out WAY better in the end. They point this out in the video, so I am sorry if it comes across as some sort of smoke and mirrors. I devote my career to helping and educating people, not scamming them and ripping them off. I know those agents are out there doing that, but I am not one of them...by a LONG shot. haha

I also have to point out that to say "life insurance" is a very broad term. There are so many different versions and types that to simply say "life insurance is not a good investment", is too general of a statement.

It also depends on which insurance companies you deal with. I will admit that there are many agents out there just trying to make some money off of people and not selling them the right plans, or structuring their plans correctly for their clients. If you find an agent that you can trust, and is educated properly to structure your plan, then you will see sucess. That is why ideal specifically with IUL.

Great question Steve. This is an amazing area that not too many investors know about. That is why I come here specifically to help out and answer these questions. The point of indexing is that you can invest, without having to be involved in the market. If you look at my bio, and follow my website link, you will see a short four minute video that will explain it more in depth.

The reason I can say guaranteed with such confidence, is that the company I deal with contractually guarantees that is the stock market goes down your account gets locked in and does not loose. That means you have it in legal writing that your account will never lose any money when the stock market goes down (in fact they guarantee 0.25% as a floor so you are still earning more than you could letting it sit in a savings account.) When the stock market goes up you start out at that point and go up with it. I know society yrains us that to gain anything you have to risk loss, but that is not true. By the company using an index strategy they are able to lock in gains on the market gains, and avoid losses when the stock market is down. They use a strategy of stock options. If you know anything about stock options, it gives them the option to buy or not buy that share. Thus they are able to gain with the gains , and avoid any losses. Any losses that may occur, are absorbed by the insurance company.

Sorry to show up late on this. I was not around when this was posted.

"Hello @Rob Shah my professional advice on investing would be to secure your money in an Indexed retirement account. The important part is the INDEXED.

This solves many problems with the current options for investing. (ONLY structured by a licensed professional)

1) Only participate in stock market gains, and not in the losses. (Our 25 year average is 8.98% right now)

2) Access to your money for any reason (Investing in deals for this situation)

*Note: Structured properly, you actually still earn interest on money you take out to use on your deals. (About 3-5%) * Loans are at 5% charge, from the 25 yr average of 8.98% leaves you GAINING 3.98% on the money you "loaned" out to do your deal. After you get your profits back, pay back into your account and grow it with the profit (keep some back for yourself too.) Structured properly by a professional, and the loan comes out and has to time line to be paid back. WAY better than hard money or any other loan out there.

3) While investing, you are also building a secure, tax free retirement plan for later on. Thus, your REI strategy is free to be more of a hobby rather than trying to secure enough rentals to live on in your golden years.

There are many more ways to use an Indexed retirement plan for investing, but these are a few highlights to show you that there are SAFE options out there.

IRA and 401k, etc, are all exposed to market volatility/losses, and have penalties if you do not take the money out at a certain age or the correct way.

As a licensed retirement specialist, I strongly recommend investors put their money where it is contractually guaranteed to NEVER loose. I have devoted my time, efforts, and career to providing this exact thing to individuals, groups, businesses, but specifically for Real Estate investors. We investors work really hard for our money, why would we want to put it somewhere that it would spend it's entire time fighting to dig back out of the next market crash?"

Thank you all for the helpful info here. I love this community!

I think we are going to look into the Lease option at this stage. I have done a lot of research and am meeting with a local guy from my REIA that specializes in Lease option training, so I will get to help out a fellow investor and maybe some of his students. Appreciate all the advice here and it has been very helpful!

Best of luck on your business journeys!

@Brandon Turner thank you for the advice. I am currently working with a Lease option connection that I made at my local REI. I think that is the best bet for us at this stage. I kinda felt like I was answering my own question as I typed up my first post here. haha.

@Chanté Owens Thank you for the encouragement. I have options, I just want to be sure I pick the best one for later down the road. Yes, REI is work...but it is rewarding and at the end of the day it's nice to be able to do something for a living that helps people, betters communities, etc. =)

@Charles Morgan Thank you for your advice. I have had that passing thought. I wouldn't say I am against them, but from what I hear with having space rent, needing to register it as a vehicle (in Oregon at least)..it sounds a little more complicated than I would like to get into at this stage. I also grew up my whole life in manufactured homes. With connections at my local REIA, and here on BP, I a thinking I want to avoid that route, at least for now.

@Corey Davis I personally wouldn't mind a condo. I have a friend that currently owns one. I am very sure that the wife would not approve though. haha. She wants out of anything that looks or feels like an apartment. Something with a garage and storage space, our own yard, things like that she is really wanting. I think the most flex I have gotten her is to look at town homes. haha.

Thank you all for your time and input! Another great example of the BP community coming together to help the new on his journey of REI.

Looking forward to it. Thank you Matthew.

Hello my fellow BP members!

So, I am an investor in the Portland Oregon area. I am still in the start up stages of investing, and looking for some advice on where to start. I currently have a mentor in Wholesale and exploring other avenues for income streams.

My main question though is more along what step to take first as far as personal residence. The wife is ready to get out of the apartment life (as am I). At this point though, I would need a few years to repair my credit (we could try hers though) to buy our first home. So the thought of renting something for a year or so to allow me time to do wholesale deals to build capital to put towards an actual home for us. (We do not really have much to put down on a home at this point either.) This has brought up the idea of lease option as this would allow us to "rent" while still having our money going into our future home.

I am open to any and all ideas. We are really wanting to get into a home type set up, but want to make sure it is a safe, and profitable decision down the road. Let me know if you need more info or anything. Thank you in advance for taking time to share your thoughts, advice and even personal experiences in this area.

Hi Guys.

I only joined BP back in June so I never saw the first post here. I attend the NWREIA meetings and there are a lot of great people with knowledge and experience to connect with. Here is the site to keep up to date with events, dates and locations. http://www.northwestreia.com

I have just recently been able to free up my schedule for the Monthly general meetings, so I am not really able to give you a good picture of how those meetings go. Let me know if you are able to make it to a meeting though. I always enjoy the chance to have a face to face with y fellow BP community members.

Well, being here on BP is a great starting point! Good idea waiting to see where or if you are even interested in REI before making a bunch of contact info. Getting out there and meeting people is the most important part. Cards are not really a must, more of a "if you happen to have" type thing.

Sounds like the beginner's guide would be an excellent resource for you as well. It helped me a lot to figure out and focus on where I am wanting to aim. http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Best of luck to you @Sandy Paris !