All Forum Posts by: Susan Maneck

Usually when your term insurance inspires you can switch it over to universal life insurance if there is some reason you still need life insurance.  When I had term insurance I paid $16 a month for $200K worth of insurance. That's means I "lost" less than 4K over 20 years. How much would I have to pay on a 200K policy and what cash value would I have after 20 years? Probably not much. 

 Unfortunately financial advisers tend to exaggerate the returns you get on whole life insurance. I would be very careful about this. 

For those of you who don't know what we are talking about you can find out all about Jones County and the Knight family here: 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-f...

But Bryan, your family is all over the big screen! 

 I tend to agree with this.  I got Universal Life when my term insurance expired because I could get it with the same company at the super-preferred rate at a time when I was no longer in super-preferred health. But insurance is insurance and shouldn't be considered an investment. An annuity is also an insurance product, not an investment. The only annuity I plan on purchasing a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract to insurance. That insures me of not running out of money if I live too long and leaves me free to spend the rest of my retirement funds. 

Congrats, Elex. Whereabouts in Jackson are you investing? I have eight SFR in South Jackson and my son owns three in the north.

It is harder to get a bank to finance an investment property in the 20-50K range. Local banks must give loans to owner-occupied properties of qualified buyers or they are guilty of redlining. Regional banks and credit unions aren't bound by this. What I usually do is pay cash for my properties, then refinance them with a first-place HELOC a year later. Most banks won't do HELOCs for investment properties but Wells Fargo does and they give nice teaser rates the first year. Also, it is much cheaper to close a HELOC than a conventional mortgage.

It is not enough to make sure one's spouse has enough money to get them through retirement. One also needs to make sure the surviving spouse understands how to manage that money.  If only one spouse always pays the bills, does the taxes, etc. that is not likely to happen. 

Is that laminated flooring you put down in the kitchen? 

When you say netting $500, are you saying after depreciation as well as expenses? I have four rental properties outside of my solo401K but I pay very little in state income tax, in fact I'm getting a refund. Depreciation tends to eat up the bulk of my rental income. And btw, rental income is considered passive income, not earned income. 

Where you really have to pay through the nose is with property taxes. I pay $1700 a year for some of the houses I bought for 30-35K.