Transferring the Farm and Creating a Retirement Paycheck 2010 National Women in Agriculture Educators Conference Robin G. Brumfield, Barbara O’Neill, Stephen J. Komar, & Robert Mickel Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Dec 20, 2015
Transferring the Farm and Creating a Retirement Paycheck
2010 National Women in Agriculture Educators Conference
Robin G. Brumfield, Barbara O’Neill, Stephen J. Komar, & Robert Mickel
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
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• Course URL: http://laterlifefarming.rutgers.edu/
• 10 modules related to retirement planning for farm households.
• Topics are areas of concern indicated by two focus groups of farmers:
– Above age 50
– Currently farming in New Jersey
– Conducted in the Summer of 2008.
Project Overview
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• Help farmers prepare for retirement
• Help farmers generate adequate retirement income
• Help farmers create a retirement “paycheck”
– Convert illiquid assets into cash and plan sustainable asset withdrawals so that savings lasts a lifetime).
Later Life Farming (LLF) Project Goals
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• Increase the financial security of farmers in later life.
• Discuss investment asset allocation and prudent retirement asset withdrawals to reduce the risk of outliving assets
• Present crop insurance as a risk management and wealth accumulation tool.
• Help farmers consider strategies to make up for lost time and learn strategies to jumpstart their savings.
• Address concerns about the impact of regulation on farmers’ financial security
• Link to existing websites to avoid “reinventing the wheel.”
Specific Objectives
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Farm Household Demographics• Average age of farm operators: 57.1
• 20% increase in age 75+ farmers from 2002 to 2007
• Farmers work longer than people in many other occupations (work and home are intertwined)
• Most common farm types:– Residential/lifestyle farms (36%)
– Retirement farms (21%)
• Median income (2004): $53,700; 21% > all U.S. households
• 95.1% of farm households had higher median net worth
• Much of farm households’ wealth is illiquid
• Great diversity in farm household incomes
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Theoretical Model: Social Marketing Theory
• People adopt new ideas when they feel they have received something of value from program organizer
• Program organizers need to address consumer needs and wants
• Strong focus on identifying and meeting consumer needs
• “Get inside the head” of target audience to identify how they think and behave
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• Held two face-to-face focus groups in 2 New Jersey counties
• Participants included:
– Full-time farmers
– Part-time farmers
– Land owners
– Renters
– New producers
• Gave $50 gas card as an incentive to participate
Project Methods
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• Perceptions about retirement
• Retirement role models
• Future plans to farm
• Planned sources of retirement income
• Questions about retirement planning and investing
• Greatest financial hope
• Greatest financial fear
• Impact of regulation on land values/retirement plans
• Preferred educational delivery methods and topics
13 Focus Group Questions
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• Most will farm at least part-time in retirement
• Most had positive retirement role models
• When no heirs are interested in farming, the farm’s future is uncertain
• Most had some type of retirement account such as an IRA (often through a spouse)
• Fear of government regulation, high medical expenses, family feuds, and losing the farm
• Unique set of retirement challenges (e.g., farm transition)
Major Findings
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Several FG participants avoided tax-deferred savings plans for the self-employed because of
Future income uncertainty
A desire to avoid administrative paperwork,
The legal requirement to fund employees’ accounts if they make plan contributions for themselves.
Concerns About Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed
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• One group preferred traditional Extension programming, (meetings and workshops).
• The second group was receptive to non-traditional educational methods , i.e., Internet.
• Cooperative Extension viewed as a trusted, non-biased, information source.
Preferred Information Delivery Methods
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• Few financial planners have expertise in farm financial management.
• Previous sale of development rights to generate positive cash flow now limits options.
• A smooth and equitable transfer of the farm concerns families with farming and non-farming heirs.
• It is important not to postpone estate planning decisions.
• Legal restrictions and regulatory impacts on development and land values.
Farmers’ Concerns Regarding Retirement
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• http://laterlifefarming.rutgers.edu/
• Many farmers plan to work past traditional retirement age AND need to convert land and other farm assets into a liquid stream of income.
• We used original material AND links to resources such as Who Will Get Grandpa’s Farm? Communicating About Farm Transfer and the Retirement Estimator for Farm Families (Purdue University)
Later Life Farming: Creating a Retirement Paycheck
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• Avoid overuse of the word “retirement” in marketing financial education programs to farm households
• Focus on their need to create regular cash flow and find meaningful pursuits in later life
• A unique challenge is how to create retirement cash flow when farmers’ primary asset, land, is illiquid and they have no plans to sell it
Implications for Extension Educators
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• Explain to farmers that they don’t have to fund retirement accounts for employees (e.g., SEPs) in “lean” years but, then, they can’t fund their personal accounts either.
• Focus educational efforts on tax-deferred investments that farmers can fund solely for themselves (e.g., IRAs).
Tax-Deferred Investing
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• Encourage farmers to have a family conversation about farm transfer and confront emotional issues, if any, “before it’s too late.”
• See Purdue University Extension’s Web site Who Will Get Grandpa’s Farm? http://www.ces.purdue.edu/farmtransfer/
Family Conversations
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• Explore ways to phase into retirement to gain the flexibility and reduced workload.
• Strategies include:
– Gradual transfer to the next generation,
– Groom a non-family member to take over the farm,
– Downsize the farm operation,
– Seek alternative employment other than farming,
– Sell equipment and/or livestock.
Prepare for Retirement
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• Farmers value the unbiased perspective of Cooperative Extension.
• Partner with attorneys and others who understand agriculture and business transfer issues is critical.
• Multiple teaching methods are necessary to appeal to a variety of learning styles.
Teaching Methods for Extension Educators
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Dr. Robin BrumfieldDr. Robin Brumfield
Dr. Barbara O’NeillDr. Barbara O’Neill
Rutgers UniversityRutgers University
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
Later Life FarmingLater Life Farming Web site address: Web site address: http://http://laterlifefarming.rutgers.edulaterlifefarming.rutgers.edu/ /
Questions? Comments? Experiences?