How can I turn my $3M farm into income with no financial experience?

A

alcimedesmoon52

New Member
Hey guys. t's a bit embarrassing to post this. I'm asset rich but money poor.
I'm a 40-year-old single bloke. I was fortunate enough to inherit a property. It's a $3 million farm.
I'm struggling big time. I always have no money. It's embarrassing and keeps the pressure on me.
The only debt I have is a car loan of about $70k. I work and earn $85k.
I need advice and help. I want to get myself healthy again. I want to use my property to earn money through investments. Well, I hope I can.
Is there any registered professional in the Ballarat / Horsham area that can help me?
 
I'm honestly a bit unsure about sharing this, but I've noticed something that feels a little vulnerable to admit: a lot of farmers here in New Zealand are getting paid by energy companies to build wind turbines for a low maintenance income. It might be different where you are, but the energy companies pay to use your land and handle all the maintenance themselves that is, if you don't want to go the traditional ruote of working every day on your farm. I'm not saying it's the best option, just sharing what so many people around me are quietly doing.
 
Don't sell the farm.
Forty is the new twenty. You are still young. You don't need to give up. You need to learn a valuable skill.

I came to this country with nothing. I started from the folor.

Being $70k in debt is not the real problem. The real problem is that you don't make enough money.

Expenses are not always the problem. The problem is not having skills that create income.

Learn something valuable. Start a service business with little money. Build systems. Buy your time back. Then grow the business.

That is exactly what I did.
 
If you don’t want to sell the whole farm, see if you can subdivide and sell off a portion. Take that cash and put it into dividend paying stocks that are diversified across different sectors, and if you need to, use a financial advisor.
 
Many experts share their opinions here. Search for financial advisers in your area, then check their name on this register to see if they are legitimate. Many advisers offer online consultations, so you don’t necessarily need a local one. You may also need an accountant.

https://moneysmart.gov.au/financial advice/financial advisers register
 
Earns 85k and spent their annual salary on a car. That's a shocking and frustrating decision. After 20 years of decisions that have lead to this moment, I think you should sell the farm (accept the capital gains tax – you didn't work for that profit anyway), get something smaller, and start making smart decisions.
 
Hello. I’m based in Ballarat/Buninyong. Let me know if you just need a beer and a chat. I know a lot about business and very little about farms so I probably don’t know what you should do but I can offer a critical review of your plan once you think you know what you might try. Cheers.
 
Mate, if you’re not going to work the farm, sell it. I’m sure you’ve got ties to it, but ties are no good if they break you. Sell it, buy a beautiful house wherever you want outright, pay off all debts, and bank the rest or invest 50% and bank the rest, and live happily on that 85k knowing you only have to cover expenses. It puts you in such a good position to live happily on that wage. If you buy a million dollar house after selling, you’re so far ahead of the game. Might not feel like it now, but the blessing you were left was most likely left to you to make your life easier, not to become a burden.
 
You know, even if you sold the farm and parked the money in a HISA, you'd more than double what you're bringing in now.

And like others have mentioned, you could grab some residential or commercial property, and/or ETFs, to grow that even more.

Honestly, with $3 million invested the right way, retiring is totally realistic. ‍♂️
 
Same here little cash at the moment, but I’m sitting on a $2 million farm. The move: place sea containers on the land, turn them into tiny homes for rental income, and use backpackers for help.
 
Honestly, if I were you, I’d sell the farm for what it’s worth and be patient. That gives you 3M in liquid cash, assuming you have nothing. I’d set aside 700 800k for a house for yourself, pay off the 70k loan on your car, spend 10 20k on house bits to settle in comfortably, take a 10k decent holiday somewhere, and keep 100k in high interest savings never cash it out. You’re left with roughly 2M to invest. Take some time and learn about the S&P 500 or ETFs. If you’re interested, go for it the split is yours, whether you put in 10% or 50%. If not, go property: buy two decent sized properties (700sqm) with good rear access, build granny flats on both in the back, and you’ll be making your wage in rent after agent fees. Retire early or work another 10 years and buy another property with whatever leftover cash you have, hit the loan hard, and you could be making roughly 120k every year or more with near 3M in IPS, 1M PPOR, a decent car you’re happy with, and 100k in the bank. Sweet. You don’t have to wake up to a boss or job. Not everything has to be an investment just learn to grow and maintain it so you don’t end up losing.
 
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