At least on paper (though that may not translate to cash), farmers are wealthy. Many are understandably concerned about passing those assets down and not having the next generation ruin the business. Some don’t even let their kids make business decisions until they’re almost completely out of the picture, which might not be until they’re in their 80s. There are two really good stories from The Richest Man in Babylon that deal with the concept of inheritance. I think they hold a lot of wisdom for farmers and landowners today.

Ep 49: Financial Principles of Ancient Babylon (Part 4): Inheritance

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Noa Schecter came from what used to be a farming country: Israel. Now Israel has “changed their wardrobe,” becoming more entrepreneurial than agricultural, but she remembers field trips to the farm and helping farmers during harvest. Now she lives in Los Angeles, and she’s an educator and the author of two books: What’s On Your Mind and 51+ Networking Mistakes. She is co-founder and co-owner of The Accelerated Leadership Academy (TALA), a coaching company that creates sustainable results for individuals in the areas of health, wealth, and happiness. She was kind enough to join me on the podcast, where she translated her “3 Steps to Success” to the world of farming.

60: 3 Steps to Farming Success

Every time we talk to a farmer, we ask, “What’s the number one challenge on your farming operation.” About 99% of them say grain marketing. Usually our next question is, “Are you working with a grain marketing advisor?” Basically, what are they doing to overcome that challenge? Through those questions, we’ve found that lot of them are afraid of the grain marketing advisors. So I thought I’d throw together some questions you can ask to help you test an advisor’s credibility. There are so many grain marketing advisors, so this will help you determine if a particular one is the right one for you.

59: 7 Questions to Ask Your Grain Marketing Advisor

Commodity options are some of the most important tools in hedging, especially once you get to grain above and beyond your insurance guarantee. Most farmers understand what that means: you’re insured for a certain percentage of your crop that you’ve proven over the past 10 years for each commodity you farm. What you can’t insure, you’ll want to use options on, or something similar. Today, we’re going to march through some of the most important, fundamental concepts related to options.

58: Commodity Options Fundamentals

Sometimes, you shouldn’t invest in your farm. A lot of times, when commodity prices and incomes are high in agriculture, the return on investment to put your money back into farmland and equipment just isn’t there. All those prices are exaggerated. There are actually times when you should not invest in your operation, when you should take that excess cash and put it somewhere else, diversifying your income. That’s what we’ll be talking about today: where you should put your money so it’s growing at a better rate than it would in your farm.

57: 3 Low-Risk Off Farm Investments

Exercises have different rhythms. Some you’re supposed to do every day, some weekly. There may even be long runs or tons of push-ups that you reserve for one day a month. Handling your finances has different rhythms to it as well. I’ve got seven exercises that people should do on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis to increase their wealth.

Ep 49: Financial Principles of Ancient Babylon (Part 4): Inheritance

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