Ag Globe Trotter

The Ag Globe Trotter

June 27, 2008

Strategies for Tough Times

Recently one of my Ag Globe Trotter assignments took me to Asheville, North Carolina, for three days to work with the young, beginning and small farmers at Carolina Farm Credit’s Ag Leadership Institute. This was the institute’s eighth year and nearly 30 couples benefitted from a very high level educational program.

Tom Haarmann, Manager of Financial Services, provided excellent perspectives on money management. The following are some highlights from his program.

Affluent Americas are very frugal. They are not on the ‘earn and consume treadmill.’ They visualize the long term benefits of budgeting and planning.
Operating a household without a budget is akin to operating a business without a plan, goals or direction. A personal budget is of equal status to a business budget.
The more dollars adult children receive, the fewer dollars they will accumulate, while those who are given fewer dollars accumulate more.
Never purchase a home that requires a mortgage more than twice your household’s total annual realized income.

Numbers for Thought

Forty-eight percent of prospective graduates in 2008 will spend time living with their parents after graduation.
Forty-three percent of 2007 graduates still live with their parents.
Seventy-five percent of these individuals indicate that the reason is due to limited financial resources.

Reverse Mortgages

Nineteen percent of people who have received reverse mortgage loans do so because:
- They need more liquid assets on hand.
- They need money for repairs and maintenance.
- They care for dependents and need to pay medical bills.

Comments

Please send your remarks to AgGlobeTrotter@accountlist.com. I would like to know what you are thinking.

Dr. David M. Kohl is Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Kohl has traveled over 5.1 million miles throughout his professional career. He has conducted more than 3,000 workshops and seminars for agricultural groups such as bankers, Farm Credit, FmHA, and regulators, as well as producer and agribusiness groups. He has published four books and over 400 articles on financial and business-related topics in journals, extension, and other popular publications. Dr. Kohl regularly writes for Farm Journal, Top Producer, Ag Lender, Journal of Agricultural Lending, and Soybean Digest.

Archives ...