12 CapitalPress.com Maximize Re�rement Income by L. Jake Carpenter, VP Investor Rela�ons I have seen the following scenario play out �me and �me again. I want to offer you some valuable nuggets that can help you avoid common mistakes in re�re- ment planning. I meet good people, who have worked hard for many years. Now they are ready to slow down and try to exit their business, farm, or rental property, but they find themselves backed into a corner. For in- stance, consider the farmer who has been working the farm for the last 40 years. Though the kids and grand- kids work on the farm, they have no desire to take it over for Mom and Dad. The farm is worth $5 million and it’s genera�ng a gross income stream of $100,000 a year. Another way to say it is their $5 million dollar farm asset is genera�ng a 2% gross return. Dad and Mom at age 65, have reached a stage in life where they are either no longer able or no longer desire to work the farm. If they were to lease the farm ground, the return on the asset is even lower, then if they work the farm themselves. And a 1031 Exchange isn’t suitable since they don’t want to sell the farm and buy another one. So, they decide to just sell the farm. Using our scenario as an example, here are some points to consider. First, Dad and Mom purchased the Friday, March 4, 2022 farm 40 years ago for $350,000, now it is worth $5 mil- lion. Second, since they’ve owned the farm for so many years, their deprecia�on schedule has been exhausted. This means the income from the farm is no longer tax-advantaged, so 100% of the farm income is subject to ordinary income tax. This also means that all of the $5 million dollar sales proceeds are unfortunate- ly subject to capital gains tax and poten�ally deprecia- �on recapture which together equals about 40% of the sale. In this case it equates to a $2 million dollar tax bill. Dad and Mom sell the farm, and put the net sales proceeds, $3,000,000, in their checking account. Then they ini�ate their plan to take out $100,000/year to live on. Now here’s another point to consider. When factoring in infla�on, at a very conserva�ve rate of 4%, Dad and Mom will run out of money in 20 years. So, if they live past 85 years of age, they will have exhausted their income. How many people do you know that are older then 85? Did you know the fastest growing popu- la�on in America are those turning 100? Here is a be�er plan. Before you sell the farm, work with someone who has the tools, like Equilus Capital Partners, to build a strategy that will allow you to sell the farm and put the tax bill back in your pocket. There are strategies that defer capital gains tax, like using a 1031 Exchange, only they allow you to diversify the sales proceeds into a passive posi�on in income- producing real estate, as well as into conserva�ve stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. One of the benefits of being in a passive posi�on in real estate is that you don’t have to deal with the trash, toilets, and tenants. Your funds should be managed to produce a target income that outlives you. U�lizing this strategy, you can take a por�on of the interest income every year and put more spendable income in your pocket. Our proac�ve strategy takes infla�on into considera�on and allows for your income to increase every year at 4%. If Dad and Mom had taken this route, by the �me they are 95 years old, they could poten�ally be taking over $580,000 a year in income and s�ll have an investment account balance of approximately $5 mil- lion a�er 30 years. This is a great illustra�on of the possibili�es, de- pending on your individual situa�on. Our goal is to come along side of you to build and implement strate- gies that will maximize your a�er-tax spendable in- come and allow you to do the things that maybe you were not even aware that you could do. Set up your consulta�on today and become equipped to make op�mal decisions by knowing all of your op�ons. Avoid common mistakes, call today: (509) 665-8349. EquilusCapital.Com S282023-1