[champion6]

<sarcasm on> Generating retirement income is easy … if you believe the ads in the Daily Sun. <sarcasm off>

I chuckled when all these ads appeared in the DS on the same day:

Retirement Evolution Group
Earn 8%-10% Annual Return
Invest with your IRA, Roth, Trust or Cash
1031 Exchange Qualified
Receive Monthly Income
No Stock Market Risk / Not An Annuity

Ford Investment Properties
You can earn 8% fixed for 24 months
Self Directed IRA’s and 1031 Exchange quality

BridgeWell Capital
Earn 7% APY
Learn the secret to Strong Yield, Fixed Monthly Income with High Security and Liquidity
Does not involve an annuity

[dewilson58]

Any yet there are people who believe.

[tophcfa]

There is no free lunch when it comes to investments. Assets are price based on risk and reward. To earn a yield above the risk free UST rate, one has to assume greater risk.

[villagetinker]

I agree with above, I actually checked out the one that offers 18% return, and ran when I found out how it works.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

There is no free lunch when it comes to investments. <snip>

BUT WAIT! There are free lunches! Two of the ads specified complimentary Lunch and Learn.

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by champion6

BUT WAIT! There are free lunches! Two of the ads specified complimentary Lunch and Learn.

I went to one of the free lunch ones..

They passed a ham sandwich through the crowd and everyone just took a bite and handed it down. Luckily I had sat in the front row

[l2ridehd]

Every investment has a risk and a reward. And the higher the risk the higher the potential reward. When anyone tells you that you will earn more and the return is guaranteed with an investment product. Run.

There are easy and very simple ways to earn 7 to 9% but they do have risk. I would say moderate risk, not high or low. It is not guaranteed. Only you know what your risk tolerance is and what lets you sleep at night.

I have checked out several of these so called "guaranteed return" investment ads. Many are using real estate investment models or other loan products to get these type returns. Most have a very limited number of clients so if one should fail than the whole scheme falls apart.

To get decent returns with lower risk you need to diversify across a very broad range of investments. The more you diversify the lower the risk profile. The best way for small investors like us to do that is with index funds. With 4 or 5 index funds you can diversify across the globe and be part of every market available. Successful investors who manage huge amounts of money use this for 90% of their portfolio. Look up the Yale University endowment fund and see how that is managed. Check out how the Virginia 529 (largest 529 in the US) and see how that is managed. There are many other examples where billions are managed using very low cost index funds.

I have managed my own money using this simple model for over 30 years. My total return has been slightly less than the S&P 500 with significantly lower risk. 8.3% over 30 years. S&P has been 8.65% during that same time frame. But the S&P swings have been huge. Mine have been minor so much lower risk. I use Vanguard index funds, but Schwab or Fidelity have them as well and all are very low cost. I use a very small amount for a small cap tilt but I can't say that has made much difference in total return. So it's hugely diversified, very low risk and decent returns. Those ads you see are very limited diversify, very high risk and also may provide decent returns.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

In the public market, you can invest in real estate (REIT) stocks or ETFs to get similar dividend returns 4-8%. However, because not all REITS are created equal, understanding each's real estate strategy is essential, as well as funding debt and interest coverage ratios. Common market investment reit stock strategies are:
* Healthcare - own hospital/ assisted living properties
* College apartments - own apartments near colleges
* Commercial office building - own office buildings
* Retail Properties - own retail stores / malls
* Refurbish properties to own or sell

The advantage here is that you can get equity growth and increase in dividends over time with a liquid stock versus an illiquid property as offered with the newspaper advertisements.

I have a few of these, NRZ is a refurbish investment, with a 10-12% dividend rate, and the company is well run.

sports guy