Special offer

Ray Lucia and Ben Stein "Buckets of Money"

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate DRE 00527512

Ray Lucia and Ben Stein by Bill Roberts

Saturday I had the great pleasure of attending a Ray Lucia "Buckets of Money" Retirement Workshop. Ray is a local San Diego boy who made good.

He started his career as an insurance salesman. He worked hard. He did all the right things. He acquired the CFP professional designation. He is also a stock broker. He wrote a book "Buckets of Money" where he expounds his theory of diversification (or allocation) of assets to provide a lasting income during retirement. His latest book is "Ready Set Retire."

Ray now has a nationally syndicated radio talk show and he appears frequently on the Fox News Channel. A great list of credentials, but the reason I went was to meet Ben Stein.

About half-way through the workshop Ben came in and gave his "speech." He made a lot of points, but the one thing that made the greatest impression on me was his love of America, his patriotism, and his desire for all of us to have a better life.

He mentioned that his "exercise" program consisted of getting down on the floor and thanking God that he was able to wake up in America (actually he said La Jolla  because that was where the workshop was held).

I had the great honor of being able to introduce myself to this very accomplished, very well educated, very successful author, and a movie star to boot. I shook his hand. It is really nice to be able to touch greatness. I was surprised to learn that Ben is one year younger than me. I have always looked forward to his participation on Fox News on Saturday mornings. He said that he was one of the only "guests" with any economics training. Most of the "advisors" on TV don't have a clue what they are talking about. And if you follow their advice you will almost certainly lose money, especially over time, because their failures will wipe out any successes.

I don't know why Ben Stein participates in Ray Lucia's workshops but I am very glad that he does. If Ray has a workshop in your area you should definitely attend. Check it out here.

Ray covered a lot of ground in the workshop. He had a lot of uncomplimentary things to say about investment advisors in general and TV investment advisors in particular. Booyah!

The main problem with "Baby Boomers" is that they are not adequately prepared for retirement. The average "Boomer" only has fifty thousand dollars in their retirement account. It won't last anytime at all. They need to wake up and smell the coffee. Time to do something about it is right now.

Ray mentioned that large retirement funds such as CalPers invest in direct ownership of real estate. The implication was that this makes sense. I say "booyah!" of course it makes sense. He asked the audience of several hundred if they had made money in real estate. A whole lot of hands went up. But Ray is an insurance and stock guy. His real estate recommendations extend to REITs, both traded and not traded.

I'm a real estate guy. I think that direct ownership of real estate is still the best investment for your retirement funds. This can take the form of wholly owned real estate and fractional interests (both LLCs and tenancies-in-common).

Most people think that their IRA has to be invested in stocks and mutual funds. This is because the big IRA custodians are affiliated with the big mutual fund companies and stock brokerage houses. You can have a self-directed IRA. You can "direct" the custodian to "invest" in real estate for you.

If you need help setting up your self-directed IRA or you would like to know more about this process you may contact me directly. Bill Roberts 619-244-4610.

Posted by

Please comment. All comments are greatly appreciated.

Bill Roberts

 

View William (Bill) Roberts's profile on LinkedIn

Comments (26)

Bill Nazur
First Lending Solutions - Riverside, CA

Bill R.

That must have been a great event to go to...I like Ben Stein 99% of the time...I would have enjoyed listening....I'll have to look at their upcoming schedule.

 

Oct 03, 2007 12:54 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Bill,

Thanks for commenting.

Bill Roberts

Oct 04, 2007 01:45 AM
William Johnson
Retired - La Jolla, CA
Retired
Ben Stein is usually right on both financially and politically. Glad you got to shake his hand. Always catch him on Fox, when I actually get to watch it. Way cool for you to have met someone you have such a high regard for. Have listened to Ray for years on his radio program. Great advise. He did have some questionable advertisers ( at least he used to. )Haven't heard in a while.
Oct 05, 2007 11:16 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Hi William, yeah it was nice to actually meet him (Ben Stein) and the program was interesting as well. Ray is on a new station here (AM 1700 out of Tecate). I think he may own the station. It's just my guess, kind of reading between the lines.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill Roberts

Oct 05, 2007 11:22 AM
Jim Slaughter
Keller Williams, Ballantyne Area - Charlotte, NC

I ran into Ben Stein in Charleston, SC, at a restaurant. Nice Guy, not at all self-absorbed as you might assume.

Jun 12, 2008 05:34 AM
Anonymous
Singer73 Max

A local gentleman in Crosby, Texas and Ben Stein sold me on these gentlemen. Ben wouldn't be connected to anything cheap or crooked. Harold my local contact is extatic about the program, he has been using it for 3 years now and is very, very "bullish" even in this down real estate market. My wife & I am looking forward to learning more and getting into this program.

Jul 26, 2008 09:10 AM
#12
Anonymous
Carol- San Francisco

I missed Ray when he had a seminar about 3 weeks ago, I'm wondering if Ben travels with Ray for his seminars if so, hope to see him next time around.  thanks, C

Oct 17, 2008 09:40 AM
#13
matt mathews
mathews Realty Group - Yucaipa, CA

Bill,

Love Ben Stein!  He's definately right on more times than not when it comes to Financial matters and looking at the positive side of things.   Wish I would have been there.  So true about the boomers-It's what I call the lopsided networth generation.  Got to keep educating them about Self Directed Real Estate IRA's!!  What's a "TIC" doing in my IRA??????

 

Oct 21, 2008 07:35 AM
Todd Bookspan, MBA
HomeStreet - Scottsdale, AZ
Senior Mortgage Consultant

Bill - how fun! I'm sure it was great seeing two great planners speak.

Nov 04, 2008 03:15 PM
Ken Tharp
Iowa Equity Exchange - West Des Moines, IA
Section 1031 Exchanges, Iowa/U.S.

Hi Bill,

Great post, interesting topic. I love Ben Stein, too. Must've been fun to meet him.

Ken Tharp, Iowa Equity Exchange

Nov 19, 2008 07:23 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Thank you one and all for commenting here. I understand that Ben appears at some but not all of Ray Lucia's workshops. Check out Ray's website for more info.

Bill Roberts

Nov 28, 2008 06:24 AM
Josh Holt
RE/MAX Coast To Coast~ Dedicated to You! - Berwick, ME
Southern Maine and NH Real Estate - Your Source of Info on the Berwicks

Bill-

Are you only licensed in California? Can you do ME, and NH?

Jan 16, 2009 12:30 AM
Anonymous
Joe

Ben is a fine actor and an interesting personallity, but he is dead wrong on the economy.  He wrote an article about at the top of the market on Yahoo finance that said you should not sell stocks because they could not possibly go down significantly.  He may be a patriot, but to a fualt.  Anything can go down, including real estate.  And Bill, you should also educate your customers that real estate can't just be sold like a stock in case of emergency, and also has all the upkeep and risks of a physical asset.  I am not saying real estate is bad, but this just seemed like a love in about real estate and people need to be aware of the downsides as well. 

Jul 06, 2009 06:23 AM
#19
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Joe, I don't need to defend Ben Stein. As an Economist, Attorney, Businessman, Pundit, and Actor, he is truly a Renaisance Man.

As for real estate as an investment, you need to educate yourself. There are real estate investments which lend themselves to long-term investing, medium-term investing, and even short-term investing. There is much more to real estate than houses.

And no investment is completely safe for the passive investor. Just ask the people that held "gilt-edged" bonds from GM.

As for liquidity, even cash in the bank can be held up for a period of time. Check the rules.

I hope YOUR retirement funds are well placed. Good luck.

Bill Roberts

Jul 07, 2009 06:02 AM
Michael J. Perry
KW Elite - Lancaster, PA
Lancaster, PA Relo Specialist

This blog post keeps plugging away !!! I agree that paid off rental properties are the way to go !!!

Nov 28, 2010 09:08 AM
Don Hess
KW Elite Keller Williams 1280 Plaza Blvd. Lancaster, PA 17601 - Quarryville, PA

I certainly agree on the rental properties. I should have been buying steadily through the years. Which I didn't. Too chicken I guess.

Feb 17, 2011 01:21 AM
jursten consults
broker - Berryville, TX

BGs | SBLCs | LCs | DLCs | PBs | BANK DRAFT ET AL GENUINELY BEING LEASED AND SOLD AT LOW RATES.

GENUINE BANK GUARANTEE (BG) AND STANDBY LETTER OF CREDIT (SBLC) FOR LEASE AND SALE AT THE LOWEST RATES AVAILABLE. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS MTN, CD, DLC, PB ARE ALSO AVAILABLE.

I am a direct Mandate to a genuinely renowned Investment Finance Company offering Cash & Asset Backed Financial Instruments on Lease and Sale at the best rates and with the most feasible procedures.

Instruments offered can be put in all forms of trade and can be monetized or discounted for direct funding. For Inquiry contact
Email: jursten.consults@gmail.com
Skype: jursten.consults

Aug 12, 2015 04:44 PM
jursten consults
broker - Berryville, TX

BGs | SBLCs | LCs | DLCs | PBs | BANK DRAFT ET AL GENUINELY BEING LEASED AND SOLD AT LOW RATES.

GENUINE BANK GUARANTEE (BG) AND STANDBY LETTER OF CREDIT (SBLC) FOR LEASE AND SALE AT THE LOWEST RATES AVAILABLE. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS MTN, CD, DLC, PB ARE ALSO AVAILABLE.

I am a direct Mandate to a genuinely renowned Investment Finance Company offering Cash & Asset Backed Financial Instruments on Lease and Sale at the best rates and with the most feasible procedures.

Instruments offered can be put in all forms of trade and can be monetized or discounted for direct funding. For Inquiry contact
Email: jursten.consults@gmail.com
Skype: jursten.consults

Aug 12, 2015 04:44 PM
jursten consults
broker - Berryville, TX

BGs | SBLCs | LCs | DLCs | PBs | BANK DRAFT ET AL GENUINELY BEING LEASED AND SOLD AT LOW RATES.

GENUINE BANK GUARANTEE (BG) AND STANDBY LETTER OF CREDIT (SBLC) FOR LEASE AND SALE AT THE LOWEST RATES AVAILABLE. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS MTN, CD, DLC, PB ARE ALSO AVAILABLE.

I am a direct Mandate to a genuinely renowned Investment Finance Company offering Cash & Asset Backed Financial Instruments on Lease and Sale at the best rates and with the most feasible procedures.

Instruments offered can be put in all forms of trade and can be monetized or discounted for direct funding. For Inquiry contact
Email: jursten.consults@gmail.com
Skype: jursten.consults

Aug 12, 2015 04:45 PM
Dave Halpern
Dave Halpern Real Estate Agent, Inc., Louisville, KY (502) 664-7827 - Louisville, KY
Louisville Short Sale Expert

Millions of baby boomers have homes with equity and will be considering a move to a new home that meets their changing needs. This segment should be part of almost every agent's marketing strategy.

 

Sep 09, 2017 01:09 AM