Thursday, February 19, 2009
Guest Editorial by Tanner Callais, Editor, The Street Authority
Editor’s Note: Today, we welcome back our colleagues from The Street Authority, who have another profitable investment opportunity for you. It’s an industry that often gets lost in the everyday shuffle of oil, gold, currencies, banking, real estate, and others. Consequently, most investors never think about it. But it’s beaten most investments hands-down for decades. Here’s guest editor Tanner Callais with the details…
Martin Denholm, Managing Editor, Smart Profits Report
Wealth From Wood
Stocks… bonds… annuities… real estate… the investment tools that can fund a comfortable retirement are endless.
But there’s one very profitable asset class that is worth its weight in… wood.
In fact, it’s outperformed many other investments and markets for several years now - and a recent downturn gives savvy investors an enticing entry point. So if you want to unlock timber’s profit potential that timber holds, the time to invest is now - and we’ve uncovered one place where prime timberland is selling for less than $30 an acre.
Not Just For Rugby And Kiwis
It didn’t seem to matter where I went during my stay in New Zealand… all I saw was entire hillsides covered from top to bottom, as enterprising farmers had planted trees anywhere they could.
And with good reason. “It’s their 401(k),” said my brother, who’d lived in New Zealand for nearly a year. “They plant trees, let them grow, then cut them down when they want to retire.”
When I think back to seeing the rows and rows of these farms, the investment potential of timber didn’t immediately occur to me. But these farmers have really got things figured out.
After all, they don’t worry about how the inflation rate is going to affect their holdings. They aren’t worried about what the Fed is doing to bail out struggling companies. They simply plant trees, let them grow, and know that the money they’ll make from selling the timber will take care of their retirement.
And based on the historical performance of timber, it will be a comfortable retirement, too…
A Strong Track Record Of Impressive Returns… During Both Bear Markets And Inflation
From 1972 to the present day, investing in lumber has produced annual returns of 11%. That means a $100,000 investment in lumber in 1972 would be worth about $4.3 million today.
