Planning for retirement has posed a dilemma, especially for people over 45 years of age who do not have a long time to wait before they retire. The turbulence and poor performance of the stock market and the low rates of returns for bonds and certificates of deposit (CD’s) have left investors wondering where to turn for their retirement investments. Fortunately, there is a great alternative to traditional investments that offers excellent potential for income for retirement with much less risk: real estate. But first, consider what has really happened with traditional investments.

In the past, the prevailing thinking was to invest in the stock market for the long term, with the belief that investing in a diversified portfolio in the stock market would yield returns that would average over 11% per year in the long run. And indeed, in the 1980’s and 1990’s the stock market had a terrific bull run. In the 10-year period between April 1, 1980 and April 1, 1990, the market (as measured by the S&P 500, the broad measure of the stock market) grew at compound annual growth rate of 12.0%per year, and 15.9% per year the following decade. At the time, it made retirement planning very straightforward, to say the least. Bonds and CD’s, with their comparatively meager returns, were generally not in favor as investment vehicles.

But the last ten years has changed everything. Between April 1, 2000 and April 1, 2010, the market returned -2.1% per year, with a total return of -19.2% over that period. Even worse was the volatility of the market: the market fell four of the last ten years. For most investors in the stock market, their losses were even greater, as most private investors tend to buy and sell on momentum and mistimed the market.

With the nation’s deficit growing to all-time record highs, social security spending more cash than it is taking in, unemployment at modern-day highs, and no clear solutions in immediate sight, investors are deeply concerned about how to invest for retirement. With interest rates near record lows, bond funds are unattractive, because bond prices fall as interest rates rise. CD rates are sitting near 2% per year, not even enough to keep up with inflation. Fortunately, well-chosen investment property gives investors an excellent investment alternative for income for retirement.

Even after the much-publicized decline in housing prices over the last several years, the national median price of homes averaged an increase of 3.4% per year since 2000, or a net increase of 40.1% over the last decade. Certain parts of the country, such as parts of the Midwest and the South, did not ever experience a housing bubble like the ones experienced in the West and the East Coast. In addition, rents relative to housing prices in the Midwest and the South are extremely high, so single family homes held as investment property provide very high cash flow, in many cases exceeding 10% per year in addition to the appreciation on the properties. Plus, real estate is the most tax-advantaged asset class in America. It is both a hard asset and a commodity: people must have a place to live, so housing will always be in demand.

Meridian Pacific Properties, Inc. has analyzed the performance of the 330 major metropolitan regions in the U.S. to identify investment locations and properties within those regions to identify the very best places to invest, looking not only at historical performance of those regions, but their prognosis for the future. At present, Memphis TN and Jackson MS offer investors some of the best single family home investment properties to provide income for retirement. These regions offer some of the best price growth stability and highest cash flow of any regions in the country. Factoring in both cash flow and depreciation, Meridian’s properties produce pro forma internal rates of return over five years of in excess of 18% per year, net of operating expenses, debt service, closing costs and sales commissions.

Meridian has built its business around offering turnkey income properties that have already been renovated and have paying tenants already in place. We perform the due diligence on behalf of our investors so there is no need to become a real estate “expert”.

To learn more about our retirement income solutions, please Contact Us, or order one of our free reports.