Investing for farm families course helps farmers plan for a secure future

Sponsored by eXtension

 A secure future, a farm for future generations. It’s everything a farm family wants.

“You can learn to secure your farm’s future and protect your family’s legacy by enrolling now in an online course just for farm families,” said Barbara O’Neill, Extension specialist in Financial Resource Management at Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “Investing for Farm Families provides the information you need to make strategic decisions while weaving together farm and personal investments.”

The 8-lesson course helps farm families plan for a financially stable future that meets their long-term needs. Developed by a team of Extension educators from several states, farm families can work at their own pace while taking the course.

“You can learn to increase your future financial security, identify investment strategies, know asset allocation basics, evaluate investment production alternatives to agriculture business risks, and invest for retirement and farm succession planning,” said O’Neill.

O'Neill noted that farm families have unique investing needs, which the course addresses. Surveys and focus groups with farmers provided the course developers with insights about farmers' investment concerns and learning preferences.

Tim Eggers, Extension field agricultural economist with Iowa State University said he and others affiliated with Annie's Project have encouraged farmers to enroll in the course. Annie's Project is an educational program offered in 20 states and dedicated to strengthening women's roles in the modern farm enterprise.

"The primary benefit of the course is the thoughtful analysis of how on- and off-farm investments can be balanced based on the participant's unique situation,” Eggers said. “Farm and ranch families tend to be more comfortable with the investments they can see and use. Investing for Farm Families can help farmers to diversify their investments."

O’Neill and Eggers along with several Extension staff from around the nation developed the course through the Online Investment Education (OIE) project, which was created to reach farm families nationwide with investment information relevant to their needs. It was funded with a two-year grant to the eXtension Foundation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor  Education Foundation.

For more information or to enroll in the course, go to www.extension.org/pages/InvestingforFarmFamilies.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation supports innovative research and educational projects that give investors the tools and information they need to better understand the markets and the basic principles of saving and investing. For details about grant programs and other new initiatives of the Foundation, visit www.finrafoundation.org.

Contacts: Nancy M. Porter, nporter@clemson.edu

Barbara O’Neill, Rutgers University, oneill@AESOP.Rutgers.edu

Tim Eggers, Iowa State University, teggers@iastate.edu

Elaine Edwards, Kansas State University, elainee@ksu.edu

More news and events

02/01/2010 | Workshop Survey

01/19/2010 | Boaters Must Carry Education Cards

01/13/2010 | Conservation Technician Thanked

01/13/2010 | Investing for Farm Families Online Course

01/13/2010 | Watch out for Fennel!

01/06/2010 | Champan Elementary School Garden Funding

01/06/2010 | A New Year's Resolution for Oregon Boaters

12/04/2009 | Watch out for Ivy!

12/15/2009 | New Yorker Extension Article

12/10/2009 | FoodHub is here!

11/24/2009 | Livestock can be trained to eat invasive weeds over grass!

11/24/2009 | Battling Aquatic Invasives Species

11/20/2009 | Watch out for Pokeweed!

11/03/2009 | Our 2008-09 Annual Report is here!

10/30/2009 | Nov. 1-7, 2009 is SWCD Week!

04/01/2009 | Noxious Weed Alert: Garlic Mustard! We Need Your Help!

09/10/2009 | Parrotfeather: September's invasive weed!

11/02/2009 | Watch out for Clematis!