If you chose to invest in real estate as part of your retirement plan, you better understand what you're signing up for. 

Most "educational" classes, workshops etc. focus on all the benefits of real estate and gloss over the realities of doing it. Buying, owning and operating rental properties is hard work.  This week, I talk with Philip Wetzel about the real work that goes into investing directly in real estate.

Retirement Tip of the Week

3 lessons from Jim Collins' books Good to Great and Great By Choice that you can use to make smarter financial decisions. 

Two of my favorite business books are Great By Choice and Good to Great. Last week, I had the pleasure of hearing the lead author of each, Jim Collins, speak. It was awesome.  The lessons learned from his research on what made companies great can easily be applied in managing your financial life. Here are 3 that you should start using today...

• First who, than what
• Confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith)
• Fire bullets, then cannonballs

Feature Presentation: What You Should Know Before Investing in Real Estate

Investing in real estate can be a good thing-as long it fits your situation, you truly understand the risks and work involved and stay diversified.

There are plenty of workshops, classes, seminars, infomercials systems, etc. out there to "teach" you how you should do it. Unfortunately, they are typically strong on the benefits and light on all the work needed to position yourself for success.  In this episode, I start to give you the rest of the story.

Some of the topics we cover are:

• Why you need to run it like a business
• How to do your homework before you buy your first home
• Why passive real estate investing is not really passive
• The difference between flipping house and real estate investing
• The importance of having cash reserves
• The advantages of being a handyman
• The advantages and dangers of using leverage
• Why you need to put 20% down when you buy a property
• The importance of finding quality tenants
• How management companies work