Farming Without the Bank Podcast

Farmers are NOT getting $129 billion. In Ep 379 of Farming Without the Bank, Mary Jo Irmen breaks down the real farm subsidy numbers.

Out of the $129.6 billion Farm Bill, only $27.9 billion goes directly to farmers. $101.7 billion goes to SNAP / food stamps. So why does everyone think farmers get it all?

Mary Jo puts it in perspective:
- Child and dependent tax credits: $99 billion a year
- Mortgage interest deductions: $52.6 billion
- Student grants: $40.9 billion + $188.8 billion in loan forgiveness over 4 years
- Nursing homes on Medicaid: $136 billion - 63% of residents on Medicaid

Plus subsidies for airlines, rail, public transit, affordable housing landlords, childcare, wind/solar energy, rural telecom, and hospitals. Farmers aren't the only business getting help every year.

If you take a mortgage deduction, child tax credit, or student grant, you can't complain about a farmer taking disaster relief. It's all or nothing.

CLIENT ONLY BLACK SHEEP SUMMIT — Coming this January! If you're a client check your email and get registered. Early bird ends end of November. Didn't get an email? Let us know and make sure you haven't opted out.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/Book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Chapters:
00:00 Farm Bill Reality Check
00:41 Podcast Intro and Summit
01:30 Why Subsidies Spark Anger
02:46 What Counts as Subsidy
03:17 Who Else Gets Subsidized
04:46 Tax Credits vs Farm Aid
07:57 Hospitals and Nursing Homes
10:00 Stop Picking One Group
13:47 Ideal World No Subsidies
14:16 Farm Bill Breakdown Again
15:09 Final Rant and Wrap Up

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Your CPA isn't being difficult — they've just never been taught how this works. In Ep. 378, Mary Jo Irmen answers the question she gets more than any other: how does money actually flow through a whole life policy?

She walks the full loop out loud: income comes in, you pay your premium, your cash value grows, you borrow against it for an income-producing asset like cattle, and the income from that asset pays the loan back. Same bucket of income, same premium, year after year. Then she flips it — what happens when you borrow for something that doesn't produce income, like a pickup — and why that is no different from asking a bank for money you can't repay.

She also answers a client's hardest question: "What if it all falls apart?" If the cattle market collapses, your cows, trailers and squeeze chutes aren't worth what they're worth today, because who's going to buy them? Debt-free doesn't protect you from that. Money still earning uninterrupted compound interest and dividends does.

What you'll learn in this episode:

- How cash moves through a whole life policy — premium in, loan out, repayment back
- Why borrowing for a cash-flowing asset pays itself back and borrowing for a pickup doesn't
- The "defined benefit plan" angle that lets you deduct premiums and still keep access to cash
- Why an unpaid loan isn't fatal — your death benefit is the collateral
- Using extra premium in year one as a revolving line for seed, fertilizer, feed, chemical and vet bills
- Why your checking account already does this same job, and what changes when the policy does it
- The real risk of being debt-free while every asset you own sits inside one industry
- What Mary Jo says to readers who call six carriers and get told "you can't do that"

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/Book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

They weren't given the farm. They just think differently.

In Episode 377 of the Farming Without the Bank podcast, Mary Jo Irmen breaks down the 5 things she sees over and over in her most successful farm and ranch clients — the things that separate the top 3% from the other 97%, no matter the industry.

After working with thousands of farmers, Mary Jo shares why her clients:
1. Have no arrival syndrome — they're constantly learning
2. Were NOT given anything — most had to buy it, earn it, or build it
3. Are often starting a farm from scratch — even leaving family operations to do it
4. Are problem solvers, not victims — when markets drop or the banker says no, they pivot
5. Have a problem solvers mindset — not a victim mindset
6. Plus the bonus #6: They know their numbers and run it like a business

If you've ever thought "it's easy for them, they were handed it" — this episode will change how you see success in farming and ranching.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/Book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

It's that time of year — everything's on sale for tax purposes. But is buying that $300,000 piece of equipment to save $36,000 actually keeping you broke? 

Mary Jo breaks down why avoiding taxes is the #1 reason farmers struggle with cash flow, how tiered taxes really work, and what to do instead with year-end tax planning.

In this episode:

- Why capital gains are tiered (0% up to $98,900 married in 2026) and why most farmers fear them for no reason
- How ftax  brackets really work — you're not saving 37%, you're often saving 12-24%
- Cash vs. financing math: $300k at 7% for 7 years = $55,665/yr payment + $89,662 in interest to save $36,000
- The stacking payments trap: year 1, year 2, year 3 equipment loans + land payments
- What successful operations do: pay the tax, keep the difference, operate on cash
infinite banking  alternative to make the bank Plan B, not the only plan
- Pot bellies, balers, squeeze chutes & trailers — maintenance costs nobody calculates

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/Book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Chapters:
00:00 Year End Tax Temptations
02:00 Capital Gains Tiers Explained
05:00 How Tax Brackets Work
06:39 What Deductions Really Save
09:26 Equipment Purchase Math
11:41 Borrowing Creates Payments
14:00 Stacking Debt Over Years
17:24 Upkeep Costs Add Up
21:05 Beat Parkinson's Law
22:44 Trailer Rental Opportunity
23:51 Final Tax Decision Checklist
24:47 Next Steps And Scheduling

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Is it really THAT easy to borrow against life insurance? Yes — and Mary Jo Irmen proves it in this Farming Without the Bank Q&A.

Mary Jo answers the comments from her Farming for Profit clip, breaks down exactly how a policy loan works when structured correctly for infinite banking (pay premium, access whole life insurance cash value in 10 days, fill out an online form, ACH to your account — no payback date, no what-is-it-for questions), and why borrowing is completely different than withdrawing.

Plus: what is a 1035 exchange and when you should NOT do one (real $70-80k case study from this week), what happens to clients when Mary Jo retires, and why doing business face-to-face locally doesn't mean you're getting expert advice.

Black Sheep Summit clients: Check your email! Client-only summit is this January — held only once every 3 years. With Kody Anderson, Flint Rasmussen + client panel.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/Book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Real meetings, real numbers, real lessons. Mary Jo recaps recent client meetings — from a 64 and 65-year-old couple buying land for their boys, to a 22-year-old starting with a $4,000 policy, to $100,000+ policies.

You'll hear why leaving land without a plan leaves debt + operating expenses to the kids, why helping one child and not the other creates future fights, why divided interest beats undivided interest, how two guys who quit drinking turned their financial lives around, how a 50s entrepreneur beat Parkinson's Law with '08-'09 rentals, storage units and businesses, and why a timber farm shrank from 10,000+ acres by selling land to solve problems.

It doesn't matter where you start — $4,000 or $100,000 — just get started.

Learn infinite banking , estate planning , and financial freedom  for farming  and agriculture  families with Farming Without the Bank.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Chapters:
00:00 $4K to $100K policies — just get started
00:31 Welcome back — why I'm recapping real meetings
01:43 64 & 65 buying land — kids inherit debt + operating costs
04:23 Fairness trap — helping the struggling kid only
05:49 Divided vs undivided interest — will they farm together?
07:34 Quit drinking, turned life around — love these clients
08:10 Trucker income jump — trailer rentals for cash flow
09:10 Farm hand buyout opportunity — navigating transition
12:03 22-year-old county + farm + side jobs — $4K starter + skid steer
12:45 50s multi-millionaire — handicapped daughter + market risk
14:02 Beat Parkinson's Law — '08-'09 rentals to storage to business
15:36 3D printers in front of you — stop being paralyzed, move
16:57 Excavation + multi-state ranches run like a business
18:48 Surgeon buys farm — chasing rate of return vs control
20:03 Only ag-focused IBC practitioner — farmers think generations ahead
22:25 Timber farm 10,000 to small thousands acres — insurance as operating expense
24:39 Wrap — not all will start, some super ready
25:11 Schedule with Mary Jo or John

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Is a MEC really as bad as everyone in infinite banking says?

In Farming Without the Bank Episode 373, Mary Jo Irmen and John Hasche break down when a Modified Endowment Contract actually makes sense.

Most life insurance  agents will tell you: never MEC, never MEC, never MEC. But what if you just sold a dairy, a farm, or a business and have a one-time lump sum of $2-3 million with no future cash flow to pay premiums? Mary Jo and John walk through a real client case study — 54-year-old son and 82-year-old dad splitting ~$3M after liquidating a California dairy — and compare the numbers.

In this episode:

• What is a MEC? FIFO vs. LIFO, why loans become taxable, and why the death benefit is still income tax-free
• Why a MEC can't be reversed + the 30-day letter you must open
• Case study #1: $2M single-pay on a 54-year-old — $4.4M death benefit day one, $1.8M cash value, when taxes hit in year 4 and why borrowing every year resets your basis
• Why age matters: $132k/year of taxable growth at 69, $178k at 79, $200k+ at 89
• Case study #2: $2M single-pay on 82-year-old dad — $2.4M death benefit, only ~$60k/year growth to pay tax on, $3M+ at age 97
• 3 times a MEC does work: borrow years 1-3 to buy a cash-flowing asset then stop, older insureds, long-term care / trust-owned policies
• The 1035 exchange loophole: how existing cash value can fund a single-pay without MECing
• The 10% penalty under age 59 1/2 most people forget
• Why you can't get this answer by email — goals, retirement plans, ranch vs. rentals, and future cash flow determine the strategy

If you came into a large lump sum and want a single-pay premium without paying premiums forever, don't guess if a MEC is right for you. Book a meeting and walk through the numbers.

Chapters:
00:00 MECs Aren't Always Bad
00:29 How MEC Taxation Works
03:45 Age Matters With MECs
04:27 Avoiding Accidental MECs
06:36 Client Case Lump Sum
09:24 Single Pay MEC Numbers
11:46 Basis Reset And Taxes
15:11 Alternative Insure Dad
18:25 When MEC Strategy Fits
20:41 More MEC Use Cases
23:04 Client Education Matters
26:12 Wrap Up And Next Steps

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Are boomer farmers actually greedy? Or are younger farmers stuck in victim mentality?

In Episode 372 of Farming Without the Bank, Mary Jo Irmen tackles the generational war in agriculture head-on — silent generation, boomers, Gen-X, millennials, and Gen Z. Young farmers say boomers are greedy for wanting top dollar for land. Boomers say millennials and Gen Z are lazy. Both sides are wrong.

Mary Jo breaks down why farmland is retirement, how auctions set the price, why no one owes you a discount, and how small to mid-size farms ARE making money when they run it like a business. Plus the rental house story, the free corn stalks story, and how to actually buy the neighbor's farm by building relationships and using buying farmland  strategies with farming without the bank .

Stop categorizing. Start building. Learn how to fund farm succession  and buy land without begging the bank.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Chapters:
00:00 - Stop Calling Boomers Greedy
01:45 - Why This Episode Had To Happen
03:00 - Victim Mentality Gets You Nowhere
04:30 - It's Their Land, It's Their Retirement
06:30 - Auctions Set The Price, Not Greed
08:15 - The Rental House and Free Corn Stalks Stories
10:15 - Small Farmers ARE Making Money
12:00 - Side Gigs and Off-Farm Jobs To Get Started
13:30 - You Won't Buy Land By Insulting The Owner
15:00 - Millennials and Gen Z Are NOT Lazy
16:30 - How To Actually Buy The Farm

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

It's TROLL DAY on Farming Without the Bank Ep 371 with Mary Jo Irmen — and the trolls brought their best hate comments.

Mary Jo reads them all and answers back: charging her own son 9% interest (vs 11% at the bank), helping a client farm 6,000 acres from scratch, why dividend-paying whole life insurance beats parking cash, and why the rich get richer when money is redistributed.

If you've ever been told "never finance anything," "never charge your kids interest," or "no one buys a farm as an investment" — this episode breaks down the broke mindset vs. abundance mindset behind those comments, and how to use infinite banking  and farm finance  principles to keep control of your money.

Buy the book: https://www.FarmingWithoutTheBank.com/book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithoutTheBank.com 

Chapters:
00:00 Why Comment At All
00:17 Welcome To Troll Day
01:34 Rocky And Ray On Debt
03:21 Policy Question And Scam Claims
04:25 Money Skills And Wealth Mindset
07:09 Farm Investment Trolls
09:35 Charging Kids Interest Explained
13:02 Victim Mentality Vs Abundance
16:49 Final Thoughts And Book Plug

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com 

Lending money to your kids from ONE policy is a recipe for a family fight. In this episode, Mary Jo Irmen shares 2 creative strategies she used this week to solve real client problems around kids, money, and fairness.

If you have 3 kids and help one start a business and another go to college — how do you make it fair to the third kid when you die? And what do you do when your 16-year-old has $30K from 4-H/cattle sales but can't own a policy or do extra premium in year one?

Mary Jo breaks down exactly what to do.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why 3 kids = 3 separate policies on MOM (same amount, same insured) is the fairest way to lend
• How Susie's loan gets repaid from HER death benefit — no tracking payments, no sibling fights
• Why you CAN'T just "put policies on the kids" — human life value & 30x income rule explained
• The minor money hack: Use your 15/16 year old's cash to buy a policy on YOU, make them beneficiary, then transfer ownership at 18
• Why kids under 18 can have MORE insurance than at age 25
• Why your agent needs to ask about family dynamics BEFORE selling you a policy

Chapters:
00:00 Why Strategy Matters
00:47 Podcast Intro and Focus
01:17 Three Kids Unequal Help
02:44 Separate Policies Per Child
04:06 Limits Insuring Adult Kids
05:34 Minor Money Workaround
09:15 Ownership and Cash Value
10:32 Insurance Value Rules
12:03 Experience Drives Creativity
13:51 Wrap Up and Next Steps

Buy the book: https://www.farmingwithoutthebank.com/book 
Email Mary Jo: MaryJo@WithouttheBank.com 

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com