Wealthy North Dakota land owners aren’t your average ‘fat cats’

An oil boom has made many North Dakota landowners rich, but their financial advisers say they aren’t your run-of-the-mill millionaires.

“Their grandparents were homesteaders here on not-very-fertile land, and they’ve scratched to earn every cent. Today, their lives haven’t changed and they don’t want them to,” said Greg Gunderson, president and chief executive of Bismarck-based Investment Centers of America Inc. “If you didn’t know, you would never be able to tell if someone here earns $50,000 or $500,000.”

The massive Bakken formation of oil-containing shale, which underlies parts of North Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan, was discovered in the 1950s, but oil recovery efforts didn’t take off until rising prices and improved technology made it profitable. In 2007, oil companies succeeded in drilling into the formation in North Dakota, driving up oil lease prices for landowners and creating an economic boom in the state.

One change the newly rich landowners have embraced is a greater ability to support churches, local schools or favorite charities. Organizations that provide care to the poor also are popular, said Mr. Gunderson.

Many area residents have asked Ronald R. Schmidt, a certified financial planner with Investment Centers of America, to set up charitable-remainder trusts, he said. “They have bigger concerns and more-complex planning than in the past. It is getting to be a team effort with accountants, attorneys, using our broker-dealer for support and putting together more-comprehensive plans,” Mr. Schmidt said. “But they still drive the same Ford pickup.”