Farm Dreams

Homesteading, Organic Gardening, How to Farm, Preparedness, Self-Reliance

What's retirement going to be?

I've lived on a farm all my life, but after my husband from the city and I got married and we purchased five acres of the family farm to build our home on, I haven't done much farming. Hubby works in the city still, and I was a nurse under a lot of stress. Recently I decided I was sick of it, and left nursing with plans to do freelance writing and more homesteading things. So far we are doing fine, but my husband worries. We don't have a lot of money put by for retirement. We don't live very extravagantly, our biggest fun is going to a flea market or maybe the library...once in awhile we've been known to save up and take a trip but that's pretty rare. For the most part, we make our own fun here at home with bonfires, swimming in the family pond, etc. My husband knows my nerves just won't take the stresses of nursing anymore, and I was never happy in that field, and we have no idea how much I'll eventually be able to make as a freelance writer. He worries that when we get older and I'm unable to do things here on the farm, we will be in trouble because we don't have a big enough retirement saved up. I've grown tired hearing that everyone has to have a couple of million in the bank or else they should be afraid. I don't want to live my life in fear! We'll be putting more back for retirement, but I doubt we'll ever have tons of money. Do any of the rest of you worry about what will happen as you get older and are unable to take care of your farm work? Who will look after you, that sort of thing? Or did you do the smart thing and save up a bunch of money for retirement like "they" tell us?

I'm trying to make up for my lack of earning power at the moment by decreasing excess spending and making do on much less. That's why I'd like to raise a few animals for the meat (my city hubby remains concerned because he doesn't want to see the animals slaughtered....sigh), maybe a few chickens for eggs and meat as well. We drink so much milk, I think it would be nice to have some goats, too, since we don't have enough pasture for cows anyway. Although, I thought about raising one cow at a time and getting a freezer full of beef that way. I just want to get back to the simpler times I knew as I was growing up, and doing more things the healthy way while also decreasing our cost of groceries. I believe, in time, I will make a good income from my freelance writing online, but it takes time. I just don't think retirement has to be incredibly expensive when you are entertained pretty simply. I love camping! I love my bonfires and fishing and being with animals. I love gardening, heading out to the yard sales and flea markets, taking a nice drive a couple hours one direction or another and seeing some new things, but I don't go see 8 dollar a person movies, I don't eat out except rarely, I don't go shopping unless it's really necessary and if I do then I probably have a coupon. We live pretty thrifty! Sorry to ramble on...it's great to be on here and be among people whose ideas I identify with so strongly!!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Kemp on February 24, 2012 at 3:50pm

Hi Cara

I think I understand where you are coming from on this topic and I'm sure there are many of us out here in the same position. I have no idea how much of a retirement nest egg is enough, but it seems to me, neither does anyone else really. Almost all the financial advice you read online says you need a million or more tucked away, but where exactly are all these millionaire retires? Personally I don’t think listening to the conventional wisdom on this is such a good idea for a couple of reasons.

First, these financial advisors that tell us how much we need to save have always been in the difficult position of essentially living off their customers, but as our society has slowly become a place where selfish/greedy behavior is more tolerated and in some cases even admired, the behavior of many of these advisors has become questionable to say the least. I have to wonder if these numbers we see aren’t more about getting people worried enough to hire financial advisors more than anything else.

Second, I certainly think that some talking head on MSNBC telling people they need to save enough to have 80% of their current salary in retirement is not thinking about someone who can grow enough food to support themselves and provide a little income. Nor are they thinking about a future that could include hyper inflation or a financial crash etc, basically all their prognostications are based on past performance and an assumption that the future will reflect the existing financial and social environment. If that changes, their statements on what you need in retirement are quite literally worthless.

So, in my opinion any worrying about reaching one of these prognosticators retirement goals is a waste of time. The kinds of dollar numbers they tout are for the couple that wants to move to Boca and buy a nice condo near the water, travel abroad once a year, golf every day and be fully covered for every little ailment.

It’s always nice to have a little more money, but if you have a bit of land, a house to live in, wood for the fire, veggies in the garden, few chickens, pigs, goats and the right attitude - you can look forward to a happier retirement than a lot of people, (including that couple in Boca!)

Steve

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Permalink Reply by Ian Olito on February 24, 2012 at 4:08pm

Cara, You have a retirement fund ,your land, try and find a cash crop to grow that thrives in your area. Friends of mine that had 401ks, now have 25% of what it was once worth.. My best friend worked for Bear Stern for 15 years and now has nothing at 60. so consider what you have in front of you and make that your retirement by creating income from the land. Just my view on retirement. I have no retirement fund and enjoy to freelance, the dream of working for 30 years and retiring is a hard to reach today.

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Permalink Reply by Kim Gates on February 24, 2012 at 6:32pm

I find it amazing that there are so many people like ourselves out there. We worked hard all our lives, invested well, and now it is all gone. Our money was in real estate.......

We are a new class of people! I do believe those of us who have decided to opt-out of conventional thinking are the smart ones. So heres the challenge....all of us who did a good job in the past of creating fortunes small and large now lost....lets put those good minds to work and figure out how to live those golden years on our own terms!