Hubby and I are getting to that age and thinking about our retirement incomes. He has a union pension...won't be too much plus our SS if it is still there when we retire in 4 years for him. If he leaves his job at 60 years old the union will carry our health benefits until 62 and medicare kicks in. If he leaves now and moves and works at a differnt local in the union his benefits would be about $200 a month less. We are planning on moving and hopefully will not have much of a mortgage if at all possible. I don't really worry about things like this but I guess husbands do more so. I have faith that the Lord will not let us die of starvation.. A few years ago went to an investment broker and we just couldn't afford to put $400 a month in an account with him plus give him $20,000 too !!! Was just curious what other Homesteaders do for a suppplement income other than their homestead selling for money.

-- Helena, (windyacs@npacc.net), April 29, 2002

Answers

Investments are a good source, provided you diversify and trade conservately.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 29, 2002.

Well Helena, I think I would like to be in a little better financial shape before retiring? Is is possible your DH can retire at 65? And don't get me wrong here but the guy upstairs will cheerfully let you stave, millions do every year. Seriously though, my DH and I both retired a bit early, him at 62 and me a number of years younger but we made sure we had the reserves to: 1. Buy a place outright with no morgage left. 2. We researched and picked a state with a low cost of living, that fit his criteria and mine(there is a lot of difference there! LOL)3. We upgraded our automobiles while we were still working and could afford to(got a new pick-up and fairly new,station wagon), so we wouldn't have to worry about having one turning belly up and floating to the surface. We picked a place with low taxes that we knew we could keep up with. Doing some hard research let us retire and live comfortably, for us, I know people have different needs. I raise purebred ducks and sell eggs and the ducks also. I do sew and sell stuff from that. Don't have to but it is fun and it is nice when what is really hobbies pay for themselves and give you a bit extra. I hope this helps some and I wish you all the luck in the world. It is a scary thing sometimes when you really think about it. But just go ahead and do what you need to do. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 29, 2002.

I didn't understand the part about the investment broker. Are you saying he wouldn't talk to you without 20K as a minimum?

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), April 29, 2002.

I've got 20 years to go until retirement, but so far my best option is to die on a Friday I got paid on. A pension, what is that?

-- Emil in TN (eprisco@usit.net), April 29, 2002.

gee----somehow "retirement" and pensions don't seem like something that will ever work out anymore...

My husband worked for a steel plant for more than 20 years.....he had hoped to work there until he retired but the company had to close down...and this was a major major steel company...because of the mess with imported steel and NAFTA....he is supposed to get a small pension when he reaches 65 but that is doubtful...

The majority of the retirees from steel companies in this area have lost their medical coverage now....

So there seems to be no sure thing as far as retirement these days.

I think we'll likely do like most other homesteaders are doing, work until we die!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), April 29, 2002.

Helena, start worrying if thats what it takes to get you involved in the household $ decisions. Everyone needs to understand the choices and participate in them.

Sounds like you might not want to retire, but continue working to have a more comfortable life. It all depends on what you owe, own and can't live without. Time to read up on money matters to help you figure it out. Check the archives for good suggestions.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), April 29, 2002.

Helena.....I don't think medicare kicks in until age 65.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 29, 2002.

Young people pay attention! Don't wait till you are ready to retire to think about it. Learn how to invest and do it yourself. No need to let these (professionals) have a big chunk of your money. Learn and start early. A little bit early is a lot better than a bunch when it is to late. A good place to learn is www.vanguard.com. It is a grate no load Co. and they have a complete University at that site and it is free.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), April 29, 2002.

One of the best investments is to believe and have faith in the lord. He will supply all your needs. Give him credit for what you have. And what you don't have, give him credit and confess that he is going to supply it. He will not let you starve. Pray for his guidance and he will show you the way. You may find out that you don't have to live like the Jones' to have a happy retirement. You may find that your even happier than when you was working.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), May 01, 2002.

I always put my faith in General Electric stock and as you can tell --I'm taking a severe beating in the market. I'm now of the opinion that you should buy every acre of land you could get a loan for ! I see no end to the expansion of mankind and it is name your price for land--around Virginia anyway.

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), May 01, 2002.

Helena, I think you really better look into the health insurance a little more carefully. Medicare DOES NOT start until 65. Until than you will have to maintain your own coverage. I believe it is the law now (COBRA?) that you have the right to maintain your health insurance after you retire, but of course you will have to pay the premiums yourself. I am fortunate that I work for the State of New York and part of our union agreement is that if I retire before 65, which I am doing at 62, I can apply my unused sick leave accruals toward the health insurance premiums.And I do have the family plan which covers my husband as well.

-- kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), May 02, 2002.

The hubby and I bought our farm to use as an IRA, when we no longer can care for such a large place we'll sell, invest the money and live on the interest. We do both have pensions, and some CD/Money Market accounts too.

We did pay quite a bit for our farm, but it will definitely increase in value, and the fairly large month mortgage is looked at as retirement savings.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), May 02, 2002.

Since we're self-employed, we've thought about this subject many times! We have no pension nor retirement fund to look forward to. Over the years we have accumulated a few CDs and we also "dabble" in the stock market online. But we only buy small stocks and as soon as we make our 30% we sell. So far...it's worked okay for us. We also have a direct deposit fund set up with our business checking account. A set amount is automatically deducted and put into a savings account...we never miss the money! Our mortgage and new truck payment will both be paid off within five years and hopefully, the truck will last a long time! We're sitting on a sizable chunk of property here on the coast of Maine and we know that the value has skyrocketed, while the taxes have remained relatively low. If we have to, we could sell a few acres. Oh...we also have a rental cottage that will supplement our Social Security income (if it's still there in 10 yrs.!!). But, hopefully, we will always be physically capable of gardening, raising a few chickens and having a milk goat or two! Remaining as self-sufficient as possible is our #1 goal.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), May 02, 2002.

Well, my situation is a bit different, but maybe not all that much so. I live in Australia, and we have a fairly decent national pension scheme. It's not marvellous, but if you own your own home in a place with low rates (local taxes), and you can grow a lot of your own food, you can live comfortably on it. Of course, if you insist on living in a high-cost capital city, then the pension will be totally inadequate. That won't be my worry.

What IS my worry is that I got financially gutted by a marriage breakup. I'm gunna get there, but I'm still clawing my way back from that, and I need to turn my current situation into owning my own home pretty quickly. I can do it - I've already advanced to the "debt- free" stage, and then to the "substantial savings" stage (that goes REALLY quickly once you're not paying interest), but I've still got almost a year to go before I'll have enough to buy something - deposit and costs. Once I've done that, I can pay it off fairly quickly, taking into account that what I'm currently paying in rent will be paying off the home; but things could turn quite sour if I have any problems in the next six years or so.

My ideal would have been to buy a small block (say five acres or fifty) adjoining a village which itself was within commuting distance of a small rural city with a university college. Live on that until I was incapable of maintaining it any longer, then sub-divide, keep a much smaller block, cut down the work, and use the proceeds of sale of the excess land to live on. Could have done well on that, but she- who-no-longer-must-be-obeyed (or even respected) well and truly put a spike in those ideas. Silly woman!

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 03, 2002.

Sorry to hear about your marriage, Don. Don't think for a moment that you cannot meet or exceed your goals of getting a small block of property. You may find that you will be able to do so much more now than when married to someone who did not share your dreams. I, too, went through a pretty painful financial fiasco when I divorced several years ago, and although it has taken a few years to recover, I did recover. I am now remarried to someone who thinks the way I do, in that we both agree to keep debt to a minimum, invest in the farm, and should we get too old to maintain it, we can sell and live off the proceeds later in life on a smaller acreage. I do have 401K and a small mutual fund (through Invesco - another good company of no loads!) but Vanguard does have a free investment university on their web site which I used to learn alot about how to invest. I also originally had my 401K with Vanguard, but our company has moved it to another firm. No one should believe for a moment that social security will support you in your old age, I have watched my aunt try to live on hers after working most of her life, and had she not had some savings, there would have been months she could not have eaten and paid her prescription bills. My mom has had to help her out many times, and I arranged for the phizer card and the free prescriptions through her doctor. One just can't live on social security without having some savings or way to support part of their living (like growing some food at home). Most wait until it is too late to begin thinking of retirement so don't have enough saved. My parents always said "Pay yourself first". I am now doing that through automatic deductions from my checking account each month. And because I don't see the money, I don't miss it! Good luck to you Don, I know things will keep improving for you.

-- Cindy (sidepasser@hotmail.com), May 03, 2002.

Don has some good ideas about owning property, but be aware that property is usually a long-term investment, and laws (like on subdividing) can change at any time. People buy thinking that "well, I'll subdivide and make money that way", but 10 years later, the city council has changed and your property now falls into a no-growth, or "so many hoops to jump through to subdivide you won't make any money on it" area. You can hope to be grandfathered in, but you can't count on it.

Another way to make some money is to have a large enough place to rent out a room or two in your house, or on a small cabin on your property. If you have a good tenant, this can even work out with them doing cooking and cleaning for reduced or free rent if for example you need assistance but don't qualify for nursing home care yet.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), May 03, 2002.

We decided that we would buy land and own it outright - no mortgage. We also started up our own business with the cash in our pockets and never borrowed money. We got out of our credit card debts ten years ago, and now we each have a two cards with low limits, that we use to reserve hotel rooms and cars when we travel for business. We pay them off every month. We pay cash for everything and have no debts. We, too, bought fairly new used cars and paid for them, and they will probably last for many years.

We bought land in an area where it's not too expensive and the taxes are low. We stay as far away from the stock market as we can get. We are investing our money into our homestead so that it will take care of us when we retire. A garden, an orchard, a pond with fish; goats, chickens. Tools and seeds and a good reference library. We are off grid, and designing our systems to work without gas or propane. Once the development is done, it won't cost us much to live here.

If we were unable, in our old age, to do all the work ourselves, we could have caretakers come and live here for room and board in exchange for helping out. We run our business from home, and so far it's still doing ok. We both have skills that we can use right here in our neighborhood, to make a modest living, if the need ever arose. We are naturopaths, and he is a nutritional counselor and I am an herbalist. The people in our neighborhood know to come to us when they are sick. We will have produce that we can trade or sell. We've set aside money to pay the property taxes for several years. It's also possible that we could sell our business one day, and retire on that.

I would say, buy land with a good well, and pay for it outright, no matter how small, or how modest it is. Get out of debt. Invest in gold and silver, it won't go anywhere but up. Health insurance is a very tricky thing. We have group insurance with our business, but if at some point the economy does not support our business, and we have to close the doors, we won't have that insurance any more.

We are taking care of all of our health challenges now, while we still have insurance for laboratory tests and all that. We are doing what we need to do to be healthy and strong, and we learn how to take care of ourselves with good homegrown food and plant medicine. The reason we all have insurance, though, is because of the high cost of an accident or a catastrophic illness. The insurance mill has got us all scared to death!

I dunno. I think we should all get after the insurance companies and make them change their cheatin' ways. What they get away with is criminal, especially with old people.

Good luck to you! Keep us posted on your progress!

-- Christine Baillie (towanda515@yahoo.com), May 04, 2002.