Age is forcing decisions on me...

[Bubba1235]

I've been thinking a lot about erecting another building (probably a 40 x 60 x 14 tall) on the farm. I could really use the storage in the winter months and even use some of it as a second shop. (I'd like to move the paint booth.)

Two things are holding me back. One, I know that it won't raise the property value a red cent, you can't hardly give acerages away where I'm located and I have already invested more than I'll ever get out of the farm. Second, Mrs. Bubba is reminding me that now that I'm staring at 60 I probably am not going to stay on the farm many more years. After the heat wave this summer and all the extra work I feel she may be right, it wore me out to be out there in 100+ heat doing all the things it takes to keep the farm up.

If I thought I'd be here for say 10 more years I'd do it in a heartbeat and not concern myself with it but reality is setting in and I'm no spring chicken anymore and just can't keep the pace I once did. Mrs. Bubba is saying it's time for us to start making an exist / retirement plan and while I know she is right I'm having a very hard time thinking along those lines.

If no one has said it, this getting older stuff BITES! Having to PLAN getting older bites even more!!! I mean I always knew I had to plan my finances so we could retire (and I have) but it just didn't occure to me that I'd have to give up the things I love doing or walking away from my farm in the process.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

I read somewhere that, "the only thing golden about the golden years is my urine"

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

beats the alternative, Bubba...
change is tough and when it's not the typical choices being made it can be stressful

I'm kinda thinking the same - sell, downsize, maybe a condo...and then a moored 30 footer somewhere nice to use as a cottage.

I'm not resisting at all though... every year, I seem to feel less joy with all the projects on the go, and the upkeep of everything... I'm ready... and I'm 47

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

With my speedo bouncing on 60 I feel the same way. Last winter I decided I'd build another shop out back and did. It beat the heck out of me and none of my friends showed up to help more than once. I recently decided to hire a landscaper to take care of the yard because what I used to be able to do in a couple of hours now takes me the better part of a day. Dump runs aren't an excuse to get away for a while, they're "old back" breaking jobs.

So Bubba, I'd say just do it.. You aint gonna leave the farm, you're going to be to worn out to move! Sorry the correct answer is cleverly hidden in the first paragraph.

 

[JB]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

I agree that you probably have about 10 more years before the serious slowdown attacks, Bubba. What you are having now is just preliminary.

I think your acreage will turn out to be a major asset. When I slowed down and lost ability (and desire) to do things I loved to do I cut myself out 1.5 acres with home, machine shed and crib and sold the rest. I didn't have to give up the environment I love and I have permanent license to use the fishing hole that I developed.

I recommend it.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Sell it all.
Buy a house boat, make everybody jealous.

 

[emoney]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Build the building, but spend as little as possible on it. I don't know your neck of the woods, but any extra "shop space" will have value to the right person. Plus, outside of being told you're "too old", how much older are you, really? Retirement doesn't always mean "give up something", it just means, "I don't have to if I don't want to"....big difference.

With this kind of thinking, might as well starting looking at Assisted Living facilities down in Sarasota.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Bubba, I completely understand where you're comming from. Like I said originally, my shop is finished but it beat the heck out of me. Try a hip roof when your nearly sixty. That'll make you realize just how old sixty really is. My shop is built behind the main garage and there's no way to get any type of equipment back there. Try pouring 8 yards of concrete by hand from 80lb bags in a 1/4 yard wheel barrow. I was going to buy a mixer but what would I do with it after so I rented and the two that were available both broke on me in the first hour. Talk about scrambling to beat sunset! I did get my neighbor to help for a couple of hours but he all of the sudden had to go. Hard to say if he was afraid of work or just smarter than me.

Think it through really well.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

keep a eye on local ads and talk to people that you are intrested in a building real cheap. chances are you might be able to buy a complete building of someone elses land and move it for a fraction of the cost of building one. as i have got older i can not do what i use to do but thats a good thing as it made me think of ways of working smarter not harder.

 

[JB]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

The strange part, when I was just a bit younger than you are now, this farm was my dream of a perfect place. Hows that for irony?

Hahaha!! You have about 20 years to go before you are as young as I am now, Bubba. I will be 77 in October. Pushing 80 is a whole lot different than pushing 60. I dreamed of The Hideout for many years before I bought it in 1990. It met or exceeded my dreams for 20 years. Now it is time for a reduced world to go along with reduced ability, interest and activity.

EDIT: Oops! I thought you were replying to me, Bubba. Well, Maybe Howard can gain a little from this.

 

[emoney]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Now you're thinking. Heck, you might be spelling out "retirement plans" and don't realize it. Tons of "tie-wearing hunters" out there and even companies that will manage the property for you as it pertains to "game development" etc. etc. etc. Maybe what you should do is build your "shop" in a fashion that allows for it to be converted into the "lodge" when you're ready for that time. That way, you have someone else paying for it, in a way at least.

I know several guys that pay big dollars for hunting and I suppose it makes sense. They're 9-5ers and city dwellers to boot, but they still have that hunting bug ingrained in them. They don't have the option of developing an area (setting up tree stands, feeders, etc.) so they have no choice but to pay someone that does have all that. Pretty much, they load up a bunch of buddies, head to wherever the place is, drink it up on Friday night, hunt Saturday morning-afternoon and Sunday the same, then head back Sunday night/Monday morning. I'm not so sure I'd want to be the "guide" or the person managing the property, but if you leased it out to a company that does that.........

 

[angus63]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Plan for tomorrow and live for today! Sometimes the lines get blurred when tomorrow gets closer. How about an inexpensive/temporary/modular space that gives you want you want without being a "poor investment"?

 

[colbyt]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Bubba,

At the same point in life as you with similar emotions and have computed ROI on most everything in life I have come to this conclusion. Money is a tool. I can't take it with me and there probably won't be anything I need when I get there. I would not jeopardize my retirement years or the future of my wife after I am gone to buy anything. By the same token I don't need to be frugal for my kids sake because they sure aren't.

If you want, can use, can afford with no borrowed money and feel like you need the shed, build the darned thing and enjoy it. Assume you aren't going to get a penny of that money back and go for it. A city fellar can drop a hundred bucks on a few drinks in a few short hours.

 

[generator12]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Six years ago I mentioned to my brother-in-law that I was thinking about a convertible but just couldn't get past all the common-sense reasons NOT to buy it. (Expensive to buy, one more vehicle to insure, short Wisconsin summer, would be the third vehicle - only a double garage, etc.) All the years of raising four kids had bred a conservative outlook in me.

He got out a 10 foot tape rule, stretched it out on the kitchen floor, and said:

"What age do you expect to live to be?" I said, "I don't know - maybe 86 or 88." He said, "How many of them do you expect to be 'good' years - time when you're vigorous and feeling good?" I answered, "Again, I don't know - maybe until I'm 75 or 76."

He said, "Okay, one foot is ten years. Show me 75 years on the tape." I put my toe next to 7 feet 6 inches. "Now show me where you are now". I pointed to 6 feet and 6 inches. He said, "You get the point?"

I sure did. Went out and bought the Mustang GT droptop a couple of days later and still enjoy it immensely. I'm the only 71-year-old I've seen driving one around here.

Bubba, what you describe afflicts those of us lucky enough to reach that point. Do whatever you need to do to enjoy yourself, to reap the benefits of all the years of hard work. If you need the farm, keep it. If you need the building, build it. Just consider backing out of some of the physical work that farm demands. (Make it smaller, hire part-time help, etc.) As far as getting the value out of it later, that's one of those common-sense things that you may have to ignore.

Look at where you are on the tape, relative to what you think you have left. I think you'll get the point.

 

[rivermouse]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Because I just turned 62 I would like to add my 2 cents. At 62 it is time to realize that the time for planning for the future with savings etc has come and gone. This IS the future you looked towards for many years. The key for me is to maintain my present lifestyle and try to enjoy each day.

 

[generator12]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Because I just turned 62 I would like to add my 2 cents. At 62 it is time to realize that the time for planning for the future with savings etc has come and gone. This IS the future you looked towards for many years. The key for me is to maintain my present lifestyle and try to enjoy each day.

Well said mouse. I agree with every word.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

Yup I struggle with old age decisions too.....If I go to slow I lose my rigidity and if I go too fast I lose my breath!

 

[salty87]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

in all of the posts of bubba's i've seen (and that's alot, lol)...i don't think i've ever read exactly what you farm. is it necessary to keep at it?...financially that is. my in-laws have 10 acres and it's just prairie. my wife and i bought some acreage less than a year ago with plans to build a house. no plans on farming.

the news would have one believe that the small farmer is a thing of the past.

 

[rivermouse]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

I think the perfect retirement would be to own 2 small condos. One at the beach and the other in the mountains or go for one year apartment leases then there are no strings.

 

[duke33]

Re: Age is forcing decisions on me...

You worked for that money. Spend it your way. As long as sweetheart is covered. Who knows when your gonna kick. Just let the property go bake to wildflowers and enjoy the smaller place. Sell an acre or two. Just enjoy what's left of the hardscrabble.