Retirement for me is about 12 years away, and I've been thinking about it lately, a lot.
As a matter of fact, it's got my feathers ruffled.
Both in a good way, and a bad way. In a financial planning sort of way it's well, EH - here nor there.
We are on target as long as Social Security will be there for at least part of our retirement. Of course that is the bad part. Will it be there for us in the long run? Can we count on that? Of course it's better if we don't count on it, but realistically we want it to be there to help us out financially.
The really bad part is that we will be trying to retire when our twins will be just going off to college and before we even would qualify for Social Security. *gulp* That is a big step. Either we have to accept that we will be really broke for that 2-4 years or we have to pray for scholarships. Their tuition is paid as long as we remain in State but if they go out of State - Well, that is just not an option unless they have a free ride scholarship. Guess that means that our expectations may have to be postponed until they graduate. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
There are a couple of possibilities that might happen that will help us if they pan out
Income from the property in Alabama. (Thinking long run here not until we can move there 2-4 years after retirement and after my parents no longer have an interest in the property or are willing to give us a split for doing the work.) Things like annual pine straw baling, beginning to actually sell the pecans rather than giving them away to people that are around, selling crops from some of the acreage or alternately deciding to use that acreage to try to go 90% self-sustainable. As it is we take about 70-80% of our annual meat, fish and nut consumption from this property.
There is also the possibility in the long run that my parents won't be around to harvest the pine trees for lumber. I assume that they will be there for the first thinning. This cutting is sold for paper. It is to benefit the lumber trees and give them more room to grow and better nutrient absorption. Meanwhile it will also provide income for my parents. It's not as profitable as the lumber tress, but hey. When it is time for the lumber trees? My parents would be 83/93 years old at that point. Who knows what to expect then? It's a big IF but it would be a nice chunk to help out towards keeping our retirement fund going. The acreage would be replanted as well. The second and even third generations of trees would be sold for the benefit of our children. We figure that the first go round would pay for things like student loans and young adults bad spending habits. Then like us, they'll be thinking of the trees as a boon to their retirement plan in 60 years or so.
Ever the remote possibility that I have a distant relative that has written me into his or her will for millions of dollars and I don't even know about it... but that is just SO not happening, so I'll hang up my hat on that one and start working towards getting my chickens to lay golden eggs instead. LOL.
On one hand it's nice to know I have this plan, and I'm ready to grab a fishing pole and head to the hills! On the other hand... YIKES! It seems like it can't be done. I have a list of things that we need to accomplish before we can retire and while they seem doable, it's daunting. It makes me excited and puts a pit in my stomach all at the same time.
Go figure.
See you soon!
Barbie~
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