Should you be afraid of poverty in old age?

Grainews columnist Andrew Allentuck asks this question in the early pages of his new book, “When Can I Retire?” His answer, “The advantage of being insecure is that you can do something about it before it happens. Reading this book is a part of that process. Congratulations for taking a first step.” 

The decision to retire is a big gamble, Andrew writes, because you stop earning income and then have to depend on your savings and government pensions. It’s hard to get a good job after age 55 after you’ve bowed out of the workforce. Retired farmers have the benefit of earning income of retained land, and working with neighbours or farming children a few months a year at seeding and harvest to make some extra money. What’s more, some farmers never retire. They don’t have to if they don’t want to. But at the same time, this book has lots of tips and advice that is suitable for everyone, at whatever age.

Andrew shows his regard for farmers, which perhaps has rubbed off from this work on the Farm Financial Planner series in Grainews. “Farmers who are forced to sell for lack of children to take over the business or who have to sell to be closer to medical care undergo a wrenching change of life," he writes. "When a small business has been a way of life for many decades or even the better part of a century, selling is only the first step in the reorganization of a way of life. An economic gain on the sale of the business may be offset by new costs incurred in adapting to living in the city or to finding ways to fill the hours that the business required.”

Andrew is perhaps best know for this column “Financial Facelift” in the Globe and Mail. To see more about “When Can I Retire?” click here. 

Speaking of Andrew’s Farm Financial Planner…

We’d like to hear from farmers with troublesome financial questions. That way, we can revive the series after a few months off. We will protect your privacy. We insist on examining real situations, but we DO NOT use real names or even identify your hometown. You do not have to pay to participate in this article. If you have a financial question, email it to me. Grainews will contact you if we want to follow up.