Full-time homesteading? No "job"?

Sanza · #41 10/02/11, 10:27 PM

I think your plan would work out as you have planned....and when you run out of your money at the old age of 73 (according to steveo), you should be at the point of "retiring" from the homestead anyway...lol. Land always goes up in price and when you are ready to leave that lifestyle you should be able to sell it for enough money to live on for the rest of your life. Remember this recession is not going to last forever.....
You're so right about living life now instead of "someday"
Go for it!

Beef11 · #42 10/03/11, 01:39 AM

I must be coming at this from a different angle. What I see this discussion turning into is "can I retire" living on a homestead has very little to do with it. Here is where i differ, i see homesteading as carving out a living in an agrarian manner. To be successful at it you need to be able to provide for yourself and family. The old time homesteaders went into the untamed lands and carved out a living on their homesteads. Many still exist just generations down the line and labeled as Farms or Ranches. I like the homesteading way of life and have been making a go at it for several years now. It is starting to produce enough to make a serious contribution to our lives monetarily. I guess in closing if you are going to be just a homesteader you shouldn't need much else and if you find success you will have more and more down the road.

Good luck

Freya · #43 10/03/11, 05:11 AM

PM Forerunner and ask if he would chime in on this.

Can you make $400k-$600k+ anytime soon? If not then the whole question is sorta pointless.

.

unregistered168043 · #44 10/03/11, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanza

I think your plan would work out as you have planned....and when you run out of your money at the old age of 73 (according to steveo), you should be at the point of "retiring" from the homestead anyway...lol. Land always goes up in price and when you are ready to leave that lifestyle you should be able to sell it for enough money to live on for the rest of your life. Remember this recession is not going to last forever.....
You're so right about living life now instead of "someday"
Go for it!

Yeah and don't forget Social Security, assuming it's still here.

unregistered168043 · #45 10/03/11, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beef11

I must be coming at this from a different angle. What I see this discussion turning into is "can I retire" living on a homestead has very little to do with it. Here is where i differ, i see homesteading as carving out a living in an agrarian manner. To be successful at it you need to be able to provide for yourself and family. The old time homesteaders went into the untamed lands and carved out a living on their homesteads. Many still exist just generations down the line and labeled as Farms or Ranches. I like the homesteading way of life and have been making a go at it for several years now. It is starting to produce enough to make a serious contribution to our lives monetarily. I guess in closing if you are going to be just a homesteader you shouldn't need much else and if you find success you will have more and more down the road.

Good luck

I don't consider living on a homestead "retirement", lol. Not when your situation depends on growing your food, your fuel, up keeping your equipment, and etc to work.

There are people who live on subsistence farms and throughout history people have farmed for subsistence, to feed themselves, not just to bring in money. I find it to be a lot of work to grow my own food , chop my own wood, and do my own repairs/building. It's actually a lot more work then what I do at my job....hardly what I would expect from 'retirement'.

unregistered168043 · #46 10/03/11, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveO

.....

I might add this is starting from scratch. if you own all your land it is most likley more than anyone today could afford the same with equipment animals outbuildings and everything else. I think we are talking about the difference of a farm to a homestead. To afford the size of acreage that I would need the 100 acres and all the toys to make it work. aAnd 3-4 years to get it operating. To make any income not even profit
So the how long will i survive senario is the numbers that I keep running\So this is for real for us

I'm 'kind of' in the same boat as you. In reality, I do work a few days outside the homestead and I do hope to make a little money on the homestead. For me it's about farming, on a small scale, to help bring in that little bit extra to 'make it'.

Sparticle · #47 10/03/11, 08:41 AM

Didn't read all the replies, but I have friends who do it (with kids) on less than $3,000 per year.

Beef11 · #48 10/03/11, 09:46 AM

Quote:

I don't consider living on a homestead "retirement", lol. Not when your situation depends on growing your food, your fuel, up keeping your equipment, and etc to work.

There are people who live on subsistence farms and throughout history people have farmed for subsistence, to feed themselves, not just to bring in money. I find it to be a lot of work to grow my own food , chop my own wood, and do my own repairs/building. It's actually a lot more work then what I do at my job....hardly what I would expect from 'retirement'.

I see your point but it seems to validate mine as well. If you need 600k to 1m to be able to produce enough income to be able to homestead for the rest of your life. That sounds like retirement a lot more than subsistence farming. People retire everyday in town on less.

Forerunner · #49 10/03/11, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freya

PM Forerunner and ask if he would chime in on this.

There needs to be a course available somewhere, sorta like navy seal initiation day, to separate the men from the boys, straight off. That's my chime.

Forerunner · #50 10/03/11, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparticle

Didn't read all the replies, but I have friends who do it (with kids) on less than $3,000 per year.

Now we're getting the idea.

Callieslamb · #51 10/03/11, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

............ The way I see it, if you are spending your precious time working for an insurance policy that MIGHT extend your time down the road...your just trading real time ( when your healthy and able to enjoy life to the fullest) for the promise of possible extended time ( when you are old, sick, and can't even hoe a garden ). Seems like a raw deal and I've seen how my parents got burned buying into that philosophy.

there are some things you have mentioned here that have struck a wrong note with me - I tried to keep my nose out of it, but also....keeping quiet isn't my strongest point.

100s of others can give you examples of how people paid into the insurance and it SAVED their bacon. How the Dad worked all his life and in the end, the insurance paid for that heart surgery so he didn't lose his farm and income. Did your parents' ENTIRE income go to an insurance policy? No. Only a piece of it. A BIG part of being self-sufficient is being ready for what many come. Many choose to do that by paying into insurances - JUST IN CASE while praying at the same time they they will never need to use it. The risk in not doing so it a bit too high for most. Did your parents feel the same way about their lives that you seem to? Or did they think they had it pretty good? Why not have the insurance and the independent life style at the same time? The two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

I haven't seen you mention that you could generate a bit on income from the homestead. Do you have any plans for that? Even the original homesteaders in our country had to generate some kind of income to provide those things they couldn't do for themselves. IMO- it's kind of a natural thing to want to to build and grow something wether it's a farm, business, or a hobby.

So far, you have pretty much shot down everything everyone has told you unless they totally agreed with you. So did you come here for advice or to promote your own philosphy? Either one is fine, but it might help if you would define for yourself what you really want. If you don't have the $$$ nor the job to accumulate it quickly - why even ask? No one can predict how much money it will take over a lifetime - some might do it on $3K and others can't on $3 million. While you're providing totally for yourself - what do you plan on contributing? I don't believe that man is intended to live in his little space only caring for himself hidden away and doing whatever he pleases when he pleases. That idea appeals to many, but I haven't seen anyone be truly happy that's tried it.

Forerunner · #52 10/03/11, 10:39 AM

From my perspective, and experience, insurance is merely a means for the corporate world to poke it's nose into the homestead.

The two don't mix.

For what it's worth, insurance is an Admiralty jurisdiction contract that automatically removes the individual from the protections of common law jurisdiction.
Incidentally, applying for insurance and accepting those Cain and Nimrod type protections requires that you bow before other gods. Insurance is also an usurious contract, and smacks of a corban system, bothy of which are negatively addressed in scripture.

CesumPec · #53 10/03/11, 11:36 AM

I guess with all the talk these days about Obamacare and health insurance rates, people have lost a little perspective. Health insurance is expensive, but not so much that it should alter most families' way of life. I pay my own insurance for a family of three, $503/month. The policy has been in place for about 3 years and never gone up once. I pay for all the small and routine things but it's there in case the big problem ever jumps up. I wish it cost less but I'm not going to get a "real job" just to have "free" insurance.

As to the OP's question...

As a rule of thumb, a conservative portfolio invested in munis, a broad range of stocks, and t-bills can generate a very safe 3% cash flow without ever digging into the principle and it allows for some growth of the portfolio to protect against inflation. So if the OP invests his $600K with $100K in short term rolling CDs (not getting much interest these days but it is a little) and the rest in a balanced portfolio, he should be able to get a 5+% return, spend 3% at a little over $15K / year in cash flow and die with probably more money than his original $600K.

If he wanted to plan to die broke at 100 or even 110, withdrawing his investment at a steady rate, as a rule of thumb, he can pull out cash at closer to 6 or 7%. He can hire an investment adviser to give him the actual numbers.

Yes he does face the possibility of a true SHTF episode which kills the stock market and alters the way of life for everyone, and maybe he would lose all his invested funds, but he would be significantly better off after such an event than most folks. He would have his life sustaining homestead and know how to make it work for him. And if it was a true SHTF deal, if he had worked a real job and just kept the $600K "safe" in a bank, he will still be broke. It happened to my Grandmother as a young adult during the great depression. She lost all the money she had saved in a bank, planning to go to nursing school. But she lived on a farm and survived, saved again, and went to nursing school a few years behind schedule.

bruce2288 · #54 10/03/11, 12:13 PM

I would say with that income you could also afford a high deductible health insurance. If you are totally anti health insurance, then that is your decision. Quitting a full time job does not necessarily mean never working. In my area there is work available during harvest and planting time. Also multitude of odd jobs, doing some fencing, cut trees, paint buildings ect ect

Copperhead · #55 10/03/11, 12:26 PM

Insurance and electricity are overrated. For a single man to survive, he'll need to hunt, fish, and garden. 1 acre might work, 5 tillable acres within walking distance of good hunting would be ample. Honestly, the biggest concern is what happens when he (1) tires of his own cooking or (2) decides a wife and kids are more attractive than he first considered. Since God never intended for a strapping, hard working man to be alone, but instead gave him the energy and will to provide for a family, I would reckon that as he got older, a family would be the greatest threat to his lifestyle!

But a family is not all bad, is it? In fact, a family could be his greatest insurance policy. Why be 70 and single and trying to farm and scratch a living from the soil, when you could be entertaining grandchildren and trading babysitting and life lessons for, you know, food? It's not uncommon at all around here for children to take care of their incapacitated/disabled/Alzheimers parents. What I can't figure out, is why don't parents live in close proximity to their children WHILE THEIR STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THEIR GRANDCHILDREN AND BE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION!

ok, sorry for screaming!

Forerunner · #56 10/03/11, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copperhead

Insurance and electricity are overrated. For a single man to survive, he'll need to hunt, fish, and garden. 1 acre might work, 5 tillable acres within walking distance of good hunting would be ample. Honestly, the biggest concern is what happens when he (1) tires of his own cooking or (2) decides a wife and kids are more attractive than he first considered. Since God never intended for a strapping, hard working man to be alone, but instead gave him the energy and will to provide for a family, I would reckon that as he got older, a family would be the greatest threat to his lifestyle!

But a family is not all bad, is it? In fact, a family could be his greatest insurance policy. Why be 70 and single and trying to farm and scratch a living from the soil, when you could be entertaining grandchildren and trading babysitting and life lessons for, you know, food? It's not uncommon at all around here for children to take care of their incapacitated/disabled/Alzheimers parents. What I can't figure out, is why don't parents live in close proximity to their children WHILE THEIR STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THEIR GRANDCHILDREN AND BE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION!

ok, sorry for screaming!

Funny how that general plan worked great, especially the latter portions, right up to about the time they threw together the "federal reserve", give or take.

jlrbhjmnc · #57 10/03/11, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copperhead

But a family is not all bad, is it? In fact, a family could be his greatest insurance policy. Why be 70 and single and trying to farm and scratch a living from the soil, when you could be entertaining grandchildren and trading babysitting and life lessons for, you know, food? It's not uncommon at all around here for children to take care of their incapacitated/disabled/Alzheimers parents. What I can't figure out, is why don't parents live in close proximity to their children WHILE THEIR STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THEIR GRANDCHILDREN AND BE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION!

ok, sorry for screaming!

Doing it here! One of the best decisions I ever made. I must give DH credit for wanting us to make the move as well.

Silvercreek Farmer · #58 10/03/11, 03:04 PM

I think a smart, hardworking, single man could make it pretty darn far homesteading on $600k. Folks love to throw the million mark out there for retirement (which is not what we are talking about), and it is probably plenty of money for someone in their late 50's 60's to retire on in the next decade, but there is nothing magic about the $1 million mark(other than the fact it has 7 digits). I figure someone my age (30) will probably need about $4 million by age 65 for a typical upper middle class retirement. When I tell my peers this, they tend to stutter for a minute or two! But, the fact is that you are not talking about retirement, you are talking about self employment, if you live cheap and produce most of your own food and fuel you could probably get by with less than $600k especially if meaningful income was produced by selling farm raised goods. Several people have already pointed out that health is the major wild card, and I agree. Rather than keeping $200k on hand for emergencies, I would rather use some of my income to buy a major medical policy. I don't think is is right, but I see a lot of people who place most of their assets in Trust which would protect them in the event they declared bankruptcy (ie from a major medical event, lawsuit ect).

unregistered168043 · #59 10/03/11, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

there are some things you have mentioned here that have struck a wrong note with me - I tried to keep my nose out of it, but also....keeping quiet isn't my strongest point.

100s of others can give you examples of how people paid into the insurance and it SAVED their bacon. How the Dad worked all his life and in the end, the insurance paid for that heart surgery so he didn't lose his farm and income. Did your parents' ENTIRE income go to an insurance policy? No. Only a piece of it. A BIG part of being self-sufficient is being ready for what many come. Many choose to do that by paying into insurances - JUST IN CASE while praying at the same time they they will never need to use it. The risk in not doing so it a bit too high for most. Did your parents feel the same way about their lives that you seem to? Or did they think they had it pretty good? Why not have the insurance and the independent life style at the same time? The two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

I haven't seen you mention that you could generate a bit on income from the homestead. Do you have any plans for that? Even the original homesteaders in our country had to generate some kind of income to provide those things they couldn't do for themselves. IMO- it's kind of a natural thing to want to to build and grow something wether it's a farm, business, or a hobby.

So far, you have pretty much shot down everything everyone has told you unless they totally agreed with you. So did you come here for advice or to promote your own philosphy? Either one is fine, but it might help if you would define for yourself what you really want. If you don't have the $$$ nor the job to accumulate it quickly - why even ask? No one can predict how much money it will take over a lifetime - some might do it on $3K and others can't on $3 million. While you're providing totally for yourself - what do you plan on contributing? I don't believe that man is intended to live in his little space only caring for himself hidden away and doing whatever he pleases when he pleases. That idea appeals to many, but I haven't seen anyone be truly happy that's tried it.

Terribly sorry if my opinions or the way I expressed them insulted you in any way. I am only trying to figure what I would need to do what I love....for the rest of my life.

I'm also sorry if my dream of doing for myself offends you or makes you feel that I am 'copping out' on my obligations to you or society. I always thought that if a person can take care of himself/herself then that's good enough and better than most. I never thought that I was born owing anybody anything, I guess I always thought that my life belonged to me, to do with as I see fit. Some of your opinions smack of 'collectivism', where everybody is tied together through mutual forced obligations and responsibilities. In that scenario a person can't be free because their life doesn't belong to them, IMO. I never think that anyone owes me anything that I haven't earned, and all people being equal, I figure I don't owe anyone else but to not be a burden and not be in their way. As for being "truly happy", I guess that formula varies from individual to individual...and what makes you happy might make another miserable. Personally, I have never known collectivism to work, except where it is voluntary.

As far as my opinions on insurance, well I pretty much said all I need to say. Some have been saved by it, others have paid for it all their lives and it never did them any good, I figure that makes it a wash and leave it to the individual to decide whether or not they think it's worth the money.

unregistered168043 · #60 10/03/11, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copperhead

Insurance and electricity are overrated. For a single man to survive, he'll need to hunt, fish, and garden. 1 acre might work, 5 tillable acres within walking distance of good hunting would be ample. Honestly, the biggest concern is what happens when he (1) tires of his own cooking or (2) decides a wife and kids are more attractive than he first considered. Since God never intended for a strapping, hard working man to be alone, but instead gave him the energy and will to provide for a family, I would reckon that as he got older, a family would be the greatest threat to his lifestyle!

But a family is not all bad, is it? In fact, a family could be his greatest insurance policy. Why be 70 and single and trying to farm and scratch a living from the soil, when you could be entertaining grandchildren and trading babysitting and life lessons for, you know, food? It's not uncommon at all around here for children to take care of their incapacitated/disabled/Alzheimers parents. What I can't figure out, is why don't parents live in close proximity to their children WHILE THEIR STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THEIR GRANDCHILDREN AND BE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION!

ok, sorry for screaming!

I agree with everything you have said. If God blesses me with a woman who loves me and children then more's the better. But so far I have spent most of my life searching for that and haven't got them...at forty the prospects of children aren't looking to good so I am trying to make the best of being single.