What News?

Some big changes will be happening around here next year.  There's a list of maintenance jobs to be done that is as long as my arm, plans to re-jig some of the gardens, ideas of hooking up the van and going fishing occasionally, and dreams of living less by the clock and rather by the sun and moon rhythms.
It's official.... Brian is "retiring" at the end of this year.  What I actually mean when I say "Retiring" is that he will be leaving his paid job after forty five years with Yalumba Wines, but he won't stop working. He will instead be his own boss, working his own hours at doing the things he enjoys doing, and with no staff to manage.
His position at Yalumba has grown with him over those years, so much knowledge is in his head, not written down or documented in any 'procedures' manual.  He will be difficult to replace, but replace him they must.
It's now his turn to live the life of his choice, and my turn to see more of him.

Turning sixty in June, and a minor health scare that made him think about his mortality, has brought about a change in his way of looking at life.  It also happened to me at around the age of sixty, and I was wondering when, or if, he might start to consider making some changes to enhance the quality of  the time that we have left.

A few months ago I gathered up all of our financial figures and asked a couple of finance people to look over the numbers that I had crunched.  It seemed too good to be true that we would be able to live on our superannuation and some investments until the end of our days, hopefully into our nineties. When they gave us the nod we were justifiably ecstatic.
Euphoric, but difficult to get my head around for many reasons; firstly I don't feel old enough to be "retired" but I'm certainly reminded of it every time I look in a mirror.
Secondly, we have become so accustomed  to living a frugal and simple life that our savings just kept growing to this point where there's enough to live on.
And there's that word. Enough!
When do we reach the point where we feel that we have enough?  I suspect that in our modern society many people will never feel that they have enough, regardless of how abundantly wealthy they are.
We are so very lucky that, as a team, we are both on the same wavelength regarding excessive consumerism. A simple and meaningful life of living within our means and close to nature is our manifesto, and we plan to continue living this way as long as we possibly can.
I mention this because I wonder if you can imagine the surprised look on the faces of the professional money people that we spoke to.
"You can live comfortably on that amount?? Per month??"
and
"We need to come and learn how you can live on that amount of money."
And yet, here's the thing, we don't feel deprived of anything. We live a beautiful, simple, abundant and thriving life.
We're rich!
Admittedly our meaning of 'rich' may differ from the way many other folks define the term.
We're happy to own and live in a small but comfortable home that we worked on to make it suitable for our needs. There may be a couple of small changes made as we age, small tweaks to assist us with our decreasing mobility in later years, but here is where we hope to be.

So this retirement thing!
I don't describe myself as retired.  After those first few months of "retirement" turned out to be busier just as full as when I was in the paid workforce, I soon decided to use the term, work from home.
I love having things to do, being busy. I love caring for the animals, growing our food and operating this small cottage industry that quietly churns along here with the Farmgate stall outside our front gate.
We both love teaching and running workshops. The people we've met, the warmth of the new friendships made, the community belonging-ness of it all. Sharing our produce and our knowledge, paying it forward, is immeasurable on any monetary scale. There's no price on it.

 Funnily enough, no one has asked "What will he do after retirement?" because we all know that he will have plenty to do. Well, that long list that I've got will keep him busy for awhile, but he has plans.
So, apart from the bees and maintaining our farm and livestock, he will be taking on small jobs that will come his way.
.

Sheep management for hobby farmers looking for someone to shear their sheep, mark lambs and general livestock maintenance.
Pruning fruit trees, regenerative land management consulting, and spraying of biodynamic preps, to name just a few of the jobs that will fill his days and keep him socially involved.
There's no denying that it will be a big change for him, and indeed for us as a couple, but I believe we're ready.
Bring it on.

We could not have got to this point without the financial advice and helpful guidance of Mr Homemaker   I am indebted to Phil, for his easy to understand, informative blog posts on superannuation, financial planning and shares investing. His generous personal guidance has been the clincher for us.

How do ordinary folks like us find their way through the maze of conflicting, (and expensive) financial advice?
It's a jungle out there, full of sharks who will weasel as much commission and fees as they can get for their own benefit, whilst maintaining they're interested only in our best interests.
In our society talking about finances seems to be a taboo subject, but surely it ought to be discussed more to educate people about their options. Almost every day we hear about someone who has been robbed of their life savings by a shonky bank or dodgy financial advisor.
Or people with no idea of what fees they are paying to have their money managed for them. You would be shocked at the high percentages that some folks are paying.
For the internet savvy there are many forums and financial education blogs at our fingertips, but for those with no access to the internet I believe there should be local discussion groups where people can exchange ideas and become informed through the sharing of  knowledge. But it's all kept to ourselves because it's not polite to discuss money matters and this is where the sharks get the advantage.

What do you think?
What has been your experience in navigating towards funding your retirement?
Do you have an interesting story to tell? Do you have a warning for us all?

Your comments and sharing of your experience just may help someone avoid making a wrong judgement or decision. If you prefer to remain anonymous, send an email so I can share your story without your name appearing.

Thanks for dropping in.
Cheers,
Sally XX