Retirement: Farmer-style
May 27, 2008 – 6:31 amLeviticus 25:3-4 states that fields were to be planted and harvested for six years and then were to “rest” the seventh year. I wonder what the owners and workers did back in old testament times during this seventh year?
I guess I’m assuming that most farmers also had some type of livestock to tend in order to earn a living. The passage also mentions letting the vineyards go for a year as well, so I guess farmers were responsible for saving up grain to last them through the seventh year. That comes out to 16.6% savings rate per year (on grain and harvested goods). Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could save that much annually!
Based on my strict interpretation of this scripture, I’m assuming the men and women back then still had eggs, meat, milk, and the other goods that need not be grown in a field or vineyard. I also would bet that different families let their land rest different years. That way some grain was grown each year and could potentially be purchased. They just had to plan ahead a little and store some grain for the dormant year. Now that I think about it they also could have planted 6/7th’s of their crops each year….
Would you like to spend your retirement like the fields? Would you rather take off one year out of every seven and work well past the “normal” retirement age, or would you rather work every year until you can finally “retire” for the rest of your life?
Wouldn’t it be great to enjoy some extended time off with your family when they, and you, are younger and healthy enough to enjoy the time together? You could travel, move temporarily to be near family, take classes and learn a new hobby or skill.
What are the financial implications? Well, you’d need to save 16.6% per year to be able to take the seventh year off assuming no decreases in spending. If you still expected to retire at 60-70 you would need to save for it above and beyond this 16.6%. Up to this point though we haven’t used any creativity whatsoever. What if you:
- Sold some stuff to finance a year off
- Made due with used rather than new cars, or purchased mid-range models rather than expensive imports
- Saved your vacation budget for two of the six years, or scaled back your vacations a bit each year for all six years
- Worked part-time to offset the costs doing something you love. If you and your family wanted to travel for the year would you be willing teach English in a foreign country? It’s also possible that you could work part-time remotely for your current employer, but that probably wouldn’t be my first recommendation. The real benefit of a year off would be to break out of your usual mold, refresh your mind and body, and completely let go from your “usual” life.
- Rented out your home for a year? If you can find a way to offset your fixed expenses it makes traveling and/or temporary relocations much easier to handle. You’ll need to buy food and pay for electricity no matter where you go, but getting out a year’s worth of house payments and one years’ worth of auto insurance can save you a bundle!
It probably seems unrealistic to think that most employers would let you take off for a year and hold your job for you. I don’t think this is too far fetched of an idea though. I think that if you are good at your job and have developed a strong history of success that employers would be much more willing to grant you an unpaid leave of absence rather than risk you burning out and quitting. You’ll never know if you don’t ask!
My company, for example, is a large multi-national firm that encourages its employees to take on numerous different positions throughout a career. I bet with a little bit of planning and discussion I could arrange for six months to a year off every seven or ten years (unpaid of course) without being laughed (or escorted) out of the building. I think the family and medical leave act provides for a 12-week unpaid leave of absence to meet family needs. That’s three months right there!
I think this would be a great idea, although I’m not exactly sure what I would do with the time off. I guess I’ll have to give that some thought before taking the plunge.
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