# my retirement plan..........



## RoadRash (Sep 29, 2010)

Better half n I looking to down size and be mortgage free, house should go up for sale in spring, looking for 4-8 acres with a small home property must have bush n creek, Plan on renting out 1-2 acres of land, trailers motorhomes boats etc... good cash flow, start bigger garden, maybe some small livestock. Since my passion in life has been motorcycles I will look into either starting a small shop or just buying up scrap bikes and parting them out again good cash flow I have 14 years to start building up a clientele, with RRSP money and if the gobberment has anything left for me I should be doing OK, we also use BOL as a rental income will be paid off at time of retirement. So far things have been working in our favour and she is onboard with my way of thinking knowing the gobberment may not honor their word to pay us our retirement income that we have paid into..... Being Canadian medical is pretty much looked after, any words of advice to. Just need to get myself in better shape if I wanna live well into retirement..... What have I left out?


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

My retirement plan is to downsize too. Not only the house but expenses. 

1. In 5 years sell house.
2. Pay cash for a smaller house down south.
2. Reduced heating costs by 90%. Moving way down south.
3. Solar power reduces electric costs by 95%.
4. Go from 2 cell phones to one. 50% reduction.
5. Go from 2 vehicles to one. 50% reduction.
6. Eligible for a full Work Pension in 2 years. Every extra year I wait (3 years) increases the payout.
7. Work Health Saving Account. Continue to let that accumulate until we really need it.
8. Auction off everything except the bare exceptions will reduce moving expenses. 
9. Don't take the wife's cats when we move.

On paper I figure I can reduce my expenses by 75% without sacrifice. Keep in mind that I'm a minimalist. I don't have a need for cars, trucks, 4 wheelers, boats, keep up with the Jones or multiple full gun safes. 

But if I factor in the cost of the divorce for suggesting any of the above....


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I must be in the minority because I lived my retirement plan for almost 30 years before I finally retired.

Always lived below my means
Avoided debt like the plague
Saved before I spent
If I didn't have the cash for something, I probably didn't need it
I didn't buy anything more than $10 on impulse
If it needed dusting, I probably didn't need it
Cooking in is cheaper than eating out
I lived on my projected retirement income for five years before retirement so I could see if I could make it (I did). I saved the rest.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! it's much easier to go through hard times when you're younger than when you're older and have fewer options.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

We have been retired (forced to due to health) for a few years. We went into retirement with no debts, we own the farm. We had no other assets or cash though as it was all used up when I became ill. We've managed really well, in a lot of ways we're much better off money wise than we have ever been. 
The one thing I don't think people give enough thought to though is the other change that comes with retirement, just getting older. A lot of our energies and money now go to set this place up to make life easier for us. Even simple things like changing the type of wheelbarrows we use has allowed us to still get things done. 
The biggest cost for us though will be getting someone to cut firewood, don't think we'll be able to do it much longer. A day cutting firewood means two or three recovering. We hope to strike up a deal with a local cutter to cut wood for us then cut twice as much to sell out of our forest..... If we can't swing that we'll just pay cash. Of course we are working on ways of going back to cutting our own but that will take time and more money. 
I wish I'd given much more thought to these changes and doing all these things when I was much younger.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

My plans at this point are all financial, but they are well thought out and abundant. Those plans started when I was 19 years old (thanks Mom & Dad!) so I have been living them for a few decades now. I will be able to stop working at 56 and live quite comfortably, but I won't. My wife is younger than me so I will work until I am in my 60's. Our house is fairly large and will seem gigantic when the 7 children are all out on their own, so I presume we will downsize and then travel constantly to visit grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. If one of my kids turns out to be a serious prepper, we will probably spend most of our time at his/her house.


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