Comments on: Working as a Greeter vs. Lounging On the Beach (Or, What Do You Want to Do in Retirement?)

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 02:28:02 +0000

jacqjolie, your father sounds like a hard worker. The pioneer mindset definitely comes into play with help out family and neighbors and doing what needs to be done.

By: jacqjolie

jacqjolie — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:10:38 +0000

My father is 90 y.o. and has been farming his whole life. He still puts in 14 hour days in the spring and fall to help my brother out with his farm and has his own large garden today. The key of course is that he didn’t start doing that at 65, he’s kept in shape for years. He could definitely work me under the table at 44 y.o. because he’s got that pioneer mindset that knows how to push himself to do what needs to be done.

It’s a bit of a misconception as well that all of farming is back-breaking manual labour these days. That was the case 60-80 years ago, but not today.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:26:39 +0000

Yes, you’re right, working at an organic farm would be just that — a lot of work. There are retirees who do that though, and some people choose early retirement. (Just like there are people who are able to travel in retirement by staying at 5 star resorts.) No one option is right for everyone…

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:06:14 +0000

While it’s great to “try out” volunteer opportunities now to help you better envision how you might like to spend some of your time in retirement, I don’t think it’s very realistic to suggest that retirees can travel the world by working on an organic farm.

Assuming that most people retire around the age of 65 (it’s perhaps a bit earlier for women and later for men), I don’t think many 65-year-olds would look forward to the hard labor that tilling, planting, weeding and picking entails.It might be a novelty to play in the dirt for a few hours to gain insight into the farming life, but most of these are working farms, and what I read on your organic farm link, they expect a 5-day work week from their volunteer workers.

Many of us who are planning for future retirement forget that our bodies are not going to feel the same in 10, 20 or 30 years as they do today.

Yes, many retirees work in retirement, but most of them do so on a part-time basis and choose a far less taxing job than farm work.