Walterp
Member
- Location
- Pembrokeshire
An astute friend once took me for a cup of coffee during a break in a Court list, and laid out his retirement plan on a table in a Llandovery café one bright Summer morning. He aimed to save £400,000 out of the profits of his practice, invest it all in a range of pension policies, and then spend the rest of his life pottering about his small farm in the green and undulating Carmarthenshire hills, cashing the cheques as they came in.
We both sat there in our pinstripes, each thinking our separate thoughts, both of us looking forward to doing a bit of pottering.
My colleague achieved his plan during his forties; simply reached the £400,000 total, and dispassionately baled out. As far as I know, he potters still on his small farm with no regrets, one of several retired solicitors I know who dabble - with greater or lesser success - at farming as an enjoyable alternative to high-pressure professional practice. (Trust me, it is certainly high-pressure if you're trying to save £400,000 from taxed income).
But it doesn't work in reverse - farmers don't say to themselves 'I'll stop when I've got enough'. As far as I can see, they don't even say 'I'll stop' - either their wife, or their doctor, says it for them, if the undertaker doesn't say it first.
This made sense, perhaps, when farm businesses were modest affairs. Rising costs and increased scale suggests, to me at least, that UK agriculture is no longer the stress-free alternative it once was, yet farmers never plan to bale out.
It must be because the job is so enjoyable.
We both sat there in our pinstripes, each thinking our separate thoughts, both of us looking forward to doing a bit of pottering.
My colleague achieved his plan during his forties; simply reached the £400,000 total, and dispassionately baled out. As far as I know, he potters still on his small farm with no regrets, one of several retired solicitors I know who dabble - with greater or lesser success - at farming as an enjoyable alternative to high-pressure professional practice. (Trust me, it is certainly high-pressure if you're trying to save £400,000 from taxed income).
But it doesn't work in reverse - farmers don't say to themselves 'I'll stop when I've got enough'. As far as I can see, they don't even say 'I'll stop' - either their wife, or their doctor, says it for them, if the undertaker doesn't say it first.
This made sense, perhaps, when farm businesses were modest affairs. Rising costs and increased scale suggests, to me at least, that UK agriculture is no longer the stress-free alternative it once was, yet farmers never plan to bale out.
It must be because the job is so enjoyable.