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Retirement, it's a terrible word and should be deleted from our vocabularly - why?

An excellent book, 'Avoid retirement and stay alive', written by two kiwis, David Bogan and Keith Davies is a must read for us all. I guess the philosophy they raise is parallel with my thoughts and writings on this matter. Let's explore some of the key points they have written and I'll put my rural spin on it. No-one should feel compelled to retire, nor want to. As farmers, we have the perfect scenario where we own land and can stay involved for as long as we like. It is our society and o...

You’re leaving the farm, you’ve sold, so how is it going to feel?

The farming industry has a large number of financial transactions going on at present, all leading to the 1st June, "The Day" or what was once referred to as "Gypsy Day". You may be a farmer who has sold the shares and cows but will be retaining the land; or you may be one of those who has also sold the land and made the big decision to move to town. So, have you got the big plan all sorted? Is it all going to be a piece of cake? How could it not be, after all, you've been farming for 30 odd yea...

What we can do when we retire

If we are going to sell the farm, the three big questions are: What will we do? Where will we live? What are we going to do with the money? Although we may think there are obvious answers to all three questions, they may not be so obvious to many others. It takes time to sort through the decisions and get the answers. So, who do we talk to anyway? We should start with our professional advisors, such as Solicitor, Accountant, Consultant, and Bankers etc. They should know us and our bus...

Determination – do you have it, or are you a “wanna be”?

Determination is the gritty stuff that gets us up in the morning and gets us stuck into our tasks. Determination is what puts people on the moon and makes people win at the Olympics. When you look at the determination on the face of an athlete as they strive towards the line, you realize what is going on. The Evers-Swindell twins are a good example: you could see the grit and determination on their faces as they strove to win gold for New Zealand. Tiger Woods is another good example. He has wh...

If you’re older and tired, it doesn’t mean retire - or does it?

In 1880 Otto von Bismarck invented the word "retirement". This was an idea that caught on. Retirement is a terrible word really. It seems mainly aimed at men and suggests you are tired and give up or stop what you were doing. The work force in New Zealand is actually diminishing and so who will do the work? We may have to work up to 70 and 80 because there will be no one else to do the work, particularly on the farms. This was graphically illustrated at a recent presentation put on by Price Wa...

Making a family business work

Family members working together in a farm business can be successful, but there have also been classic failures. In my work as a finance consultant in the farming industry, I often see sons brought into family businesses far too young. They do not have the emotional stability or the experience. Additionally, they may not have worked for other farmers who have different viewpoints. Younger farmers today often have different expectations than their older dads. They appear to be more into insta...

You can make a difference

With New Zealand and the world all becoming more "politically correct" (PC), how can we as individuals make a difference in New Agriculture? With mounting pressure on farmers and the tightening margins, many farmers are finding the business tougher and more demanding. There is pressure for a 4% increase in production per annum by Fonterra and pressure from other service providers like Dexel. Add to that there are other pressures, like "what do the neighbours think?", or super herds with high...

Help celebrate your successes and take pride

Life's tough, there is no denying that, but to obtain a better perspective on life, we need to celebrate our successes. We need to have: Improved communication. This includes talking about the tough bits. Call a meeting with your family, your team and/or your professional advisors. Fun. Take the boat out, laugh, roll in the grass, go on holiday, spend time with happy people. A good laugh is one of the most therapeutic things we can do. Family. Put some time aside for the family. Go out toge...

Midwinter stress and financial management issues

I know stress and financial management issues are a hot topic and I often write about them, but I believe they are at the core of NZ agriculture and issues not many people want to talk about. Managing your life, your money, your interpersonal relationships and your farm is no mean feat. Not only do I see it with my work, more than that, I have been there myself. I've been through a mid-life crisis and been depressed. You do recover! If, by writing about this, helps other people understand the ...

Running that marathon on the farm

Following my last article in the Dairyman about calving being likened to a marathon, I have fielded a number of calls on this topic. Consequently, spurred on by some very positive comments from various callers, I have cobbled together some further thoughts on the subject. Food and meals If you are running a marathon, you need to think about how much energy you are burning, this not only applies to calving and mating either. If you are starting at 5:00 am, then by my reckoning, you have worked h...

Regular time off might be good for your bank balance

Jim is a young farmer milking 250 cows. From time to time his retired father gives him a hand, but dad's aging body can't handle a heavy workload anymore and he is not quite up to the rigorous demands of farm life. So Jim does almost all the work on his own and doesn't feel able to take time off. However, the business is making good money and paying plenty of tax so Jim is obviously doing well, right? No he isn't? His workload has meant that he has had to forgo family holidays and he is ofte...

Mental toughness on the dairy farm

Following a recent visit to a large scale equity partnership in the South Island, I had the opportunity to talk to the man who runs it, an outstanding dairy entrepreneur. It was interesting talking to him about mental toughness. He talked about calving being like running a marathon: you need to have done all the preparation both physically and mentally. You need to be alert at the start, and then pace yourself throughout the process. Pacing yourself means staying focused, realising that there ...

Most farmers are classic baby boomers, who will do things differently

As a classic baby boomer, born in the same year as President Bush and other eminent people, I have considerable focus on how "retirement might look". An interesting article in the February Listener made for most interesting and thought provoking reading, and I quote: "Baby boomer is a very ordinary name for the generation who shaped the last three decades of the millennium. They gave us jogging, MBA's, cholesterol, scepticism, latte, divorce, silicon chips, and counselling. Old age is what t...

Don’t let your kids push you around

Following a meeting with an Accountant recently, we discussed at length the issue around succession planning, and kids pushing their parents around. A lot of parents seem to be subject to pressure from their children to get money, get access to trusts etc as they get older. I think that it is important to stand up to your children from day one, and make it very clear that it is your money and not theirs. Yes it is held in trust for them, but if they have relationship break ups, the money will ...

Are things flying to bits around you?

When things start to go wrong it's not the time to go down the back of the block and brood, or go to the pub, it's actually time to start talking. It is a natural reaction for anybody – I do it too – when things get really tough we men in particular go into our "caves", in the meantime our partners feel the need to discuss the issues so they start to spin around. Before you know it you have relationship problems, on top of "things going wrong". Fraser Farm Finance does a lot of work restr...

Can you connect the dots?

The New Zealand economy has definitely passed its peak. Brendon O'Donovan, Westpac Economist is recorded as saying 'the parties over, the music just hasn't stopped.' At the risk of sounding like Olly Newlands, the well-known property investor who has made millions in property, you need to be reading between the lines. Let's look at what is happening and you see if you can connect the dots for yourself. House prices have peaked. You can buy a low quality apartment in Auckland for $140,000, b...

Women: The unsung heroes of the dairy industry

A Coleman Brunton random telephone survey of 250 people showed quite graphically the huge role women play. Hilary Webber , the Chairman of Network for Women In Dairying which has 1400 members and 22 regions was quoted in a recent NBR article. So let's look at some of the realities: Women have woken up to the fact that they own 50% of the business, and need to be involved in the decision making process. Women have woken up to the fact that signing a document without knowledge is very dange...

If I am working so hard, why am I so poor?

Many farmers and non-farming people alike work long hours, and very hard for relatively little gain. A lot of this goes back to our schooling, and the people of influence around us when we were young and had an easily influenced mind. "Get a secured job, work hard and you will be successful". That was how most of us were brought up. We often mimic the ideals of our parents, who influenced our early thinking. If you look at school teachers who are educating our children, they are often very se...

Stresses associated with calving and mating

Farming It's a 24/7business! The hours are long, the weather plays havoc and then there is balancing nutrition, let alone balancing the finances and family. It's a business that a lot of us just went into with little thought for the downside and troubles that would come our way. I believe New Zealand farmers could possibly the most optimistic people in our society. Stress is an insidious thing that sneaks up on us and can get out of hand. Some stress is healthy and necessary. It is what ...

To trust or not to trust

Trusts are an integral part of the farming industry. Here are some examples and issues that you need to think about. Bill sold out to his son, delighted that the farm would remain in the family for another generation. He and Glenda stayed on in the family home on the farm, and the son and his wife built a new house. Unfortunately, the new marriage split up after five years, the farm had to be sold, and Bill and Glenda had to move into town. Bob and Jean always intended that their farming da...

Stress time is coming

One of the key things with the dairy industry is it is a 24/7 business. Every waking hour can be filled with milking cows, feeding out, tractor work, topping, computer work and so on. There are further pressures on farmers as well such as financial issues and balancing your family life, as such stress levels can get incredibly high. It is important to realize that stress is an integral part of your life. It is often stress that wakes you in the morning and motivates you. The answer is to succ...

… which is very annoying

Life can pass us by so quickly and what seems vitally important at five or 25 somehow loses its intensity at 50 and just when we think we've got life figured out – it's over. I recently found an intriguing and insightful `summary' of life in a Victoria University student mag – credited to Uther Dean – and I've taken more than a little `poetic' licence to re-write it from a farmer's perspective. Remember when you are 3 and you want to be a farmer? Now you are 5 and off to school telling e...

Keeping it Simple

Having spent the last 50 odd years tearing around, creating havoc with ideas, being inventive and lateral as I am. It is now time to reflect on what was/is really important and what was/is not. I guess the single most important discovery, as my mind is willing and my body a little less, is that we need to keep things simple. Our lives are far too complicated. Particularly as we age, we want things to be clear cut and trouble-free. A great friend of mine advised me that the most important t...

It is a lot later than you think

You have probably noticed a lot lately that most days we meet people who have left making decisions to downsize, relocate, retire, and strengthen their cash position far too late. Their lives have been changed forever due to strokes, heart attacks, cancer and so on. As a result, their opportunity to make some essential decisions has been left too late. In other words the decision making has gone into other people's hands. I too am considering my options at the tender age of 68. In fact it...

No - Your view may not be the bank’s view

AgResearch wrote an interesting paper in 2010 from which I have gleaned a few points. New Zealand has been through a dairy boom with payouts of around $8. Now that Fonterra's predicted payout is less than $5 I thought it may be opportune to look at some of the issues, particularly around debt. Average term liabilities per kg milk solids are around $21. Banks competed for more market share and took on more risk, resulting in some very stretched farmers. Some budgets are stretched as a...