Chapter 1: Planning Your Rural Retirement
- Why Rural Retirement?
- About this book
- Your retirement
- Is rural life right for you?
- About planning for retiring to a rural life
- Basic Steps of Retiring to a Rural Life
- The scheduling problem
- Our rural experience
- Lessons learned about planning
Chapter 2: Get Your Finances In Order
- Retirement income vs. cost of living
- Estimate your retirement income potential
- List your retirement expectations
- Rationalize your dreams with your finances
- Lessons learned about retirement finances
Chapter 3: Find And Buy A Property
- The adventure begins!
- List your rural location requirements
- How large a property?
- Things any property must have
- Find a locale
- Find a retirement property
- Buy property now or later?
- Lessons learned about buying property
Chapter 4: Prepare Your Property For Your Move
- Explore your new property
- Our property preparation
- Investigate potential drainage problems
- Determine house site
- Plan household water service
- Tree and brush clearing
- Establish utilities
- Establish driveway
- Construct outbuildings
- Construct pond or lake
- Lessons learned about property preparation
Chapter 5: Moving Without Trauma
- Horror stories
- Commercial movers
- Packing
- The cross-country drive
- Transporting your personal vehicles
- Lessons learned about moving
Chapter 6: Build Your Rural Home
- The philosophy of rural home design
- New or existing house?
- Size – bigger is not always better
- Location on property
- Protecting trees
- Orientation and sun angle
- House shape for heating and cooling
- Plan for elderly frailty
- Design in lots of storage
- Exterior surface materials
- Permits and inspection
- Blueprints
- Choosing and working with a general contractor
- Buying lumber and materials
- Appliance for rural homes
- Wiring your house
- Hints to make construction go smoother
- Lessons learned about building a house
Chapter 7: Rural Utility Services
- It’s not like the big city
- Electric service
- Propane gas service
- Household water supply
- Rural sewer service
- Telephone service
- Internet service
- Television service
- Garbage and trash collection
- Fire and law enforcement
- Mail delivery
- Package delivery
- Avoiding junk buildup
- Lessons learned about rural utility services
Chapter 8: Understanding Rural Electric Service
- Rural versus urban electric service
- Getting service
- Upgrading existing service
- Underground service
- Above ground service
- Lightning protection
- Power for house and outbuilding
Chapter 9: Understanding And Living With Your Septic System
- Rural versus urban sewage treatment
- Septic system options
- Selecting a septic system
- Perc test description
- Evaluating the Perc test results
- Septic Tank – Absorption Field installations
- Septic Lagoon installations
- Mound System Installations
- Living with your septic system
- Internet Web links
- Lessons learned about septic systems
Chapter 10: Outbuildings
- Inexpensive work and storage space
- Our barn
- Pole Barns
- Steel buildings
- Stick built and conventional construction
- Build it yourself?
- Kit buildings
- Manufacturer built buildings
- Contractor built outbuildings
- Insulation
- Skylights and sidelights
- What color?
Chapter 11: Rural Landscaping
- Improving Mother Nature’s designs
- Fire protection
- Removing trees
- Clearing brush
- Improving that natural look
- Lawns
- Landscaping tools
- Lessons learned about rural landscaping
Chapter 12: Making Hiking Trails
- Trails add interest
- Systematic trail design
- Scenic Trail design rules
- Scouting and marking a trail route
- Tools for trail work
- Cutting a trail
- Erosion control
- Water crossings and bridges
- Maintaining trails
Chapter 13: How To Build A Pond
- Your own swimmin’ hole
- Get expert help
- Getting started
- Watershed
- Pond size
- Pond depth
- Site survey
- Finding construction contractor
- Dam construction details
- Spillway
- Pond break-in
- Pond maintenance
- Swimming
- Swimming with fish and other water critters
- Fishing
- Lessons learned about rural ponds
Chapter 14: Heating With Wood
- Wood heat and rural life
- Ecological consequences of wood heating
- Wood heat only?
- Designing a house for wood heat
- Woodstoves
- Thermometers
- Fireplaces
- The chimney – the most critical component
- Heat shields for walls
- Fire starters
- The overnight burn
- Dealing with ashes
- Dust and dirt
- Firewood
- Different kinds of firewood
- Pellet stoves
- It’s hard work!
- Lessons learned about wood heat
Chapter 15: Woodcutting And Firewood
- Woodcutting is dangerous
- Chainsaw
- Safety Gear
- Additional woodcutting tools
- Wood splitter
- Firewood measurement
- Wood cart
- Starting your chainsaw
- Tree felling
- Lessons learned while cutting firewood
- Work safely
Chapter 16: Dealing With Rural Wildlife
- It’s part of rural life
- They don’t make good pets
- Large predators
- Snakes and Spiders
- Insecticide
- Chiggers, Ticks, and Mosquitoes
- Skunk antidote
- Raccoons and garbage cans
- Feeding wildlife
- Wildlife Habitat enhancement
- Lessons learned about wildlife
Chapter 17: Rural Life After Retirement
- Rural living is a process, not an end
- Lifestyle changes with rural living
- Shopping
- Keep Cash on hand
- Provisioning
- Rural work projects
- Working temperature limits
- Take Vacation Days
- Do things right the first time
- Vehicles for rural living
- Bugs!
- Dealing with isolation
- Preparing for old age
- Wills and Living Wills
- Lessons learned about retirement:
- The water’s fine – come on in!
|
