Financial planning helps area couple meet their goals

Ernie and Elizabeth Farmer weren't very concerned about retirement when they married in 1981.

Ernie taught history at Southeast Missouri State University, while Liz worked as a caseworker for the Division of Family Services. Both were working on advanced degrees -- Ernie Farmer on his doctorate, and Liz Farmer on her master's degree in counseling. Neither was focused on the future, especially when it came to their finances.

"The first few years we were married, our goal was to get from one month to the next," Liz Farmer, 60, said.

But in 1988, the Farmers' perspective on their finances changed after enrolling in a budgeting course at Lynwood Baptist Church. During the course, the Farmers realized that it was time for them to adopt a budget that would allow them to get out of debt and save for retirement, as well as buying a house and financing college for their youngest son, Roger.

"That was a real turning point as far as getting our finances in order and looking to the future," Ernie Farmer, 72, said.

About the same time, the Farmers sought the advice of a financial planner, Philip Dame. Although they did most of their investments through their individual school retirement plans, they said Dame gave them helpful advice about various investment options available to them, such as mutual funds, annuities, and stocks.

When the Farmers had completed the budgeting course, they knew that there were two things they would have to do immediately in order to have a worry-free retirement: get out of debt, and buy and pay off a house.

After spending two years eliminating their debts, they bought a house in 1991, and began to put as much money as they could toward paying it off. The action "was almost imperative," Ernie Farmer added. "We couldn't retire when we did if we didn't have that house paid off and were able to not have that payment to worry about."

The Farmers were able to pay off their house in five years. Although they skimped and saved to do so, they always had an eye toward the future. "Basically, we lived on Ernie's salary, and put mine toward the house," Liz Farmer said.

When the Farmers set their budget, they started thinking about the future for the first time. Ernie Farmer had always planned to retire in 1994, when he was 62, but that plan was put on hold when the university did away with the early retirement system. "For all those years, we had planned for that, and it was really a blow," he said. "We were looking forward to my retirement, but I wound up working two more years."

Both were able to retire in 1996, Ernie from his teaching position and Liz from being an elementary counselor for Scott County schools. Both say there isn't much they would go back and change about their financial planning, except that they would have started saving and made it a goal to get out of debt and buy a house sooner.

"To tell you the truth, we didn't really think about retirement all that much," Ernie said. "We knew that our pensions and Social Security would be enough. The best thing we did was to pay off the house."

Thanks to their financial planning, though, the Farmers are able to enjoy retirement debt-free. "It's nice when you have the money to live without skimping,"said Liz Farmer, who still works part-time for the Scott City school district. "We can't be extravagant, of course, but we are comfortable."

Ernie Farmer said he and his wife "don't worry much."

"We really don't have a great deal to worry about, financially," he said. "What we have worried about, the Lord's taken care of."