IL AT U uY AIGN PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY Made by a number of farm families in three areas of Illinois By CLEO FITZSIMMONS 2 6 UNIVERSITY OF fLf.!NG Bulletin 537 : UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION CONTENTS PAGE SCOPE OF THE STUDY 507 PRESENT STATUS OF FAMILIES 508 PROVISIONS FOR RETIREMENT 513 Surpluses Accumulated 513 Other plans for Retirement 515 SUMMARY.. .520 Urbana, Illinois February, 1950 Publications in the Bulletin series report the results of investigations made or sponsored by the Experiment Station PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY Made by a Number of Farm Families in Three Areas of Illinois By CLEO FITZSIMMONS, formerly Assistant Chief in Home Economics SECURITY is a goal which is sought by the majority of normal human beings. Its realization may depend upon a variety of things. These include psychological satisfactions, indefinite to a considerable extent, but very important, such as the feeling of belong- ing, of having a recognized place in a group, and of being loved and respected. Generally, however, in our culture when security is men- tioned the reference is taken to mean financial security. Individuals and families seek financial security without being very sure what it means for them of exactly what things it consists, or of how much money will be needed to provide it. Families, of course, are different, live differently, and have different ideas of what makes for security. Since, however, families in general decide to retire only when they feel relatively secure, the plans people make for retirement can be taken as a measure of what they believe they require for security. SCOPE OF THE STUDY To get an idea of what such a measure of requirements for security might be, a study was made of retirement plans obtained by personal interviews with families who were chosen from three widely separated areas in Illinois. The information thus obtained was based on figures for either 1944 or 1945. In this study a family was considered to mean either a husband and his wife only, or the couple and their children. The three areas in which the cooperators lived were Kane county in the northeastern part of Illinois, Knox county in the west-central part, and two adjacent counties, Coles and Cumberland, in the south- eastern part of the state. The numbers of families included are shown in Table 1, grouped according to tenure and nearness to retirement as owners or renters either not ready to retire or about to retire. Since older families would be more likely to have definite plans for retire- 507 508 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, Table 1. Number of Farm Families Cooperating in Study, 1944-1945 Tenure of cooperators and nearness Kane Knox rsimK^onri Tr,ti to retirement county county "Cnties Owners . 33 46 50 129 About to retire 9 27 49 85 Total 42 73 99 214 Renters Not ready to retire , 8 29 37 74 2 7 Total 8 81 Grand total 50 107 138 295 ment than younger ones, cooperators for this study were sought among families (either owners or renters and their wives) established fifteen years or more. Among the 295 families obtained as cooperators there were 214 owners and 81 renters. Among families established as long as fifteen years, one might expect to find fewer renters than owners. In the entire population of farm operators in these three areas, the proportion of renters to owners is considerably higher than in this cooperating group, according to U. S. Census figures for 1945. Renters in Renters ^n cooperating group, entire population, percent percent Coles-Cumberland counties 23 38 . 5 Kane county 16 42.8 Knox county 31 44. 8 The information obtained from the cooperating families included the ages of the husband and wife, their years of schooling, size of their present home, and the estimated number of hours they gave to com- munity activities. It also covered the extent of each family's savings and investments, current money income and food furnished by the farm, expenditures for living, money income considered necessary for retirement, and other provisions. PRESENT STATUS OF FAMILIES Age and schooling. Age, years of schooling, and the community in which they live affect the kinds of plans and provisions for retire- ment that people make. The data in Table 2 give the age and years of schooling of the 295 cooperator families in the three areas included in the study. 1960] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 509 Table 2. Average Ages of Cooperators and Years of Schooling Tenure of cooperators and nearness to retirement Kane county Knox county Coles- Cumberland counties Owners not ready to retire Operators, number . 33 46 50 Age 54.7 48 47.8 Schooling 10 11.5 9.5 Homemakers Age . 51.7 45 44 Schooling 11.3 12.5 10.5 Owners about to retire Operators, number 9 27 49 Age 62.9 64.3 64 Schooling 10.7 10 8.6 Homemakers Age . 60.9 57.7 59.3 Schooling 12.9 11.7 9.4 Renters not ready to retire Operators, number 8 29 37 Age 47.9 45.2 40.5 Schooling 9.6 10.5 10 Homemakers Age . 46.6 41.7 36.8 Schooling 10.7 12.6 11 Renters about to retire Operators, number 5 2 Age 57.6 65.5 Schooling 10 9 Homemakers Age 55.8 60.5 Schooling 10.8 10.5 The youngest group of cooperators were the renters not ready to retire. The oldest were the owners about to retire. There was not much difference in the amounts of schooling cooperators had had, although in general, the older the group the less schooling received. In all groups both the husbands and wives had had some high- school training the wives slightly more than their husbands. In the Kane county families both the husbands and wives had received more specialized training music lessons, nurse or teacher training, busi- ness courses, and the like than the people in the other two areas. Where the amount and kind of training acquired by people differ with the areas and with groups within areas, it seems reasonable to assume that the schooling required to give one a sense of security depends largely on the standards of the community or group in which one lives. Differences in time between two or more generations would also be expected to affect the amount and kind of education needed to establish a feeling of security. The schooling acceptable for one gen- eration may not give the next generation the feeling of security it seeks. Income and size of farm. Money incomes, as well as daily needs and managerial ability, limit the preparation families or individuals 510 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, can make for retirement. Naturally there was considerable variation in the size of the farms and in the incomes of these cooperators, whose primary source of income was the farm. These families were better off than the average farm family in each county. In general the farms were larger than the average; only in the lowest income group were there some farms that were average size for the county. In Knox and Coles-Cumberland counties the renters in each group tended to operate farms slightly larger than those of the owners. In general, higher income was associated with larger farms. The range of money incomes was from less than $3,000 a year to well over $6,000, the majority of the operators earning between these two amounts. Current expenditures and values. To have a basis for estimating living costs and needs for and during retirement, the family expendi- tures for living, in either 1944 or 1945, were compiled (see Table 3) . Current housing. Housing plans for retirement are generally based on experiences with current housing accommodations. Present accommodations were therefore investigated. Although some of the Table 3. Current Yearly Value of Family Living, by Tenure Groups (Amounts are average totals per family based either on 1944 or 1945, but do not include use-value of house) Tenure of cooperators and inventory items Kane county Knox county Coles- Cumberland counties Owners not ready to retire 33 46 50 $1 611 $1 994 $1 203 Use-value of furnishings and equipment, including repair Value of farm-produced food used 4 231 537 156 593 256 511 Total . .... $2 379 $2 743 $1 969 Owners about to retire 9 27 49 $1 438 SI 904 $1 029 Use-value of furnishings and equipment, including repair Value of farm-produced food used a 196 371 166 507 213 422 Total $2 005 $2 577 $1 664 Renters not ready to retire Number 8 29 37 $1 406 SI 858 $ 889 Use-value of furnishings and equipment, including repair Value of farm-produced food used* 210 493 248 612 141 494 Total $2 109 $2 718 SI 524 Renters about to retire Number 5 2 Cash expenditures SI 300 $ 750 Use-value of furnishings and equipment, including repair Value of farm-produced food used" 218 632 159 328 Total $2 150 SI 237 The prices used to evaluate farm-produced foods were those established by workers in the long-time Purnell study of living costs under way at the University of Illinois. 1950] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 511 owners about to retire intended to stay where they were, housing accommodations were cited as unsatisfactory in some respects. Present housing was said to be unsatisfactory where there was no bathroom, where doorways were too large, where the house was con- sidered too big, or the kitchen was inconvenient. In the Coles-Cum- berland area most of the families hoped to have oil or gas for heating, as oil was being produced nearbj T , but the greater proportion of homes were still heated by stoves. To judge the size of the homes, the number of rooms in each house and the number of rooms actually being used in each were listed. The averages are given in Table 4. Table 4. Number of Rooms in Homes of Cooperators and Number Actually Used Tenure of cooperators and nearness to retirement Kane county Knox county Coles-Cumberland counties Total rooms Rooms used Total rooms Rooms used Total rooms Rooms used Owners Not rea< About t< Iv to retire. . . . 9.0 8.4 6.6 6.9 7.3 6.8 7.3 7 7 5.6 6.0 u retire. . , . 6.6 Renters Not ready to retire 7.0 7.6 6.9 6.6 7 About to retire. . . 8.0 7.0 6 Inheritances. Since inheritances generally help families to have a feeling of greater financial security, the extent to which the families in this study had been so helped was investigated. Thirty-four percent of the farm owners and only 19 percent of the renters had received inheritances. In each county the owners about to retire had received larger aver- age amounts than other groups, and owners not ready to retire were next. Among homemakers, also, the highest average inheritance was re- ceived by the group of owners about to retire, except in Kane county, where the highest average amount was received by the renters not ready to retire. (There were no renters about to retire in this county.) The renters not ready to retire were renting from relatives and only a small number of the renters had received inheritances. These few inheritances, however, had been large. Since inheritances were received by the cooperators at different times, accurate comparison of their value for the families receiving them would involve more information than was sought in this study. 512 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, Attitude toward ones community. Whether or not a person ap- proves of his community may be taken as some indication of the security he feels there. All cooperators were asked what they liked about their own community and what they considered important characteristics of any community. Opinions on these points differed more between counties than between tenure groups within any one county. What people liked most about their own communities they also regarded as important characteristics for any community. Table 5 shows the frequency with which people named certain community characteristics as important. Table 5. Community Characteristics Named Most Frequently by Cooperators as Important* Area and number Good of cooperators land Friendli- ness of the people Good roads Familiar- here" Good 3 schools Near- ness to town Kane county (50) . 1 3 4 5 2 6 Knox county (107) 1 2 3 4 5 Coles-Cumberland counties (138) 3 1 2 4 Figure 1 under any characteristic indicates that that one was named as important more often than any other; figure 6, that it was named least frequently. In Kane county, good land, good schools and friendliness of the people were rated most important. In Knox county, good land out- ranked all other considerations by far, whereas friendliness was men- tioned only half as many times. In Coles and Cumberland counties, friendliness was given first importance and good land was mentioned much less often. The emphasis placed on social life in the community supports the idea that social factors as well as the presence of financial opportuni- ties are important in giving people a feeling of security. Participation in community activities. The amount of time a family spends in community activities may also indicate to some ex- tent how much that family feels it belongs to the community and is accepted by it. The more complete this feeling of belonging and ac- ceptance, the greater the feeling of security. While the degree of security felt may not vary as widely as the number of hours different families spend in community activities, yet wide differences among families probably have some significance. In this study both the husbands and the wives in owner families 1950] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 513 spent more time on community affairs than those in tenant families. Data for Knox county give this example: Husbands, hours Wives, hours Owners not ready to retire 130 . 8 210 . 4 Owners about to retire 161.6 197 . 5 Renters not ready to retire 81.1 128 . 6 Renters about to retire 18.0 40 . 4 Among renters' families there seemed to be some feeling that they were not wanted in the religious and social activities of their com- munity. One renter about to retire said, "The owners have everything sewed up around here. They have been living in the community a long time. We just go to [a large town] where nobody knows us." PROVISIONS FOR RETIREMENT Against this background of information about the families that were studied, the provisions these families were making for retirement may be examined to see how people try to attain retirement with a sense of security. The provisions people make can be classified as surpluses accumulated and plans being made. Surpluses Accumulated Surpluses accumulated in anticipation of retirement include in- vestments, balances in savings and checking accounts not designed for current use, and household furnishings and equipment of a durable nature. In studying investments, these families were asked how much they had paid for their lands, houses, and other property ; or, if these items were gifts, how much they estimated the value to have been on receipt. The estimate of the family was considered as accurate an estimate as could be obtained. Investment holdings, as reported in Table 6, consist of farm land and buildings, including the farm house; inventory value of farm machinery and equipment, automobiles, grain, hay, and livestock; stocks and bonds; paid-up value of insurance, and mortgages held. Also merged with this item are balances in savings and checking accounts. Durable furnishings and equipment include household furniture, rugs, refrigerators, stoves, dishes, silver, and similar items. Values of goods, as well as the purchasing power of money, change 514 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, Table 6. Financial Provisions for Security Made by Cooperators of Differing Tenure, Retirement Status, and Income (Amounts are average totals per family based either on 1944 or 1945) Tenure of cooperators, nearness to Kane Knox retirement, and inventory items county county Cumberland counties Families with incomes of $3,000 or less Owners not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 236 $ 748 $ 1 048 Investment holdings 37 2. 54 16 960 9 950 Total $31 288 Families with incomes of $6,001 or more Owners not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 701 $ 1 136 Investment holdings 59 626 61 439 Total $ 61 327 $ 62 575 Owners about to retire Furnishings and equipment S 1 471 $ 1 412 Investment holdings 143 550 92 781 Total $145 021 $ 94 193 Renters not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 460 Investment holdings 26 350 Total $38490 $17708 $10998 Owners about to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 519 $ 783 $1075 Investment holdings 25 700 29 298 14 035 Total $26219 $30081 $15110 Renters not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 831 $ 746 $ 870 Investment holdings 8 950 4 715 4 656 Total $ 9 781 $5 461 $ 5 426 Renters about to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 017 $ 865 Investment holdings 13 544 7 500 Total $14 561 $ 8 365 Families with incomes of $3,001 to $6,000 Owners not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 591 $ 1 086 $ 1 125 Investment holdings 45 478 30 347 21 669 Total $47 069 $31 433 $22 794 Owners about to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 826 $ 1 131 $ 947 Investment holdings 48 447 55 622 16 605 Total $49 273 $56 753 $17 552 Renters not ready to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 333 $ 1 136 $ 783 Investment holdings 21 616 13 460 8 238 Total $22 949 $14 596 $ 9 021 Renters about to retire Furnishings and equipment $ 1 288 Investment holdings 30 000 Total $27810 NOTE. Blank spaces indicate there were no cooperators in that group. In none of the three areas were there any renters about to retire who had incomes of $6,001 or more. 1950] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 515 of course, yet the dollar was accepted as a practical measure of the family's financial preparation for retirement. The table shows how the amounts spent on provisions for retire- ment and security are related to income. In each group owners or renters the families in the higher income classifications show greater amounts invested. The outlay for furnishings and equipment does not, however, increase with income as much as investment holdings in- crease. This could mean that after a certain level of convenience and comfort had been provided for, families do not feel that anything more or better is needed. In the two lower income classifications the outlay for furnishings and equipment made by owners about to retire seems small compared with that made by other groups. This might be accounted for in several ways: the families in this group owners about to retire tend to be older and they may have bought less equipment; they may have bought their goods earlier and at lower prices; the quantities of goods may have been reduced as pieces wore out, if the people hoped to retire to a smaller dwelling. Some of the cooperators in this study who were making provisions for retirement owned the farm house in which they lived and some owned a house in town where they intended to retire. The type of house considered suitable for retirement was indicated in the families' reports of plans for retirement and will be considered in that section (see page 519). Other Plans for Retirement The extent to which a feeling of security has been attained by a family is indicated in some degree by their retirement plans. A family with plans has reason to feel greater security than one without such plans. Complete plans cover at least five things: (1) the making of wills, (2) arranging for the way property is to be held, (3) selecting the place where the family wants to retire, (4) planning the features desired in the house, and (5) decision about the amount of money considered necessary when husband and wife are no longer actively engaged in farming. Wills. A plan for disposing of the property at the death of the husband or wife or both indicates that the family has, presumably, an understanding of its financial position as well as a positive prefer- ence for the final disposition of its property. Knowing that there is a will and knowing what its provisions are helps to strengthen the feel- ing of security which comes with awareness that financial provisions 516 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, for emergencies have been made. Table 7 shows the number of hus- bands and wives in this study who had made wills. It is clear that much more might be done in the way of making wills. The more property there is to be disposed of, the greater ordi- narily is the neglect if there is no will. On the other hand, the need for assurance in the disposition of holdings may be psychologically just as great where the amounts to be disposed of are small as where they are large. Of course some families may make other arrangements that take the place of wills. Table 7. Numbers of Husbands and Wives Who Had Made Wills Tenure of cooperators and nearness to retirement Kane county Knox county Coles- Cumberland counties Owners not ready to retire Total number 33 46 50 Husbands having wills 13 10 4 Wives having wills 7 3 3 Owners about to retire 9 27 49 Husbands having wills 8 9 10 Wives having wills 3 5 4 Renters not ready to retire Total number 8 29 37 Husbands having wills 2 Wives having wills 2 Renters about to retire Total number 5 2 Husbands having wills 1 Wives having wills Manner of holding property. The way in which property is held reflects something of a family's provision for retirement or, perhaps more properly, for security. The proportion of husbands and wives in each group who held at least some property jointly (Table 8) seems unusually high. Inherited property and that acquired through family effort were frequently held in different ways. Wife and husband sometimes kept separately, each in his or her own name, the property each had in- herited although all other property might be held jointly. Since so many owners indicated that all property was held jointly, this ar- rangement may be considered by some of the families to take the place of wills. Where cooperators wish to retire. Table 9 lists several different plans concerning place of retirement. The largest measure of agree- ment among these families was in their preference not to live with their children. Where couples plan to live with their children, either 1950] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 517 Table 8. Numbers of Husbands and Wives Who Held Property in the Ways Specified* How property was held ^ ty Cumbed'and counties Owners not ready to retire Total number 33 46 50 Husband's name only 1 9 6 8 Wife's name only 1 2 4 Farm in husband's name, rest joint 3 2 Everything held jointly 19 36 38 Owners about to retire Total number 9 27 49 Husband's name only 1 8 11 Wife's name only 1 2 Farm in husband's name, rest joint 2 2 5 Everything held jointly 6 16 31 Renters not ready to retire Total number 8 29 37 Husband's name only 2 No indication given Wife's name only Everything held jointly 5 Renters about to retire Total number 5 2 (No indication given as to how property was held.) * Some families had made arrangements not classified in the table. Table 9. Location of Homes Where Cooperators in the Three Areas Plan to Retire Tenure of cooperators, nearness to -^ T^ Coles- retirement, and planned ** J** Cumberland location counties Owners not ready to retire Total number 33 46 50 Want to live in this community 11 31 37 Plan to stay on the farm 14 22 33 Couples want to go to town 11 6 Couples undecided 3 2 Husband and wife disagree 3 7 7 Will not live with their children 29 40 () Owners about to retire Total number 9 27 49 Want to live in this community 2 26 34 Plan to stay on the farm 3 10 25 Couples want to go to town 5 10 Couples undecided Husband and wife disagree 1 7 18 Will not live with their children 9 22 () Renters not ready to retire Total number 8 29 Want to live in this community 4 26 24 Plan to stay on a farm 1 19 Couples want to go to town 3 10 5 Couples undecided 3 Husband and wife disagree 1 4 8 Will not live with their children 6 26 () Renters about to retire Total number 5 Want to live in this community Plan to retire to a few acres Couples want to go to town Husband and wife disagree Will not live with their children 4 No answer was reported. 518 BULLETIN Xo. 537 [February, the necessity for doing so or a feeling of insecurity may be indicated. In Knox and Coles-Cumberland counties most of the cooperators both owners and renters preferred to retire in the community where they were living. This shows that they experienced satisfac- tion in the life of the community and therefore had a sense of security in living there. About half the owners in these counties preferred to retire on the farms where they were living. The renter families about to retire wanted to retire on a few acres. They hoped to continue to produce much of their own food and thus help to maintain their accustomed level of consumption. They un- doubtedly expected that their housing costs would be lower than in town. Very few of the husbands and wives disagreed about their location for retirement. Agreement on plans is another indication of a feeling of security. Income desired for retirement. Most cooperating families indi- cated that they were not sure what yearly income they would need during retirement. Most of them simply estimated what they felt might be necessary on the basis of their present requirements and in the face of the current rising prices. Their estimates are shown in Table 10. It is interesting to compare these estimates with the figures shown in Table 3 reporting their current yearly value of living. Table 10. Annual Cash Income Cooperators Estimated They Needed for Retirement Tenure of cooperators and nearness Kane Knox r%S5lwi to retirement county county counties Owners Not ready to retire $3 386 $1 620 $986 About to retire. . 3 075 1 667 896 Renters Not ready to retire 2 060 1 388 704 About to retire. . 1 300 650 The Kane county people estimated their future cash needs to be higher than their current expenditures. All other groups estimated they would need smaller amounts than they were spending at the time of this study. Estimates that future cash needs would be higher than current expenditures may indicate several things: that families ex- pected to have to pay higher prices for consumer goods, that they did not expect to use produce from the farm, that they might have been 1950} PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 519 planning for some reason to consume more goods at the same prices, or that they simply wished to make sure that they were allowing plenty for their needs. To supplement cash income during retirement and maintain their level of consumption about three-fourths of the families about to retire said they expected to continue using produce from the farm. Housing provisions desired for retirement. As a rule the houses in which cooperators were living did not meet their idea of a suitable dwelling for retirement. Nevertheless, if a family already owns a house, either in town or on the farm where they are living, it can be used for retirement and normally gives a sense of security. Of course, housing features considered desirable for retirement are likely to be different from those considered necessary for a young family with growing children. In every county the houses in which cooperators were living were larger than those they desired for retirement. Cooperating homemakers itemized what features they would like to have in the house where they retired. The features most commonly desired are given in Table 11. A general description of the desired house might be small, modern, one-story with two bedrooms, plenty of closet and storage space, and built-in kitchen work units. Table 11. Numbers of Homemakers Who Desired Housing Features Specified Numbers according to county, tenure, and retirement status" Housing features Kane county Knox county Coles-Cumberland counties ONR OAR RNR ONR OAR RNR RAR ONR OAR RNR RAR 21 6 5 35 17 23 4 39 45 24 2 Five rooms and bath . . Built-in features China cupboard. . . . Kitchen work units 7 1 29 1 2 '7 3 3 '7 22 34 45 17 11 25 27 15 16 21 29 5 1 'i 3 14 26 50 28 18 22 49 14 7 9 28 4 1 '2 Storage space Specific heating arrangements 1 5 1 3 1 7 15 25 5 22 1 4 19 9 10 8 6 8 Warm air, auto- matic control .... Oil, automatic control 12 g 3 2 1 1 26 15 5 8 10 21 13 21 7 8 2 Electricity. . . 33 9 g 46 26 29 5 50 49 37 2 Hot and cold water under pressure . . . Two bedrooms 33 16 9 1 8 2 45 28 26 16 29 22 5 5 50 30 49 34 28 17 2 2 Total replying 33 9 8 46 27 29 5 50 49 37 2 Abbreviations used: ONR = owners not ready to retire; OAR = owners about to retire; RNR ; renters not ready to retire; RAR = renters about to retire. 520 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, Considerably more than two-thirds of the homemakers said they wished to retire in a one-story house. About 60 percent of the home- makers wanted two bedrooms in the house; the rest wanted three. Only a few mentioned other specific rooms, except in Kane, where a few more than one-third of the owners not ready to retire said they wanted a separate dining room. More than three-fourths of the Kane county owners about to retire wanted a separate dining room. Apparently only a few people provide specific housing until they actually retire. In Kane county, for example, 4 out of 9 of the owners about to retire intended to stay where they were. This, however, is only about one-eleventh of the entire group in this county. Apparently the great majority of cooperators had not provided definite housing for retirement. SUMMARY If a sense of security comes largely from the ability to maintain an acceptable level of consumption, provisions for retirement should include such features as will continue that ability. Usually only fami- lies whose children are nearly or entirely grown are found to have recognizable plans for retirement. Data which would indicate what provisions Illinois farm families are making for retirement were sought in three areas of the state from families that had been established at least fifteen years, considered a long enough time for them to have made some retirement plans. Areas some distance apart were chosen in order to obtain varied in- come groups and possible variations in ideals for living. Specific locali- ties were chosen at random. Background factors considered important in determining the de- sires of families were studied. These included: ages of husband and wife, their years of schooling, size of their home, hours of participation in community activities, tenure, income, inheritance, and nearness to retirement. The families were classified, according to tenure and near- ness to retirement, as owners not ready to retire, owners about to retire, renters not ready to retire, and renters about to retire. They were grouped according to three income levels: $3,000 a year or less; $3,001 to $6,000; and $6,001 or more. These families, as a group, lived on farms larger than the average for their respective counties. There was a smaller proportion of tenants among these families than in the entire population of each county. Farm operators, on the average, were three to four years older than 1960] PROVISIONS FOR SECURITY 521 their wives. Husbands generally had less schooling than their wives. In general, the older the group the fewer the years of formal schooling completed by its members. The operators classified as renters not ready to retire were noticeably younger than the other groups of operators. Owner families spent more time in community activities than renter families. In all probability they enjoy a greater feeling of security, as implied by this participation, than renters do. Almost without exception the cooperators indicated that they liked the com- munities in which they were living. The provisions for retirement made by these families were classi- fied as surpluses accumulated and plans formulated. The value of in- vestment holdings was higher for owners than for renters, and for either it increased as their incomes increased. The value of furnishings and equipment accumulated was low con- sidering how much these families had put into investments, how much they were spending for current living items, and how much they said they needed for retirement. The houses in which families live are a form of surplus, but these cooperators did not consider their present houses desirable for retirement. Most of the cooperating families had made only incomplete plans for retirement. Among all groups a large proportion of the families had no wills. However, more than half the families who indicated how their property was held said that it was held jointly by husband and wife. This arrangement may have largely compensated for the lack of wills. A considerable feeling of security is indicated by a family's ideas of where they wish to retire. Most of these families preferred to retire in the community where they were living. Many reported that they wished to retire on the farm. Over half the renters wanted to retire on only a few acres. The families who answered the question whether they would live with their children were nearly unanimous in not wanting to do so. Relatively few families reported disagreement be- tween husband and wife as to where they wished to live when they retired. Estimates of money income needed for retirement varied con- siderably. As an average, the owners wanted more than the renters. With the exception of the Kane county families, who estimated more than they were currently using, the families estimated that they would need a smaller money income for retirement than they were spending currently. 522 BULLETIN No. 537 [February, In kind of house desired for retirement, there was considerable agreement. A small, modern, one-story house with plenty of closet and storage space and built-in kitchen work units was what these families generally wanted. Almost without exception, this is a smaller house than the one in which the families were living. To be noted in the estimates of income needed for retirement and in the accumulation of a reserve, including outlays for furniture and equipment, is the marked variation among families. Security, meas- ured in these terms, is as many different amounts as there are people or families. The families cooperating in this study are not considered repre- sentative of Illinois farm families as a whole. They are, however, fairly representative of the families of their age, in the areas chosen, who may be expected to have plans for retirement. Despite the limitations of this survey, the author hopes that it may be helpful in a further and more comprehensive study of so important a problem. 40502-5042796 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA