sowellfan

Right, your sister lived there for just a few years - and staying just a few years largely avoids the problem of how you leave. I think that probably has a lot to do with the high turnover.

To elaborate - let's figure that someone stays there from 23 to 28 years old. They've had a good time with the hippies, learned some stuff, etc., and they come out with not much in the way of property (people get some smallish cash allowance while they're members, but from what I understand it's not enough to really save a great deal). But when they get out they're only 28, they've still got plenty of time to get a regular job in the world, advance in a career over a few decades, contribute to retirement account, let retirement account grow before they retire at 68 or whatever, and so on.

On the other hand, what if you stay there for 20 years, from 25 to 45 years old? That person comes out from living in a commune, job skills are somewhat limited as far as the mainstream world is concerned - and they've got zero retirement savings, plus they haven't had any social security contributions made in their name up til that time. So they're going to have a pretty damn tough time making things work.

In short, the longer a person stays in, and the closer they are to retirement age, the more locked-in they are. Also, from what I've read in reviews of Twin Oaks, the community tends to rely on short-time residents for lots of the grunt work (all work is valued equally, but for some jobs you've got to have seniority/connections).

You keep the principal, the community gets the interest.

https://www.twinoaks.org/policies/property-code#pre-existing-assets

From the "Twin Oaks Outside Assessment" on the Twin Oaks page, "There is no joining fee or payment on leaving. However, any assets owned by new members are frozen until they leave, and, in theory, income earned on them goes to the community. In practice, some people avoid this through family trusts and similar arrangements."

Well, that's the problem. If you stay in for a large portion of your adult life, it's very difficult or impossible to get out. Apparently some of the members (former or current or both, I'm not sure) have been very clear on that point. If you're raised there and you decide when you're 18 or 20 that you want to get out, it's probably not nearly so hard. Pretty much like leaving home without a lot of support from your parents, but you're young and have lots of time to build job skills, live cheap, etc.

https://www.twinoaks.org/policies/property-code#pre-existing-assets