70-Year-Old Used $150K in Retirement Savings to Build All-Women Community: 'We Can't Grow Old Alone'

A 70-year-old woman in Texas has spent about $150,000 (£110,000) of her retirement savings to build an all-women tiny-home community. Eleven residents now live there and rely on one another for company and practical help.

Robyn Yerian founded the community, called the Bird's Nest, on five acres in Cumby, a small town roughly an hour northeast of Dallas. She opened it in 2022, drawing the money from her 401(k) retirement account after working out that her savings alone would not carry her through retirement.

A single empty-nester, Yerian has said the idea grew out of worry about the rising cost of living around Dallas. She had already downsized into a tiny home of her own before deciding a second plot could bring in passive income. 'I just took a leap of faith,' she told People, describing the choice to sink her savings into land and construction.

Rent on the site's 14 concrete pads starts at $450 (£330) a month, close to half the going rate in Cumby. Residents pay that to park a recreational vehicle or set down their own tiny home, and demand has far outrun supply. At the last count, more than 500 women were on the waiting list for a place.

How the All-Women Village Took Shape

Yerian did not set out to house only women. 'It's all women. It just kind of evolved that way,' she said in a CBS Texas interview. She has pointed out that most people living in tiny homes on a fixed income are retired women, a group she knew would be hunting for cheaper ways to live.

Getting the site off the ground was the harder part. Tiny homes are barred from many areas, so Yerian looked for unincorporated land outside Dallas, then had the plot zoned as an RV park. 'Getting zoned was the hardest part,' she told Realtor.com.

The residents, aged between 60 and 80 and mostly single, divorced, or widowed, gather most evenings at an outdoor pavilion they call the kitchen. There is one firm rule, and it is simply no drama. Grievances are aired directly, then put to rest.

A Support System That Goes Beyond the Rent

Residents say the appeal goes beyond the low rent. 'It is literally a sisterhood,' resident Donna Welborn told the broadcaster, saying she had not expected the group to grow so close.

The group also helps out when someone falls ill. Cheryl Huff came through heart surgery earlier in the year with her neighbours around her. 'There's somebody there that's gonna help you out,' she said, describing a group that shares meals, lifts, and errands.

When another resident had knee surgery, the others took turns driving her to physiotherapy.

What the Story Says About Women and Retirement

The Bird's Nest has drawn national attention at a time when many women retire with less than men.

In the UK, figures from the consumer group Which? show that men aged 62 to 65 typically held defined contribution pension pots worth about £90,000 ($122,700), against £28,500 ($38,800) for women in the same age band.

The gap runs the same way in the United States. According to a Goldman Sachs report, 28% of retired American women have less than $50,000 (£36,700) saved.

Affordable, sociable housing for older women remains scarce, and Yerian has said she will not lift the $450 (£330) rent. She has cast the project as women supporting women, and urged others to build something like it.

What happens after her is less certain. Yerian has said she doubts the community will hold together once its founding residents are gone, because she runs and maintains it herself. For now, the waiting list only grows.