Many European countries employ social policy instruments specifically designed for retired farmers. We present the German case and argue from a life course perspective that it may be justified, in principle, to employ specific social policy instruments for groups with their own social characteristics. The Swiss case where retirement policies for farmers do not yet exist, is used for examining the need for special social support instruments. A regression analysis of the financial situation of retired Swiss farmers and a Configural Frequency Analysis of several social parameters was carried out. It cannot be shown that Swiss retired farmers, in default of own social policy instruments, are generally in a precarious situation.