Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Coming From Behind (Bow Chica Bow Bow) O:)
Old 03-18-2008, 03:31 PM   #1
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Coming From Behind (Bow Chica Bow Bow) O:)

I wound up $23,000 in debt by the time I was 22. I traded through three different cars and two motorcycles. I wound up with a wonderful woman who slapped me upside the head and said stop being an idiot. I lost the woman but kept the advice. It's taken some time, but I've conquered that mountain of debt and am planning on moving beyond it oh so fast.

By the end of this year, beginning of next year at the latest, I’ll be a free man. I’ll be taking this along with me:

- $23,000 in cash for savings/investment
- ~$1,100/month
- Cell phone bill (about $400 annual)
- Motorcycle insurance (about $600 annual)
- $39,000 college fund
- Paid for and well-maintained motorcycle

The plan is to set up a base in the PNW or Southwest (much like Billy and Akaisha have done) and spend my time:

- Sailing
- Kayaking
- Bicycling
- Motorcycling
- Hiking
- Woodworking
- Taking the occasional basket weaving class

I’ve crunched the numbers six ways from Sunday and once more just for a change of pace. I like what I see. This comes out to a 5-year plan, and from what I learn from it I plan to wind up staying perma-semi-retired.
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 03-18-2008, 03:49 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
dex's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 5,105
how old are you now?
Is that your total net worth?
How long do you plan for it to last?
__________________
Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral
dex is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2008, 04:22 PM   #3
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
23 years-old now.

The $23,000 will be all I have with me in savings. There may be an additional $5,000 in that if I don't spend it on more sailing classes like I had intended and if I decide to sell back some time off instead of taking it.

The $1,100 a month will go until I die. It'll have a yearly increase of < 4%.

I plan on going on for 4 years at the minimum, 6 years the most without a job. I don't drink but rarely (couple times a year), I don't like to go out to eat but rarely (same), my clothes last forever, I don't own a television and have no interest in them. My diet is simple and the things I like to do are free (besides riding my motorcycle) except for initial cost and some very light and cheap maintenance.

After that time, I'll see where I sit and decide from there. Within the next year and a half I'll have my dual B.S. in engineering and finance. I have a background in nuclear reactor operation and maintenance, woodworking, dispatch, security, and various kinds of mechanical knowitry.
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2008, 05:30 PM   #4
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,855
Welcome to the board, RG!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy View Post
The $1,100 a month will go until I die. It'll have a yearly increase of < 4%.
A lot of people are going to be wondering where on Vanguard's website they can find an annuity like that. The rest of the people are going to be wondering how you're covering your health insurance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy View Post
... a background in nuclear reactor operation and maintenance...
So... boats or ships?
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2008, 05:38 PM   #5
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Crap, I thought I had that written in. That $1,100/month isn't a return on an investment. It's compensation.

Boats. 688i. You couldn't drag me on a carrier unless they promised to land F-18's within 60 feet of me. Oh wait...
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2008, 12:49 PM   #6
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,855
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy View Post
Crap, I thought I had that written in. That $1,100/month isn't a return on an investment. It's compensation.
Boats. 688i. You couldn't drag me on a carrier unless they promised to land F-18's within 60 feet of me. Oh wait...
Sounds like you're sitting pretty financially. That kind of monthly income from the federal govt at your age-- I suspect you had to pay a pretty high price to earn it.

Gumby is also a recovering nucaholic. Three submariners on an ER discussion board-- this must be some sort of record...
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2008, 01:04 PM   #7
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Higher than I ever thought I'd have to, but that's neither here nor there.

You've been on your fair share of boats, you know how financially pamper...I mean worked to death nukes are. At least it looks like one of us didn't spend it all on $50,000 trucks and $30,000 motorcycles and 60" TVs!
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 07:26 AM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Texarkandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,281
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy View Post
23 years-old now.

The $23,000 will be all I have with me in savings. There may be an additional $5,000 in that if I don't spend it on more sailing classes like I had intended and if I decide to sell back some time off instead of taking it.

The $1,100 a month will go until I die. It'll have a yearly increase of < 4%.

I plan on going on for 4 years at the minimum, 6 years the most without a job. I don't drink but rarely (couple times a year), I don't like to go out to eat but rarely (same), my clothes last forever, I don't own a television and have no interest in them. My diet is simple and the things I like to do are free (besides riding my motorcycle) except for initial cost and some very light and cheap maintenance.

After that time, I'll see where I sit and decide from there. Within the next year and a half I'll have my dual B.S. in engineering and finance. I have a background in nuclear reactor operation and maintenance, woodworking, dispatch, security, and various kinds of mechanical knowitry.
Forgive me for being a little skeptical of your plan here. You are still relatively young.

In your plan you will be taking off the next 4 to 6 years for: Sailing- Kayaking- Bicycling- Motorcycling- Hiking- Woodworking
- Taking the occasional basket weaving class

You have degrees that apply to very technical career fields. At the end of the 4 to 6 years, what will you have to put on your resume that will have value to an employer? A lot can change in an industry in 4 to 6 years all of your experience/training will be 4 to 6 years and more old.

How will you explain the previous 4 to 6 years? How will that be viewed by the prospective employer when competing against other candidates for the job with more recent/current training, experience, & work history.

(or perhaps you will become self-employed)

Are there plans for spouse, kids, house in your future? Do you have health care? If you marry & have kids will they have health care? A COLA'd $1100 a month won't go very far with a family.

(OTOH - I sometimes wish I had just taken 5 years off in my youth to travel & enjoy myself before I began the 25 year career grind. Perhaps it would have led to a more fulfilling self-employment situation instead.)
__________________
Retired 2009!
Texarkandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 10:48 AM   #9
Moderator Emeritus
M Paquette's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Portland
Posts: 4,946
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords View Post
Gumby is also a recovering nucaholic. Three submariners on an ER discussion board-- this must be some sort of record...
Four... NPS Orlando, former instructor at INEL, S5G prototype, alternating with time on the USS Parche out of Mare Island.

When I got my physics degree I had a choice of doing ORSE boards for eternity or getting out, so I got out and did computer stuff for a while. I just retired (no benefits, of course) from Apple, Inc.
M Paquette is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 01:36 PM   #10
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Texarkandy, I can imagine very few people who would listen to my plan and not try to either talk me out of it, talk me into cutting back, talk me into being more sensible, talk until my ear bleeds about how it won't work.

I can also imagine the lives of these people, with their financed cars and financed houses and financed lives circling around borrowed time. And what do I say back to them? How would it be any more effective than what FIRE'd up people here have to say to those who naysay?

The degrees I nearly have now are technical. But both are nearly finished and nearly came free, so why stop when I'm so close to the finish line? I know what you're saying does not mean to skip out on these degrees, but I still think in essence it answers your question. But I also must include that from my own personal experience, very few people wind up in a career that has much to do with the education they went after.

In the end, I would like to save military members from financial ruin. When new soldiers and sailors find their 18-20 or so and suddenly making $20,000-$40,000 a year, a lack of financial education and childhood dreams clash in epic ways. That may mean self employment, it may mean working through the VA or through the military, or it may mean I dress in robes and hand out fliers outside bases while holding a big nobby stick.

On second thought...

I'll have all the health care benefits of a retired military member, same with any family I have. And when the time comes for family, well, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I try to imagine life with a wife, but I don't know how much wife to imagine. It's one thing to have an outline, but filling it with her wants and personality would be impossible.

Three nukes walk into a bar...the rest of the crew ducked.
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 05:14 PM   #11
Full time employment: Posting here.
Cattusbabe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 816
RetiredGypsy, you sound plenty OK to me. A long life to you. I can tell you already have the good sense to live it. I wish I had my program as tight at 23.
__________________
A todos los amantes del mundo. No importa el color de su piel, la pasion es universal.
_______________

La tavola e il letto non hanno restrizioni.
_____________
Any day your on this side of the grass is a good day.
Cattusbabe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 10:17 PM   #12
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 260
I'd sell back the time off and trade sailing classes for work in the future just to have the extra money. Go for it if you've done the numbers and they work - you can always go back to work later in some fashion right? If you're bold enough to do this (with it all planned out, not just bumming with no plan), then you'll be bold enough to get a job at 28 when you need it. Truth is, most people are as clueless at 28 about what to do with their life, as at 23 - so go for it if you are willing. I wouldn't have been ready to do that - at 23 I just wanted to work. Now, over ten years past that, I would absolutely love to take a year off, but it's not available, so maybe you just have to do it when it is available.
virginia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2008, 10:22 PM   #13
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 260
Oh, and one more thing. Your plan, in general, does not sound crazy unrealistic. I live on under $2k a month, and have a nice place. If I had to - with health insurance paid, I could come very close to, but not quite to the amount you're planning on.
But - will a motorcycle only cut it for 5 years? You didn't mention a car.
You know, you could always work 3-4 months/year when the weather isn't as conducive to your outdoor activities. That's just my paranoia talking, but I'd want to maintain some extra money.
virginia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2008, 02:33 AM   #14
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
I have to thank you all for these amazing responses. Having input that makes me consider aspects of my plans I haven't thought of are really helpful.

My motorcycle has served as my grocery getter and all-purpose transport for the last two years. I've ridden it every kind of weather imaginable save for snow. It's not bad as long as you have a blow dryer handy.

I've thought about seasonal work. If something opened up that I found interesting I would do it in a heartbeat. I've given a lot of thought to becoming a motorcycle safety instructor, especially after the accidents and deaths that have happened here on base recently. That would give me something to do during the crazy days of summer and then spend the off seasons chasing the warm weather around the world.

Life is fluid, and plans change. I know the things I want to do in the future now may be the things I've forgotten about tomorrow. I might wind up chasing my babies around the park rather than babes on the beaches of Baja. But as long as I'm not being ground into something I can't stand to see in the mirror every morning, you'll never see me without a smile, no matter what road I find myself on.
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2008, 05:08 AM   #15
Full time employment: Posting here.
citrine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 984
Good for you Retired Gypsy! It seems like you have thought about this and are making an educated decision. I didn't even start thinking about retirement until 28 and have put a nice chunk of change together in the last 5 years.
Once you get hooked into the pension, benefits, and health insurance world....it becomes a lot harder to go for what you heart desires.
Enjoy every minute of this great adventure and keep us updated!
citrine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2008, 10:14 AM   #16
Full time employment: Posting here.
sailor's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Atlanta suburbs
Posts: 898
Welcome Retired Gypsy,
Your plan sounds fine to me.
Just one thing to point out - there are a lot of sailing guys out there, who would be happy to teach you sailing for free (well sometimes for a beer or two ).
If you can commit time to be a reliable "rail meat" (i.e. racing crew) there are some skippers who would even feed you

sailor
sailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2008, 01:38 PM   #17
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,855
Quote:
Originally Posted by M Paquette View Post
Four... NPS Orlando, former instructor at INEL, S5G prototype, alternating with time on the USS Parche out of Mare Island.
When I got my physics degree I had a choice of doing ORSE boards for eternity or getting out, so I got out and did computer stuff for a while. I just retired (no benefits, of course) from Apple, Inc.
Ouch.

I was incarcerated at Orlando Jan-June 1983 and know some people who were there in 1990-93. I sure hope you never had to contend with young LT Harvey.

Between prototype duty and PARCHE, you weren't just a typical nuke-- you must've been a real masochist!
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2008, 06:31 PM   #18
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Sailor, from what I could save from regular sailors teaching me to sail, there'd be more than a beer or two. That sounds like a job for some rum and a bottle of Jack, maybe some scotch thrown in for good measure.
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Tallships
Old 04-30-2008, 04:38 PM   #19
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 221
Tallships

Gypsy, from personal experience, if you want to do some cheap travel and learn some sailing basics, look at getting a deckhand job on a tallship. Room, board, medical, and travel. The pay is not much - pretty much drinking money, but you can pick a ship based on the location and where they are heading, and the contracts usually run 3-4 months (at will though). They also tend to operate in good weather. Check out ASTA - Billet Bank
for boats looking for crew. Might not be what you are looking for, but I suspect that it's a heck of a lot more fun than being sub-bound.
seabourne is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2008, 04:42 PM   #20
Full time employment: Posting here.
RetiredGypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 979
Thank you!
RetiredGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Coming to a theater near you!? calmloki Other topics 3 05-19-2007 11:23 AM
Coming Out! lifeisgood Hi, I am... 8 10-07-2006 10:21 AM
Coming out of the shadows cube_rat Hi, I am... 13 07-13-2005 10:50 AM
They're coming to take me away... brewer12345 Young Dreamers 15 02-13-2005 12:17 PM
Coming Crisis.. What to do? Ol_Rancher FIRE and Money 20 07-24-2004 07:44 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:01 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.