View of Retirement at 107

[Arnie]

Okay, which one of you is Leonard McCracken?

view-of-retirement-at-107: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Excerpt:

At 107, after living in retirement for 41 years, he's still paying the bills and getting by on his own resources.​

 

[kumquat]

Not me I hope. I bet his friends have all been dead for 20 years.

 

[Nords]

McCracken bought and sold 35 houses in his life, including five that he built himself.

Yowza. Whaddya do all day indeed...

 

[traineeinvestor]

Yowza. Whaddya do all day indeed...

That is, on average, probably less than one every two years. Hardly excessive (IMHO).

And he still follows the market - suggesting that people who buy now will make a lot of money.

If I live to 107, it means that I would have spent just over 60 years in retirement (assuming I FIRE on schedule). Maybe I should revisit my spreadsheets?

 

[Nords]

That is, on average, probably less than one every two years. Hardly excessive (IMHO).

OK then, you get to load & unload the moving truck...

I thought 19 moves was more than enough for our military careers.

 

[braumeister]

Me, too. 20 moves in my life (13 in the military) made me so sick of the process that I want to stay put for as long as possible.

 

[Texas Proud]

Me, too. 20 moves in my life (13 in the military) made me so sick of the process that I want to stay put for as long as possible.

I guess you and Nords did not move like my friend (who was in the Navy for 6 or so years).... he just packed his bags and left all the furniture.. he only bought cheap particle board stuff that only lasted a few years at best...

The first time I saw him move like this... I was shocked... I went to help him and we just moved a few boxes of stuff... his new apartment already had furniture he had bought an delivered..

 

[Nords]

I guess you and Nords did not move like my friend (who was in the Navy for 6 or so years).... he just packed his bags and left all the furniture.. he only bought cheap particle board stuff that only lasted a few years at best...

One of the legendary submariners in 1980s Charleston lived in a campground. He was paying something like 10% of his monthly housing allowance to camp in a tent, and banking the rest. He was probably fishing for half of his grocery bill, too.

Every three months, when it came time to fly to Holy Loch or bus down to Kings Bay for his turn on the boomer crew, he'd roll up his tent and store it in the trunk of his car (with all his other possessions) in the base parking lot.

I was impressed with his savings rate but of course he was considered to be somewhat less than a chick magnet.

 

[Gone4Good]

I thought 19 moves was more than enough for our military careers.

Nah. 36 moves in the last eight months, seems to be about right for us. But then, it is a whole lot easier when the house is on wheels.

 

[REWahoo]

Nah. 36 moves in the last eight months, seems to be about right for us. But then, it is a whole lot easier when the house is on wheels.

I get the idea you guys are really enjoying your trek down the east coast.

 

[Nords]

Nah. 36 moves in the last eight months, seems to be about right for us. But then, it is a whole lot easier when the house is on wheels.

I've always thought military bases would be a lot better with RV parking near the housing area. A few of my assignment officers clearly shared that philosophy when it came to writing my orders...

 

[Gone4Good]

I get the idea you guys are really enjoying your trek down the east coast.

Having a ball. We keep thinking that we'll settle someplace for a month or so, but every week to ten days we're on the move again. The country's so darned big I figure it will take us about three years to cover just the highlights even moving the way we are. We managed to get from Montreal to Key West in eight to nine months, but hardly scratched the surface of most states we passed through. We've been in FL since early December and will probably be here until late March, making about seventeen stops in that time. Not every state is as big, or has as much to offer, as FL but to cover every other state in as much detail would take us sixteen years . . . and then there's the rest of the world to cover.

So much to do, and so little time.

 

[REWahoo]

Having a ball. We keep thinking that we'll settle someplace for a month or so, but every week to ten days we're on the move again.

I, too, suffer from the "I wonder what's over that next hill" syndrome. We're usually ready to move on after a week or so.

I checked our travel log and found our longest stay in one spot in the past four years was eight days.

 

[jdw_fire]

Having a ball. We keep thinking that we'll settle someplace for a month or so, but every week to ten days we're on the move again. The country's so darned big I figure it will take us about three years to cover just the highlights even moving the way we are. We managed to get from Montreal to Key West in eight to nine months, but hardly scratched the surface of most states we passed through. We've been in FL since early December and will probably be here until late March, making about seventeen stops in that time. Not every state is as big, or has as much to offer, as FL but to cover every other state in as much detail would take us sixteen years . . . and then there's the rest of the world to cover.

So much to do, and so little time.

wait till you get out west

 

[Gone4Good]

wait till you get out west

We know, we know. Most folks who do this make a b-line for the west, and with good reason. We thought a more deliberate north/south zig-zag east to west with the seasons made more sense. But now that we've covered the east coast, we're really tempted to just blow off the middle part of the country. I don't think we will, but it sure is tempting.

 

[Midpack]

Nice article, thanks for the link. I hope to emulate Leonard except I don't plan to trade real estate and I sure hope I don't live anywhere near that long...

 

[Walt34]

Nice article, thanks for the link. I hope to emulate Leonard except I don't plan to trade real estate and I sure hope I don't live anywhere near that long...

"Ah, I don't care if I'm dead when I'm 100."

...And that's just the way you feel until you're 99.

Hopefully in fifty years people on the pension board are gonna be saying "When is Walt34 finally gonna die?" As long as I have my wits and reasonable health anyway.

 

[Gone4Good]

"Ah, I don't care if I'm dead when I'm 100."

...And that's just the way you feel until you're 99.

Certainly true for some. But I suspect if we had a socially acceptable, readily available, and painless way to 'retire', we'd be surprised to learn how many people would vote with their feet.

 

[Nords]

Certainly true for some. But I suspect if we had a socially acceptable, readily available, and painless way to 'retire', we'd be surprised to learn how many people would vote with their feet.

If it was all of those criteria then it'd also be all too easy for spouse to vote my proxy for me...

 

[Gone4Good]

If it was all of those criteria then it'd also be all too easy for spouse to vote my proxy for me...

Assuming that were allowed. I see no reason why it should be.

 

[fisherman]

We know, we know. Most folks who do this make a b-line for the west, and with good reason. We thought a more deliberate north/south zig-zag east to west with the seasons made more sense. But now that we've covered the east coast, we're really tempted to just blow off the middle part of the country. I don't think we will, but it sure is tempting.

Not to offend anyone as I live in the middle part of the country but you can skip large parts of IL unless you like endless mils of corn. I would definitely goto Chicago however. How can skip large parts of KY also. Central KY is good to see including Mammoth Cave, Bowling Green and Lexington. For TN, East Tn has a lot to see and the Mississippi on the Western border of TN is good to see. If you are into fishing middle TN is very good. You can skip a lot in Mississippi except Natchez Trace and Boloxi. Alabama, Huntsville for the Space Center and Gulf Shores for the Red Neck Riviera as we call it. GA if you like traffic then that state can accommodate you nicely.

 

[Gone4Good]

Not to offend anyone . . . .

Thanks for the advice.

Right now the plan is to head north along the gulf coast of FL, through the panhandle and over to New Orleans. From there it gets a little dicey. We think we might want to head back to Asheville, GA via Jackson, MS, Birmingham, AL, and Atlanta. From there hit the highlights of Tennessee (Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis). Then maybe St. Louis, MO and from there, who knows?

For this northern leg of the trip, I have my eyes set on getting to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. But I'm not sure the best route to get there. It seems like there are large expanses of nothingness between MO and the badlands. I like to try to keep drive times to about 3 hours, but may need to lengthen the drives or find some stuff to do in Iowa, Kansas, etc.