|
|
09-03-2014, 08:59 PM
|
#21
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,528
|
I would love to watch it! I agree that it seems like you and your DW are living the dream. Good for you.
|
|
|
|
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!
|
09-03-2014, 09:36 PM
|
#22
|
Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,054
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemg
I admire all the older nomads including you Alan because you are all still open to adventure .
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamer
I would love to watch it! I agree that it seems like you and your DW are living the dream. Good for you.
|
Thanks,
For us our motto is "adventure before dementia", we've known too many couples where one or the other becomes too ill to travel. Fortunately this is something that both of us wanted to do and were able to retire early enough to do while still in good health.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
|
|
|
09-04-2014, 10:48 AM
|
#23
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wishin&hopin
Skim. It doesn't get better. I found it unpersuasive. What it comes down to is packaging an intriguing idea into a padded book (part of which recounts how she came to write the book!), branding the "home free adventure" concept, and promoting the heck out of it to increase book sales. It's working, based on how it's gained some traction in the media.
|
I waited a couple weeks to get this book from library, and lasted for one chapter. It seemed like another "aren't we cool" book.
If someone wants to travel a lot on relatively small money, experienced travelers on this board get right into the nitty gritty, and this seems very helpful.
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
|
|
|
09-04-2014, 12:52 PM
|
#24
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 319
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Sitting here in Vanuatu I found the article interesting and could relate to it just a little. This is our 5th year in retirement and each year so far we have spent 5 - 7 months away, but we do like a home base to return to.
In readiness for retirement we sold the big house and moved into a rented apartment in a complex where we can "lock and leave".
So far this year we have spent a week in LA, 6 weeks in Queensland, Australia in 3 different places, a week in Vanuatu and are moving back to Australia tomorrow for 3 weeks in Victoria, 4 weeks in Tasmania, a week in Sydney and then 2 weeks on a cruise around New Zealand.
Next year will be a North American 6 month trip including Alaska and Canada, and the following year we plan on setting up a 2nd home in the UK and slowing down somewhat, taking shorter trips to places in the UK and Europe.
We typically spend around $6k/month on these trips so it is not what I would describe as "living on a budget"
|
This is great and the direction we are heading - except the $6k per month - that's 100% of our budget. I could see tooling around staying @ lower priced chain hotels, spending little time there, and exploring an area until were bored.
Keep the details coming inquiring minds would like to know more.
__________________
Just Trekking thru!
|
|
|
09-04-2014, 01:25 PM
|
#25
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 385
|
Planning on retiring in June, 2015. I will be 55 and DW 52. Our primary home is in the northeast and we have a beach house at the New Jersey shore. Our annual plan is as follows:
Jan or February - Rent a 2 bedroom home in the Caribbean likely from VRBO or Homeaway. Like St. Barts (but very pricey) may rent on St. Croix, Anguilla or St. Lucia. We have three vacation rental properties (in close proximity to our primary residence and beach house) we rent as landlord through these websites and have been very happy with the return. We have been surprised how well people have taken care of our vacation properties. We have not experienced any of the nightmares we have all read about. Hopefully this will continue. Also have met some wonderful people from all over the world.
March-May - Primary Residence
June-September - Beach House
October - Rent a 1-2 bedroom apartment in a European City. Our favorite is Paris but will vary year to year.
November-December - Primary Residence.
We expect the two single month long trips will together run about $20,000.00/year including rent. Now just hoping I have the courage to take the leap........First step is to have a plan. Next step is to carry through with it.
|
|
|
09-04-2014, 08:41 PM
|
#26
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 392
|
That sounds great! Have fun.
|
|
|
09-19-2014, 01:22 PM
|
#27
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Denver
Posts: 3,504
|
I am reading the book right now. It is definitely NOT a how-to, but more of a travelogue with some important information buried in it. I'm finding it an okay read.
One nugget I learned the Schengen Agreement & its impact on US citizens visiting Europe:
Quote:
If you are a U.S. citizen with a valid U.S. passport traveling for tourism or business, you can apply to enter the Schengen area without a visa for a period of three months within each six-month period. If you spend three months in the Schengen area during any six-month period, you must wait another three months before you can apply to enter the Schengen area again without a visa.
|
Schengen FAQ
I saw this article on Lynne & Tim Martin today. They carry international health insurance ($400), budget $2500/mo max for lodging/utilities, and $1000/mo for food, $500/mo for entertainment & travel. I can't remember if they even mentioned these amounts in the book.
Extreme retirement abroad: How one footloose couple sees the world | Reuters
|
|
|
09-19-2014, 04:15 PM
|
#28
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: North TX
Posts: 1,800
|
We've been doing quite a bit of travel on a budget this year.
4 weeks in LA and Yosemite in May
Stayed with great friends & another loaned us their car as they were not in town.
3 week in Dallas with DD in June
5-6 weeks in Dallas and Hot Springs AR this month and next
DD again and a old friend has invited us to watch his house in HS, AR.
Rented out our place for this trip... In Playa del Carmen
We just add airfare & a little car rental.
Also started using housecarers.com for possible house sitting jobs in cool places.
|
|
|
09-19-2014, 04:46 PM
|
#29
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 640
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by walkinwood
|
I was hesitant to read yet another article on this "home free" duo, but Mark Miller does a good job of covering retirement issues. I thought his article had more specifics (and was thus more useful) than the book itself.
Add Social Security to the $6,000 they're withdrawing from their portfolio monthly, and we can roughly estimate they're living on $110,000 or so a year. They may not consider themselves wealthy, but they're more comfortable than most. Not everyone can afford to do this.
__________________
-
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
--Epictetus
|
|
|
09-20-2014, 10:24 AM
|
#31
|
Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Denver
Posts: 18
|
After getting the book from my library and reading it, I can only say that I'm glad I didn't buy it. It would have been nice if they included a budget spreadsheet.
I've given this lifestyle quite a bit of thought. Airbnb seems OK, but I'm not keen on living with my 'hosts' and would like to see more worldwide short term rentals centrally located on a reliable rental website similar to rent.com. I know that craigslist also serves as a place to find short-term apartments, but avoiding scammers is probably a full time job.
|
|
|
09-21-2014, 09:30 AM
|
#32
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
|
$400 for emergency health insurance in her 70s. Sounds too good to be true.
Do they avoid California taxes? What would they pay in taxes every year?
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
|
|
|
09-21-2014, 11:15 AM
|
#33
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 2,179
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcowan
$400 for emergency health insurance in her 70s. Sounds too good to be true.
|
That's $400/MONTH. Also, as with most on-line articles, they fail to have even the most base of details. It could be a $10,000 deductible policy for only heart-attacks and other insanely expensive health issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcowan
Do they avoid California taxes? What would they pay in taxes every year?
|
I find it interesting that they merely say that the financial advisor sends them "the same $6,000/month stipend they were receiving when they owned a home in CA". So they are able to spend $6,000/mo, AND pay a FA an unknown annual fee, BEFORE you add in the presumed equity they had in a CA home. Of course, there's also the electronics business it says the husband runs (with unspecified income), along with "publishing novels" (which I presume might amount to a rounding error in their budget).
Definitely doesn't sound too "middle classish" to me if your portfolio can pay you $72k/year after financial advisor fees, without home equity. Of course, again, the article fails to mention anything about their investment plan, balances, yields, or returns. For all we know they will end up hanging it up in 5 years and be forced to ratchet expenses down to SS + $10,000/year.
__________________
Dryer sheets Schmyer sheets
|
|
|
09-24-2014, 09:56 PM
|
#34
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,555
|
We're gone about six months out of the year in our TC. Spend about $1000-$1500 for a month of travel. Our annual travel budget is $18000.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
"Growing old is no excuse for growing up."
|
|
|
09-25-2014, 10:18 AM
|
#35
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 281
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by seraphim
We're gone about six months out of the year in our TC. Spend about $1000-$1500 for a month of travel. Our annual travel budget is $18000.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
|
We're gone about the same, spend about the same. Thus far in 2014 we've spent five months in our RV traveling through the western half of the US, plus lots of shorter, more local trips, plus one 'splashy' trip to S. America.
Of all the things we've spent money on over our lifetimes, travel is the one category I can look back on with absolutely no regrets. The stimulation, the learning, the challenges, the joy . . . I can't imagine my life without it.
|
|
|
09-25-2014, 02:15 PM
|
#36
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,555
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree
We're gone about the same, spend about the same. Thus far in 2014 we've spent five months in our RV traveling through the western half of the US, plus lots of shorter, more local trips, plus one 'splashy' trip to S. America.
Of all the things we've spent money on over our lifetimes, travel is the one category I can look back on with absolutely no regrets. The stimulation, the learning, the challenges, the joy . . . I can't imagine my life without it.
|
+1
We need to do more in the SW - not big on the desert environment, however. I know there's a lot more to it than that...
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
"Growing old is no excuse for growing up."
|
|
|
09-25-2014, 05:23 PM
|
#37
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 281
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by seraphim
+1
We need to do more in the SW - not big on the desert environment, however. I know there's a lot more to it than that...
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
|
I would be happy to make recommendations on 'must do's' vs 'not so much' if the time ever comes. We stayed in over 40 different locations throughout 11 states. Our focus was getting to as many National Parks as possible, everything from Saguaro NP in S. Arizona to Theodore Roosevelt NP in N. Dakota, but we hit lots and lots of other sites and places beside. Truly the experience of our lifetimes to date.
|
|
|
09-26-2014, 07:09 AM
|
#38
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 319
|
Wife and I are going to buy a used enclosed trailer 17 X 7 and fill it with our home. Locate furnished or unfurnished houses/apartments for rent during the off seasons and hang out in those area's.
Rent a uhaul to move the trailer and get down to one car.
__________________
Just Trekking thru!
|
|
|
Retired Couples who Trek the Globe on a Budget
09-26-2014, 07:13 AM
|
#39
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,555
|
Retired Couples who Trek the Globe on a Budget
Quote:
Originally Posted by In-control
Wife and I are going to buy a used enclosed trailer 17 X 7 and fill it with our home. Locate furnished or unfurnished houses/apartments for rent during the off seasons and hang out in those area's.
Rent a uhaul to move the trailer and get down to one car.
|
Are you going to convert the trailer to camp in, for when you're not renting a place?
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
"Growing old is no excuse for growing up."
|
|
|
09-26-2014, 07:30 AM
|
#40
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 319
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by seraphim
Are you going to convert the trailer to camp in, for when you're not renting a place?
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
|
Nope - any gaps will stay in hotels/campgrounds(Tent) etc... I will plan the logistics so we don't do that too much. for example in our area, MA, from Sept thru May you can get a place near the ocean for 900/month with everything included except food. That's 8 months of 12. The next 4 maybe someplace away from cities and tourist area's - we shall see.
__________________
Just Trekking thru!
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|