Ever Feel Like Chucking It?

[Lagniappe]

Maybe it is just one of those days, but do you ever feel like taking what you've managed to save to date, and chucking it? I am saving >30% of my gross to enable me to maintain a lifestyle in a relatively high cost area into retirement. Should I just take my chips off the table, and make a lower cost life in a different area? It's doable on what I've saved so far (assuming I don't lose much of my down payment on expensive bay area real estate - I bought at what looks like the peak) in many parts of the country - but definitely not where I'm living now.

Complicating factors - I'm single, relatively young (40), and I like where I live. Much of my social network is here. But my job is stressful, and now that my FU fund has reached a point where I could live (somewhere) on it, dealing with the BS is way more frustrating than it used to be.

If I need to move to a lower cost area, even if it is not tomorrow, maybe I should get out of the real estate (which is causing me great stress given the amount of my net worth it ties up) and rent, which will enable me to boost my savings to more like 40% of gross while dealing with the BS?

Like I said, maybe it's just one of those days...

 

[nuisance]

I don't have nearly enough saved to think about that, but I'm a big believer in not denying yourself too much today just to retire a little earlier. By the time your stash is large enough to retire somewhere cheap, I'd think most of its growth comes from the stash itself and not your contributions. So that leaves you the option of changing into a job that's a lot more fun, or even just part time, so you can pay the bills while your stash is busy growing itself. It'll push back your retirement date some, but the time leading up to it will be a lot more fun.

Tim

 

[Bimmerbill]

I sometimes toy with the idea of selling my house, taking the profits and buying a singlewide to put on my wife's land and having no mortgage.

Some days I consider a double-wide...

We thought of putting a small modular cape on the land, but building prices have shot thru the roof.

 

[brewer12345]

Lately, every freakin' day. But I have small children, so I am pretty much stuck. I could eventually see buying back some of my time with a lower paying, lower hours job in a few years, though.

Bill, where is the land? Did you go out and buy it? I am tempted to take a small sum and buy a piece of land to squirrel away for the future, but I have been deterred by high prices thus far. But prices seem to be slipping, and I am getting wealthier, so I suspect the two will eventually intersect.

 

[astromeria]

Could you take a leave of absence to de-stress and check out other areas? Or even a multi-week vacation. Maybe you could work for your company part-time and remotely like I did for 3 years before I fully retired. Do you have enough connections that contracting might be a good road to go down to ease your way out of the work force? Although I get the impression that leaving your heart in San Francisco is more of an issue. We left SF for South Carolina, and I do miss my friends--and really enjoy visiting--but I'm happier now.

You might want to review some of Dex's posts--he sold his home in the Atlanta area a year before resigning his job to move on to his next phase. He wrote extensively about the emotional process of dealing with the changes in his life.

 

[Andre1969]

My sentiments are about the same as Brewer's. Probably a day doesn't go by that I don't want to just say up-CHUCK on it all, pull out eveything I have, and go find a nice single wide to live in, or maybe a 1974 Travco or something!

I'm sure that my feelings would change once a tornado took the single-wad, or the Travco's 440 threw a rod or something.

 

[cyndo]

I sometimes toy with the idea of selling my house, taking the profits and buying a singlewide to put on my wife's land and having no mortgage.

Some days I consider a double-wide...

We thought of putting a small modular cape on the land, but building prices have shot thru the roof.

Go for a yurt!

 

[Bimmerbill]

Bill, where is the land?  Did you go out and buy it?  I am tempted to take a small sum and buy a piece of land to squirrel away for the future, but I have been deterred by high prices thus far.  But prices seem to be slipping, and I am getting wealthier, so I suspect the two will eventually intersect.

My wife bought it with cash about 5 years ago.  It is lake view (across the street from the camps on the lake) and .66 acres.  We have cleared it and installed a septic system, electricity, and put in a gravel pad for the 29ft camper and a gravel driveway.

I think she paid 14 or 15K.  Prices have shot thru the roof, as small camps are bought out and custom homes are built on lakefront lots.  I estimate its worth to be 50 to 60K now.  

With only an RV on it we don't pay a lot of property tax.  And its a good little getaway.  I figured I could drop a sweet little cape on it for about $125K.  End up with a 40 to 50K mortgage.

trouble is, its a rinky dink town on the NH/ME border.  Crappy school system, etc.  

Or, I could go to single wide heaven and be a millionaire in 10 years...  

 

[Marshac]

 I figured I could drop a sweet little cape on it for about $125K.

Check these out-

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

 

[Bimmerbill]

Ahaha, too small. I am 6'6" and would end up with too many concussions.

 

[claire]

I can relate to that travelling Val, i think about it everyday.

 

[Lagniappe]

Could you take a leave of absence to de-stress and check out other areas? Or even a multi-week vacation. Maybe you could work for your company part-time and remotely like I did for 3 years before I fully retired. Do you have enough connections that contracting might be a good road to go down to ease your way out of the work force? Although I get the impression that leaving your heart in San Francisco is more of an issue. We left SF for South Carolina, and I do miss my friends--and really enjoy visiting--but I'm happier now.

You might want to review some of Dex's posts--he sold his home in the Atlanta area a year before resigning his job to move on to his next phase. He wrote extensively about the emotional process of dealing with the changes in his life.

Great suggestions - I think I'll start with the vacation. But after a long vacation, I usually feel even less like coming back...

Basically I need to make up my mind about how much I want to stay here - if I want to stay I need to stop whining and save LOTS more money. If I make up my mind to go, I need to start investigating areas and exit options.

 

[Adventuregirl]

Not to hijack....but....
Bimmerbill - could you share a little info about what you did  land you have. My DH and I and our friends have toyed with the idea of putting in power, septic and water on their 55 acre undeveloped property in VT, so that we can put the campers up there all summer....
Are the septic requirements the same as a house?

Thanks, and Happy Camping!!!
Adventuregirl

 

[heyyou]

Installing a septic will never be easier or cheaper than now.
The regulations only get stricter. For your RV, still plan on installing one suitable for a 3 bedroom house so when you build a 2 bed house and a guest house, you are still covered. In Arizona, the bedrooms determine septic size, and a closet defines a bedroom from an office. Plan B is using a portable catchment tank for the RV during none freezing weather. You can have it serviced by the same companies that furnish portable toilets to construction sites.
My neighbor bought his rural land over 30 years ago. When he retired from the city, he built his new retirement house and rents out his older cabin to weekenders for income.

 

[Brat]

Chucking it??  Been there, did that at 48.  Once I concluded that I wanted out I made a plan.  Like you, DH & I saved the max in retirement savings for many years.  I started positioning our finances so that the change in income was manageable.  Once I calculated that all was in line I pulled the trigger, stunning a couple managers who thought they could take me for granted.

After a year I started getting recruiter calls and accepted an offer. Now I limit myself to consulting for mental stimulation.

Have you considered changing employers? Often just getting the word out that you are ready for a change is enough for friends to start feeding you leads. 

Try Wab's link to a rent/buy calculator to see if renting is cleaper than owing a home in your community:  http://www.dinkytown.net/java/MortgageRentvsBuy.html 

 

[Bimmerbill]

Not to hijack....but....
Bimmerbill - could you share a little info about what you did land you have. My DH and I and our friends have toyed with the idea of putting in power, septic and water on their 55 acre undeveloped property in VT, so that we can put the campers up there all summer....
Are the septic requirements the same as a house?

We were limited to a 2 bedroom septic design, being close to the lake. So we said we wanted to build a 2 bedroom home and the septic designer designed us a 2 bedroom septic. We had a contractor install it. Had to buy off the local town building inspector by paying for a building permit ($400).

It requires a "permit to operate" which the town will only grant when it is attached to a house. But, it passed both state and town inspections and is operational.

We are luckey that some good friends of ours have a place right on the lake with working septic, so we bum (hehe) their bathroom when we stay up there.

We dumped blackwater once into the septic system, but we really don't stay up there too much to make using the hopper worthwhile. As long as we don't hook up to it full time we are OK.

Once we have a well drilled I think things will work better. It is much easier to dump the blackwater if you have running water... We do cart water up there and shower and use the sink tho.

Oops, to answer your original question: we have a 2 bedroom home septic installed. It meets all state and local requirements for a septic system. I don't think there are any RV or "Camp" septic systems anymore.

You could do a 1000 gal holding tank, but that would require it being pumped when full. That is expensive now, and could cost a lot depending on use.

 

[Gone4Good]

I think its gotten worse since I started visiting this site but I definitely think about starting retirement even earlier than early. I already have enough to live a pretty comfortable middle-class lifestyle (somewhere) and am just working the next few years to gain more security and to fund the travel budget. If I quit now though, I'd probably have to move and I'd definitely have to change my lifestyle and travel plans.

Although the thought of pulling the ripcord now is appealing, its hard to say if it would be worth it. It almost sounds like one of those "grass is always greener" kind of things. You decide to live the "simple life" and move someplace cheap only to find once you get there that you don't like it that much. And then what?

Every time I think about this I always come to the conclusion that retiring early is going to be enough of a life altering change in and of itself. Picking up and moving to someplace completely foreign at the same time may be a bit more change then I'm willing to handle. So I keep coming back to the original plan, which is to work long enough to retire in a place that I know and like.

 

[flipstress]

3 Yrs To Go, I'm nowhere near retirement and have not really thought out where I would live in retirement, but I think the same way you do that moving away coupled with retiring would be too much change for me.

I also really like the city where I live and it would be hard to leave familiar and favorite spots.  Just today, I was riding around with cousins who were taking their kid to university here, and being a passenger, I spotted a few interesting establishments in which I haven't been, got to go on streets unfamiliar to me, and I realized there's so much of the city I haven't explored yet because my main focus has been working during the week and errands and chores during the weekends.  Then, there are the outlying towns which would be nice to visit, surrounding parks to camp in, paths to bike on, trails to hike, etc.

One option that comes to my mind is to stay in the general area but move out of the county we're in to lower our property taxes.  I haven't scouted out the smaller towns outside the county, and I'm sure living in those towns wouldn't be the same as our lifestyle right here in our town.  So I guess I'll just wait until I'm a little closer to my target in 7 years and see where I'm at then--if the job is still good for me or if it has become unbearable, etc.

Edited to add thoughts on traveling:  I don't travel now--except to visit my Mom in Asia every few years--and I think that I would be content to just take day trips from where I live after I retire and maybe one big special trip every few years.  I always think that someday it would be nice to travel to other countries but I have no burning desire.  I seem to remember that some retirees here found out that they did not want to travel so much as a form of escape or reward after their stressful jobs ended.  On the other hand, for some retirees, it is a passion/hobby and should be included as part of the budget for RE funding.

 

[shorttimer]

for those that are close, I hung out and extra three years to pad the accounts. I do not regret it. I saw my morale and work ethic going downhill, but no one else seemed to notice or mind. I am glad I did it - taking a vacation out west this fall and to Europe in the spring. Had I bolted early that might not be in the cards. I could have gotten another job but would not have made the good money. I stayed in my paid for house in the area I was- but my area is not particularily high cost. It is where my life and social network is.

The funny thing is, they actually asked me to do some part time fill in work after I was gone for three months. I started this month and come and go, very relaxed. Will be six days this month, nine in September. I won't do more than that. Being only 52 I don't mind, they are very nice to me and coworkers are grateful for some cheerful help. I don't get pulled in to all the meetings, and baloney, just get assigned tasks. When I wanted to go part time they would not let me (go figure). The extra money is nice and there is a whole other attitude when you are a fill in. I have no idea if this will last for three months or three years but it is a nice transition.

If your mental or physical health is really being affected, it is time to seriously think of your options. My blood pressure, weight and cholesterol dropped since May but I was never in great danger. Each of us has to make our own decisions but I couldn't see leaving my high paying job for one that paid drastically less when the end was so close.

 

[xprinter]

I am having one of those days. It was tough to wake up and go to the salt mine. It has been cloudy here for 5 days. I just feel like turning in the cleats, but I know our money is a little thin for that. Oh well I'll just press on one day at a time.

 

[SteveR]

My previous ER was 4 years ago. I took this job to carry us over for a year or so and to have the company fund our move. That required I stick around for 12 months to avoid having to pay them back for headhunter fees and movings costs (where were more than $80k).

My wife died 7 months into her retirement and my 12 month plan. I continued to work. My job changed when several key managers left the company and I was dumped on with their responsibilities. I stuck around to help out the managers that were still there and needed an experienced manager to hold the place together.

Things are different now. All the major positions have been filled for some time and my department is running on autopilot most of the time (pays to hire and train good people). I am bored and the bull sh*t bucket is getting fuller everyday. If it were not for DW having some serious surgery recovery issues and her being out of work the past 12 weeks with no end is sight, I would be gone.

The nest egg is slowly growing (we moved a lot of stuff into more conservative areas over the past few years) so the swings are less on down or up market days. My portfolio is not quite making our combined income each year but is close enough considering our post ER income will also be taxed less and there will be no SS, Medicare and 401k deductions.

We are selling the cabin and all the "toys". That will cut our expenses about $20k per year and is making ER for me that much closer. We have decided that when the cabin sells---I am ER for good. DW will still need to go 10 more months for her medical insurance and small pension.

The market is very slow in recreational homes right now but who knows? All it takes is one person and it will be sold. We just hope it happens before winter sets in as the roads are not plowed in my area after about January.

Until then, we wait.....we wait to see if DW can recover enough to return to work or will she be put on disability. We wait to see if the cabin will sell and how much we will net. We wait to see what new BS they dream up for me to endure at work. While we wait we continue to feather the nest and hope my company stock does a 180 and goes up and not down so we can exercise some options before they expire. Not likely, but one has to have hope.

So to answer the original question..."Ever feel like chucking it?" Every day the alarm goes off at 5:30am.

 

[ladelfina]

Wow marshac those Tiny Houses are just so cunnin'..

For septic, you could look into the composting toilets:
http://www.envirolet.com/
http://www.clivusmultrum.com/

I also glanced through a friend's '70s-era book on houses you can build yourself out of mud and straw! Some modern versions:
http://www.worldeventvillage.com/en/selection/can10017/
http://www.armofthespiral.com/
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/components/envelope/framing/strawbale.html
http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/cobhouse.html

A little nicer than the Unibomber's digs:

a closet defines a bedroom from an office

Use armoires, and they're all "offices"!

 

[Khan]

Wow marshac those Tiny Houses are just so cunnin'..

For septic, you could look into the composting toilets:
http://www.envirolet.com/
http://www.clivusmultrum.com/

I also glanced through a friend's '70s-era book on houses you can build yourself out of mud and straw! Some modern versions:
http://www.worldeventvillage.com/en/selection/can10017/
http://www.armofthespiral.com/
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/components/envelope/framing/strawbale.html
http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/cobhouse.html

A little nicer than the Unibomber's digs:

Use armoires, and they're all "offices"!

Compost:

http://jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html